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Europe’s Largest Biodiverse Roof Garden Blooms on Turin’s Lingotto Factory

Historic Lingotto factory in Turin transforms with a living roof, blending biodiversity, cultural revitalization, and sustainable urban design.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 27, 2025

Historic Lingotto factory in Turin transforms with a living roof, blending biodiversity, cultural revitalization, and sustainable urban design.

Once the beating heart of Italy’s automotive industry, the Lingotto factory in Turin now pulses with new life—not from the thunder of engines, but from the rustle of leaves and flutter of dragonfly wings. The iconic complex, renowned for its revolutionary rooftop car test track, has embraced a transformative vision. Its vast rooftop has been reincarnated as La Pista 500: Europe’s largest roof garden and a beacon for sustainable city redevelopment.

The Historical Legacy of Lingotto

Completed in 1923 based on designs by architect Giacomo Matté-Trucco, Lingotto was once the largest and most modern car manufacturing facility worldwide. The five-story, 500-meter-long factory was unique—even radical—ending with a kilometer-long rooftop test track where freshly built FIATs screeched through their first paces high above the city. This maze of reinforced concrete symbolized Italy’s industrial prowess and remains a modernist landmark revered by critics and architects alike. Over decades, the building appeared in cultural touchstones, such as the film The Italian Job, and became a reference for architectural innovation.

Though production ceased in the 1980s, Lingotto never faded into obsolescence. The 1990s and 2000s saw pioneering renovations led by architect Renzo Piano, who injected new life into the complex with features like a glass dome meeting room and the Pinacoteca Agnelli art gallery. The structure adapted, shifting from a car factory to a thriving mixed-use hub for commerce, culture, events, and hospitality—all crowned by its legendary rooftop.

The Vision: From Asphalt to Living Roof

For decades, the test track stood as an empty monument to an industrial past—a missed opportunity that begged for renewal. This changed in 2019, when FIAT commissioned architect Benedetto Camerana to re-imagine the roof for the 21st century, as a space that would honor the factory’s legacy while advancing environmental and social progress. Camerana, in partnership with landscape architects Il Giardino Segreto and vegetal designer Cristiana Ruspa, set out to craft a garden that would reconnect urban life with nature and inspire a new model for city regeneration.

The rooftop would not simply support plants, but foster biodiversity and serve as an ecological corridor.
It would be an active public space—open for exercise, culture, education, and relaxation.
The garden would integrate seamlessly with historic and contemporary uses, including an ‘e-track’ for electric vehicles and art installations.

Design and Features of La Pista 500

Scale and Layout

La Pista 500 is a living tapestry spanning over 6,000 square meters atop the factory, with 28 green islands forming radiant patches amid the preserved test track. These islands are arranged through and around the winding rooftop circuit, interlacing ecology with architectural history. Together, they support a thriving community of over 40,000 plants representing more than 300 indigenous species.

Plant Selection and Biodiversity

The plant palette is rooted in local identity and ecology. All species were selected for their indigenous status in Piemonte and the northern Mediterranean, emphasizing resilience, low water needs, and seasonal variety. Perennials, grasses, dye plants, edible varieties, and trees such as hazelnuts (in homage to the Langhe region) create a multisensory, ever-changing landscape.

Perennials and Graminacee: Ensure long-term impact and minimal water consumption.
Edible & dye plants: Provide opportunities for urban agriculture and educational programming.
Hazelnuts & smoke-tree (Cotinus): Reflect regional flora and absorb significant quantities of CO₂.

Beyond plants, the garden is now home to butterflies, dragonflies, and hummingbirds, establishing a vital green refuge high above the city’s streets.

Functional Integration

The rooftop reimagines modernist concrete as a flexible stage for city living. Interwoven between garden islands are zones for a variety of activities:

Walking and running tracks
Outdoor fitness, yoga, and meditation spaces
Shaded seating areas for contemplation and views to the Alps
Educational and cultural events linked to the Pinacoteca Agnelli art gallery

The test track itself remains—but now reserved exclusively for electric vehicles, bicycles, and scooters. Blue paint strips demarcate pathways, referencing both the bold utility pipes that traverse the roofscape and the nearby glass dome.

Art and Public Culture

The rooftop is more than a botanical spectacle. Through the Pista 500 art project, it inspires civic participation and cultural growth. Installations, exhibitions, and outdoor learning activities invite visitors to engage with themes of sustainability, mobility, and urban renewal.

Environmental Impact and Urban Benefits

Green Infrastructure and Climate Resilience

La Pista 500 is an exemplar of green infrastructure in action. The extensive plant cover performs multiple ecosystem services:

Reduces urban heat island effect by cooling the roof and surrounding area.
Sequesters CO₂ and improves air quality.
Enhances stormwater retention, reducing runoff and easing pressure on city drainage systems.
Promotes biodiversity as a habitat for pollinators and birds, creating a green corridor in the metropolitan fabric.

Social and Cultural Revitalization

The project reinvents the roof as a public park and gathering place, fostering community well-being. Residents and tourists find new spaces for exercise, relaxation, and social connection—an urban oasis that revives local traditions of piazza and promenade, but with elevated perspectives.

By weaving environmental stewardship into a site of global architectural heritage, La Pista 500 helps shift the narrative of old industrial cities toward a future where industry and ecology coalesce for public good.

Architectural Preservation and Modern Interventions

Camerana’s ‘green graft’ pays homage to both Lingotto’s original ambition and Renzo Piano’s later renovations. The garden is deeply integrated without erasing the iconic test track or industrial features like the signature blue pipes, which now rise playfully above fields of wildflowers and native shrubs. A balance is struck between preservation and innovation, so that Lingotto’s unique story continues but branches into a new chapter centered on sustainability and civic delight.

Aspect	Before Transformation	After Transformation
Roof Use	Car test track for gasoline vehicles	Biodiverse garden, electric car track, public park
Species Diversity	Low (industrial environment)	High (300+ native species, pollinators, birds)
Water Usage	Not applicable	Minimal, via drought-tolerant perennials
Public Access	Restricted/nonexistent	Open for exercise, cultural events, leisure
Role in Urban Fabric	Industrial relic	Urban green infrastructure, public space

Challenges in Creation and Maintenance

Converting such a vast concrete expanse into a lush, thriving ecosystem posed substantial technical and design challenges:

Structural engineering: The roof required retrofitting to safely carry soil, plants, and frequent public use.
Irrigation and drainage: Water management systems had to maximize efficiency and prevent overload.
Climate resilience: Selecting a plant palette that could survive Turin’s variable weather with minimal inputs.
Preservation: Maintaining the historic lines and materials of the test track while accommodating new uses.

The success of the project shows what’s possible when visionary design, ecological science, and collaborative urban planning converge.

Lingotto in the Context of Europe’s Green Roof Movement

La Pista 500 stands as the largest roof garden in Europe, but it is also part of a continental trend towards sustainable adaptation of urban spaces. Like New York’s High Line and emerging projects in Manchester and Camden, Lingotto demonstrates how obsolete infrastructure can be repurposed for nature, wellness, and education—a vital reference point for future urban design worldwide.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What makes Lingotto’s roof garden unique?

A: Lingotto’s garden is the largest of its kind in Europe, blending local plant biodiversity, accessible public space, cultural programming, and the historic automotive test track, now repurposed for electric vehicles.

Q: Who designed the new garden, and who contributed to its creation?

A: Architect Benedetto Camerana led the project, with landscape design by Il Giardino Segreto and plant selection by Cristiana Ruspa.

Q: Which species are most prominent in the gardens?

A: The gardens feature over 300 species indigenous to the Piedmont region and the northern Mediterranean, including perennial grasses, hazelnut trees, dye, and edible plants, and the CO₂-absorbing smoke-tree (Cotinus).

Q: How does the garden address sustainability and climate concerns?

A: Through the use of drought-tolerant and fast-growing perennials, minimal irrigation, native species to support pollinators, and the conversion of an industrial site into climate-mitigating green infrastructure.

Q: Is the garden open to the public, and what can visitors do there?

A: Yes, the garden is open year-round to visitors, who can walk, run, practice fitness or yoga, relax, view art installations, and learn about urban ecology and sustainable design.

Inspiring a Greener Urban Future

The rebirth of Lingotto’s rooftop from silent asphalt to vibrant landscape encapsulates Italy’s embrace of sustainable innovation. As Turin welcomes residents and visitors to its newfound green heights, the Lingotto garden sets an inspiring precedent for urban adaptation, environmental renewal, and the ongoing dialogue between past and future.

References

Author

medha deb

Medha Deb is an editor with a master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. She believes that her qualification has helped her develop a deep understanding of language and its application in various contexts.

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