The new space at the "heart" of the Triennale

A 400 square meter space designed for visitors, the scientific community, scholars and researchers, but also as a network that unites universities, superintendencies, public and private foundations, and companies. Cuore - , that means “heart, precisely because its activities are at the heart of those of the Triennale itself - was conceived as a flexible and evolving place, capable of bringing out the design and research work that is the basis of all the Triennale's activities Milan.


Cuore - Ph Delfino Sisto Legnani DSL Studio 08337 © Triennale Milano

The research activity
With this inauguration of Cuore, the Triennale Study Centre, founded in 1935 and active until 1990, has been reactivated. The Study Center carries out scientific-academic research in collaboration with national and international universities on central themes of the present, which will be addressed in the Triennale's future programming, but in the future it also intends to develop innovative projects and services, leveraging the institution's specific skills and knowledge.


Cuore - Ph Delfino Sisto Legnani DSL Studio 08274 © Triennale Milano

Archive activity
The second function is connected to the archives, library and collections of the Triennale: a multidisciplinary heritage - from design to art, from architecture to theatre, from graphics to photography and audiovisual - unique in the sector which includes more than 300,000 works, objects, drawings, projects, photographs, correspondence, books. The archive materials and collections are displayed for the first time in their complexity on rotation and open for consultation. The archives preserve materials relating to the International Exhibitions and the Triennale's activity from 1923 to today, including documents, collections of press reviews, collections of posters, drawings and plans, architectural models, theatre materials, over 30,000 photographs and more than 2,000 films and audio recordings. The Triennale collections system consists of the Italian design collection, the Giovanni Sacchi collection and the works of art collection, with the monographic collections of designers and planners including Alessandro Mendini, Cinzia Ruggeri, Ettore Sottsass, Nanni Strada and Saul Steinberg . The library includes a wide selection of Italian and international titles - over 22,000 books and 800 periodicals - available to researchers and enthusiasts, for free consultation or by reservation.


Cuore - Ph Delfino Sisto Legnani DSL Studio 08245 © Triennale Milano

Educational activity
Cuore is also a platform for valorisation and dissemination, which over the course of the year hosts various funds and archives of public and private bodies, developing in-depth thematic paths. This third function intends to bring together a network of entities that collaborate on the conservation, promotion and study of archival heritage around the Triennale.


Cuore - Ph Delfino Sisto Legnani DSL Studio 08263 © Triennale Milano

The spatial design
The architectural project paid particular attention to the enhancement of the space with the recovery of the perspective vanishing point which, from the atrium of the Palace, allows the gaze to reach the large helical staircase designed by Giovanni Muzio. The exhibition project establishes a dialogue between the exhibition content and the architectural container. The exhibition system, aligned with the secondary beams, is generated by the architectural elements of the space and contains a system of extremely flexible and easily reconfigurable modular elements - created by UniFor and designed by Cipelletti - capable of housing contents, documents and works of different nature, each with particular conservation and use requirements. Along the entire right wall of the space there is a system of display cases, cabinets and shelves, which covers an area of approximately 300 m2 and makes the materials from the Triennale archives and collections accessible, while on the left a LED wall hosts in-depth videos. In the centre of the space, 12 tables allow the setting up of temporary exhibitions while a second area with 6 tables allows you to consult archive materials or Triennale collections (by appointment) and welcomes researchers from the Triennale Study Centre.

Cuore is accessible for free during Triennale opening hours (Tuesday–Sunday, 11.00–20.00). Inside the space, Triennale archivists and librarians, as well as the mediation staff, are available to provide information and assistance for consulting the materials.