Close to the historic city centre, a park both hides and protects an ex sugar refinery which dates back to the end of the nineteenth century – the main factory building is 80m long, three storeys high and built in brick with steel trusses forming the roof structure. This in short is the almost fairy tale setting of the latest project by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop: the Auditorium Paganini, opened at Parma on the 15 November after exactly two years work.

Taking advantage of the unusual surroundings, Piano decided to demolish the two ends of the building and replace them with glazing. The result is a kind of “visual telescope” (on one side is the foyer and the other the concert hall) which transforms the park into a fascinating natural stage. The building of the auditorium, which is comprised of a concert hall with 780 seats, foyer, changing rooms, bar, offices, cloakroom and services, is part of a programme of widespread urban regeneration which looks at the reuse of existing structures.

As well as the ex Eridania, there are a number of other historic factory buildings in the same area (the slaughterhouse, farmers union building and Barilla pasta factory) as well as several industrial structures built at the beginning of the twentieth century (the tram station and a gasometer).

Auditorium Niccolò Paganini
Viale Barilla, Parma
https://www.comune.parma.it
https://www.rpbw.it