The Organ Pipes by David Tremlett

Address

Via Flavio Gioia, 4, 42124, Reggio Emilia

Opening hours

Always visible

Description

David Tremlett worked on the thirteen large silos and the adjacent façade of the former Caffarri building—a structure located in the northern area of the city and previously involved in recovery projects—to transform them into the distinctive landmark of a space dedicated to education and community life. The area is home to the Reggio Children Foundation, the Remida Creative Recycling Center, The Lego Foundation, the MaMiMò Theatre Center, and a boxing gym.

The Organ Pipes represents one of the most imposing permanent works created by Tremlett: the silos of the former feed factory cover a total area of 750 m² over 75 meters in length; each cylinder features 100 m² of façade and reaches a height of 11.30 meters.

The cultural project aims to give new value to a significant portion of the city, relevant for its economic and social history and now subject to urban regeneration processes, establishing an ideal connection with the Chiostri di San Pietro (Cloisters of San Pietro), which are destined to become an international center dedicated to contemporary art.

Interno at the Monumental Complex of San Pietro
The artist also created a refined permanent intervention, titled Interno (Interior), within the monumental complex of San Pietro. It is a small wall drawing executed with hand-blended pastels, placed in a niche of the Sala delle Colonne (Hall of Columns). The traced lines follow and enhance the rhythm of the wall, while the chromatic gradation—from shades of grey to sage and forest green—creates the illusion of a perspective opening that ideally expands the space. "Interno," observes Marina Dacci, "is a kind of meditative passage, a glimpse that leads towards an elsewhere."

The Artist and the Vision for Reggio Emilia
David Tremlett (St. Austell, Cornwall, 1945), a prominent figure in the international art scene with sixty years of research behind him, was invited to Reggio Emilia by Marina Dacci to view the former Caffarri up close. This visit led to the decision to intervene on the thirteen silos and the building's façade, making them a visible, identifying element of a space focused on growth and social interaction, particularly for young people.

For over twenty years, the city of Reggio Emilia has invested in contemporary art as a tool for the regeneration of complex or transforming areas, with the aim of promoting social and educational development. Between 2003 and 2006, the public art project "Invito a..." (Invitation to...), conceived by the artist Claudio Parmiggiani, was developed. It involved four major international figures—Luciano Fabro, Eliseo Mattiacci, Robert Morris, and Sol LeWitt—in the conception and realization of permanent works in various urban spaces. Curiosa Meravigliosa, a participatory work by Joan Fontcuberta, was added to this path in 2022.