The Pirelli Foundation among the “Open Archives” of the Photography Network
The Pirelli Foundation will take part in the “Archivi Aperti”, an initiative from the “Rete Fotografia” – the foundation is a member from this year – which will take place during the week 21-28 October to promote the awareness and study of the photographic heritage of Milan and Lombardy.
The photographic archives represent an extraordinary resource in terms of historical and cultural testimony: the Milanese territory and the Lombardy region in general have a great deal of organisations involved in the conservation and promotion of these photographic archives. In fact, many other cultural institutions from Lombardy have signed up to the Photography Network – active since 2011 – including the Civic Photography Archive of the Milan City Council, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Museum of Science and Technology of Milan, the Milan Triennale Foundation, the Italian Touring Club, the ISEC Foundation, the Fiera Milan Foundation, the Dalmine Foundation and the FORMA Foundation, among others.
For the “Open Archives”, the Pirelli Foundation has announced that on the days of Saturday 22 October (at 2.30pm, 4pm and 5.30pm) and Thursday 27 October (at 5.30pm), special guided tours will be made of three locations: the Pirelli Headquarters with its historic cooling tower, the fourteenth century Bicocca of the Arcimboldi, and the foundation itself with a visit to the historical archive of the company. The guided tours will focus on the photographic heritage: visitors will be able to browse a wide range of documents from the Pirelli photography bank, made up of more than 700,000 pieces, between negatives on plates and film, stamps and slides, the subjects of which are factories, products, exhibitions, fairs, car, motorcycling and cycling races and fashion. Photos – produced or commissioned by the Department of Marketing and Communication between the 1910s and the 1990s – taken to illustrate the company magazines and production catalogues or to be used in Pirelli advertising campaigns. Among the photographers are great names of photography like Federico Patellani, Ugo Mulas, Arno Hammacher, Fulvio Roiter, Aldo Ballo and Gabriele Basilico, and well known agencies such as Publifoto and Farabola. The catalogue of photographs relating to car racing, fashion and exhibitions is currently available online in a dedicated area of our website //search.fondazionepirelli.org/pirelli/fotografico.The projects of the categorisation and digitalisation of the photobank in progress will in the coming months enable the enhancement of the digital catalogue with the publication of new series relating to the construction of the Pirelli skyscraper, cycling races from 1920 to 1951 and the inner workings of the factories from the 1950s and 1960s.
For information and tour bookings: visite@fondazionepirelli.org– tel. 02 64423971
For information on the “Open Archives” calendar: www.retefotografia.it


The Pirelli Foundation will take part in the “Archivi Aperti”, an initiative from the “Rete Fotografia” – the foundation is a member from this year – which will take place during the week 21-28 October to promote the awareness and study of the photographic heritage of Milan and Lombardy.
The photographic archives represent an extraordinary resource in terms of historical and cultural testimony: the Milanese territory and the Lombardy region in general have a great deal of organisations involved in the conservation and promotion of these photographic archives. In fact, many other cultural institutions from Lombardy have signed up to the Photography Network – active since 2011 – including the Civic Photography Archive of the Milan City Council, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Museum of Science and Technology of Milan, the Milan Triennale Foundation, the Italian Touring Club, the ISEC Foundation, the Fiera Milan Foundation, the Dalmine Foundation and the FORMA Foundation, among others.
For the “Open Archives”, the Pirelli Foundation has announced that on the days of Saturday 22 October (at 2.30pm, 4pm and 5.30pm) and Thursday 27 October (at 5.30pm), special guided tours will be made of three locations: the Pirelli Headquarters with its historic cooling tower, the fourteenth century Bicocca of the Arcimboldi, and the foundation itself with a visit to the historical archive of the company. The guided tours will focus on the photographic heritage: visitors will be able to browse a wide range of documents from the Pirelli photography bank, made up of more than 700,000 pieces, between negatives on plates and film, stamps and slides, the subjects of which are factories, products, exhibitions, fairs, car, motorcycling and cycling races and fashion. Photos – produced or commissioned by the Department of Marketing and Communication between the 1910s and the 1990s – taken to illustrate the company magazines and production catalogues or to be used in Pirelli advertising campaigns. Among the photographers are great names of photography like Federico Patellani, Ugo Mulas, Arno Hammacher, Fulvio Roiter, Aldo Ballo and Gabriele Basilico, and well known agencies such as Publifoto and Farabola. The catalogue of photographs relating to car racing, fashion and exhibitions is currently available online in a dedicated area of our website //search.fondazionepirelli.org/pirelli/fotografico.The projects of the categorisation and digitalisation of the photobank in progress will in the coming months enable the enhancement of the digital catalogue with the publication of new series relating to the construction of the Pirelli skyscraper, cycling races from 1920 to 1951 and the inner workings of the factories from the 1950s and 1960s.
For information and tour bookings: visite@fondazionepirelli.org– tel. 02 64423971
For information on the “Open Archives” calendar: www.retefotografia.it