Palazzo Boglietti, Modern palace in Biella, Italy.
Palazzo Boglietti is a modern building in Biella, completed in the early 2000s, with a design inspired by an oak tree and disc-shaped fungi growing from its trunk. It covers 1,500 square metres over three floors and a basement, built largely of living stone. A ground-floor space can be adapted for different exhibitions, and a terrace looks toward the Biella pre-Alps.
Construction of the building began in the early 1990s under architect Alberto Rizzi, commissioned by Giovanni Boglietti on land connected to his family's past. The project brought contemporary architecture to Biella during a period of urban development.
The building functions as a gathering place for the community, hosting exhibitions, lectures, and events that connect residents and visitors. It plays an active role in the cultural life of Biella today.
The building stands off the city centre, near the roundabout linking Viale Macallè and Via Fratelli Rosselli, and is reachable by car or public transport. Inside are a restaurant, a bookshop and an internet café, and the ground-floor hall changes layout according to the exhibition on show. The belvedere terrace looks towards the Biella pre-Alps.
The staircase is built as an inverted triangular pyramid, set at an angle that does not follow the building's other axes. The rest of the palace is organised around an oak-trunk form with disc-shaped fungi, all clad in rough natural stone.
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