Traveling with L’Officina dei Giardini: weekend in Turin
april 22, 2024
Tell me where you are and I’ll tell you which garden to visit. But not just gardens, also museums, villas, luxury hotels, exclusive shops and golf clubs. L’Officina dei Giardini has traveled the world and each of its creations is unique and unrepeatable, just as the clients who have entrusted themselves to its art. Many of these creations can be visited, because they are located in public spaces, parks and reception activities.
This is where the idea of itineraries was born. The network of partners and customers of L’Officina dei Giardini is so vast and at the same time widespread that you can travel around Italy on a surprising tour from a pavilion to a winter garden, from a gazebo to a pergola, from a greenhouse to a covered terrace, all signed by us. And from Italy to the world, because there are just as many international commissions.
Obviously we can’t take you inside the countless private homes in which we have set up wonders, but who knows, maybe you might have some friends to visit, to discover that their splendid orangery is the work of Turin’s master craftsmen.
And we want to start from Turin. As good hosts, we are happy to show you the oldest heart of L’Officina dei Giardini’s creations. How about a little holiday in the Savoy capital?
Long weekend in Turin
If you arrive in Turin by train, we will be in front of the historic central station to welcome you! The first encounter with the city, exiting the imposing atrium of Porta Nuova, is the Sambuy garden, in the heart of which you will find a pavilion that for decades has been part of the street furniture and the emotional memory of the people of Turin. Commissioned from L’Officina dei Giardini by the traders’ association of Via Roma, it was built as a stage to host concerts and dancing evenings in the last years of the 20th century.
Liberty Hotel
For your stay in the city we recommend the Liberty Hotel, strategically located 5 minutes from Porta Nuova and 10 minutes from the Egyptian Museum, in a quiet area on the border between the Center and Crocetta, one of the most beautiful residential neighborhoods in Turin. Inspired by the style that has made the city among the most elegant capitals in Europe, the Liberty Hotel has taken care of every detail with style, including the canopy created by L’Officina dei Giardini.
State Archives
For your visit to the city we leave you in the hands of the many expert guides and the many tourist information points that you will encounter in the centre. From Porta Nuova, walking along Via Roma you reach Piazza Castello, where you will find, in the Palazzo della Regione, the main reception office for visitors, able to best orient you. Our advice is not to miss, right in Piazza Castello, the historic headquarters of the State Archives, which preserves precious documentation starting from the 18th century. In the Archive’s heritage there are also Versailles vases, made when L’Officina dei Giardini did not yet exist in name, but was already working on a big scale!
Scultura Fiori
Turin is full of original shops, with unique and exceptional offerings. From the ateliers with big names to the small artisan workshops that still work in the wake of ancient traditions. Our favorite place is a happy mix between artisan care and the exclusivity of a great brand. It is called Scultura Fiori and it is an atelier that “does not sell flowers: it translates feelings and images by giving emotions.” The kingdom of Maria Cecilia Serafino is outside the centre, but it is worth a visit. The flower artist’s winter garden was built by L’Officina dei Giardini to expand the exhibition space and at the same time make customers feel like they are inside a real greenhouse. Don’t miss every single detail, like the artistic sandblasted glass on the front door depicting flowers.
The weekend in Turin is long, because we also offer you three trips out of town, in three different but enchanting places, where you can spend the whole day or a few hours, depending on your preferences.
I Ciliegi Golf Club
You will arrive in Pecetto Torinese after a short and exhilarating journey along the roads of the hill. We are waiting for you at the I Ciliegi Golf Club: surrounded by greenery, it is the ideal place to play golf, relax and enjoy time in company, with an aperitif by the pool or dinner in the elegant restaurant. Here L’Officina dei Giardini has created a gazebo with an iron structure and fabric covering with valance and top crest. Here L’Officina dei Giardini has created a gazebo with an iron structure and fabric covering with valance and top crest.
Royal Palace of Venaria
The Royal Palace of Venaria, reachable with a convenient shuttle from the city center, needs no introduction. Jewel of the Baroque and masterpiece of European architecture, with its great exhibitions, events, concerts, cultural productions, it is an absolutely contemporary Palace, in perfect balance between past and future. The Winter Garden you will find was built as a kiosk for the upper garden in the early 2000s by the master craftsmen of L’Officina dei Giardini.
Pralormo Castle
Finally, dedicate a visit to Pralormo Castle, an ancient residence in the territory of the municipality of the same name (a few kilometers from Turin). The historic owners have lived there since 1680 and consider it right and proper not only to preserve the castle and the estate, because they are part of the landscape, but to make them accessible to the public, without distorting them. A rich calendar of temporary exhibitions offers the opportunity to visit the castle and discover, among the various treasures, the first real work of L’Officina dei Giardini: a restoration of the nineteenth-century cultivation greenhouse, carefully restored. Every year, in the castle gardens, it is possible to participate in Messer Tulipano, the now traditional event that celebrates the flowering of over 100,000 tulips and daffodils. The appointment is from March 30 to May 1, 2024. The appointment is from March 30 to May 1, 2024.
L’Officina dei Giardini
Before returning home you can also stop by and visit us! L’Officina dei Giardini awaits you, by appointment, to open the doors of the studio, the workshop and the offices where the people who make our wonderful dream possible work. See you on the next itinerary!
