The Royal School of Application for Engineers was founded in Turin in 1859, and the Castello del Valentino (castle) in the heart of the Valentino park was chosen as the site of the school. In 1862 the Royal Industrial Museum of Turin was founded as an institution to complement the teachings of the school, and then in 1906 the two institutions were brought together under the name of Regio Politecnico di Torino (Royal Polytechnic of Turin). In 1958 the department of Engineering was moved to its current home in Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, and the department of Architecture was kept at the Castello del Valentino. The Politecnico (Polytechnic) of Turin soon became an important center of university instruction for technical and scientific disciplines. Indeed during the economic boom of the 1950's, the various industrial and technical companies of Italy would come to recruit the Politecnico’s highly trained and qualified graduates. In recent years, the Politecnico has broadened its presence in Piedmont with various sister schools in Mondově, Aosta, Biella, Ivrea, Alessandria, and Vercelli. One of the main projects in store for the Politecnico’s future, and the most massive in terms of time, money, and resources, is that of the “Raddoppio” or “Doubling” – the aim is literally to double the space available for research, teaching, studies, and activities organized in collaboration with the world of business and industry. |
