Theex-Gres di San Bernardinocomplex was developed in the Colognola district between the early 1900s and the mid-1970s as the site of a factory of the Austrian Società del Gres, a large manufacturer of ceramic stoneware materials present in Italy since 1887.
The complex covers an area of about 60,000 m2, including offices, two warehouses, warehouses and a hallway structure.
In the 1950s, houses for the company’s employees, located at no. 149 and architecturally similar to the INCIS district in Milan (1949), were also added, based on a design by Albini and Helg.
Closed in 2012 after several changes of ownership, since 2016 the former Gres experiences a first recovery with the construction of the IceLab ice arena.
Since 2022, the redevelopment project leading to the foundation of gres art 671 begins.
gres art 671 is a center animated by creative energy born thanks to an important urban and community regeneration project, promoted by Fondazione Pesenti and included in the context of Gres Hub.
Dedicated to leisure and culture, it was created with the precise intention of combining beauty and social impact, creating spaces where people can meet and enjoy various cultural initiatives, from meetings to exhibitions, from musical events to performances and educational workshops.
The redevelopment aimed at preserving the characters and memory of the place, evidence of a moment of great economic development.
The two bays evolved through the creation of a façade space and the creation of a green area, but the transformation to a contemporary key respected the industrial stratification.
Even the name is related to the roots of the complex: 671 is the number of the state highway that runs alongside it.
Surrounding it, a garden and other public spaces extend the cultural offerings, including to the evening bands.