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A Flying Plaza over the City: Palazzo Micca gets a new lease on life

The historic skyscraper in Turin, formerly the headquarters of Italian national broadcaster RAI, to be transformed into a multi-use building, with an elevated plaza and the potential to convert sections into residential units

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

A Flying Plaza over the City in Turin
By Editorial Staff -

A Flying Plaza over the City: CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with the IPI realty group, has unveiled an adaptive reuse project for the headquarters of Italian national broadcaster RAI in Turin. Named after Italian soldier Pietro Micca, Palazzo Micca is a modernist symbol of Turin.

CRA recently unveiled a project that will see the historic skyscraper transformed into a community space, with public areas extending from ground level to an elevated plaza with panoramic views of Turin’s baroque rooftops, the hills, and the Alps.

 

A Flying Plaza over the City: a model of sustainable reuse

A Flying Plaza Over The City - CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati Rendering by and courtesy of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

Built between 1962 and 1968, Palazzo Micca was the first steel-framed skyscraper in Italy. Now a symbol of post-war architecture, it was designed by architects Aldo Morbelli and Domenico Morelli. Centrally located near the Porta Susa train station, the building rises to 19 floors.

A Flying Plaza Over The City - CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati Rendering by and courtesy of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

CRA is revitalizing the entire tower, which encompasses an area of 27,000 m². The project will preserve the distinctive steel façade, an icon of 1960s Italian prefabricated design, but will otherwise give the building a complete restyling. A key part of the project will be the removal of asbestos, which is necessary to ensure that the building meets modern health and safety standards.

This intervention, combined with the reconfiguration of the interiors, will transform what was originally simply an office building into a multi-use facility, with some sections potentially converted to residential units.

 

A new meeting place

A Flying Plaza Over The City - CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati Rendering by and courtesy of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

The heart of the project is the creation of a public plaza at a height of 26.5 meters, intended to be a new meeting place for both locals and tourists, while hosting stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues.

Carlo Ratti, founder of CRA and curator of the next Venice International Architecture Exhibition, says:

“This project addresses two major challenges in today’s cities. First, it revitalizes an existing structure through an adaptable, sustainable model to minimize emissions and land use. Second, it repurposes unused offices into new spaces for the local community …. This adaptive reuse plan aims to showcase how we can reinvent a lot of mid-century office architecture by incorporating new functions and innovative approaches.”

A Flying Plaza Over The City - CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati Rendering by and courtesy of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

Currently awaiting approval by the City of Turin, this project is the latest in a series of transformative urban projects handled by CRA that aim to promote sustainability. These include the renovation of the Fondazione Agnelli headquarters in Turin, the MEET digital arts center in a 19th-century building in Milan, and the restoration of the Oscar Niemeyer-designed Palazzo Mondadori, also in Milan.

 

>>> Discover the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, curated by Carlo Ratti.

 

Credits

Location: Torino, Italy
Project: CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati in collaboration with IPI
Creative Lead: Italo Rota
Partners in Charge: Carlo Ratti, Andrea Cassi
Developer: IPI

Consultants
Structural: Principia Ingegneria e partecipazioni
Façade: INGEMBP
MEP, Costs and Fire Protection: ARTELIA Italia
Building Permits: Marco Figazzolo
Mechanical: Projema (Ivan Pavanello)

Rendering by and courtesy of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

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