The current building of GAM Torino was completed in 1959, designed by the architects Carlo Bassi and Goffredo Boschetti. From the outset, this remarkable building was an exemplar of modern thinking: its main volume is oriented diagonally within the urban block, breaking with Turin’s orthogonal street grid to provide uniform light exposure throughout the day, while its interior was designed according to a free plan, allowing for flexibility in exhibition design. However, over the years the original clarity of the design has been lost, as interventions to meet new safety requirements and museum standards altered the relationship between the building, the visitors, and the city. The museum’s gardens are now fenced off and overgrown with bamboo; its skylights have been closed in favour of artificial lighting; a number of fire escape stairs are placed on the exterior; and a proliferation of internal divisions have made its once-open interiors more fragmented.

The most significant update to the museum will take place at ground level and below. The basement will be converted with an open storage approach, allowing the public to glimpse behind the scenes of the museum’s operations and see the entire collection. This new museological approach returns GAM Torino to the cutting edge of museums worldwide, joining institutions such as the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam – also designed by MVRDV – and the V&A East Storehouse in London, which have pioneered the practice of large-scale open storage in recent years.