The Olivetti industrial experience offers many ideas that continue to inspire contemporary business. One of them is its approach to the lunch break. At the time, Olivetti employees enjoyed an unusually long lunch break: a full two hours. Time not only for eating, but also for leisure, reading, socialising, and rest. And all of this took place in a space that was not enclosed or isolated, but open to its surroundings—to the wooded hillside as well as to the production facilities.
As Ignazio Gardella—the Milanese architect, engineer, and designer who conceived the project—recalled: “During my meetings with Adriano Olivetti, we naturally spoke about the canteen. He did not want it to be simply a place where meals were eaten, but a place for an important moment in the lives of the people, workers and office employees alike, who worked in the factory.”
The Olivetti Canteen was, of course, designed to serve around 1,600 people at the same time and provide approximately 9,000 meals a day. But it was also a genuine cultural hub. Cultural activities, performances, exhibitions, and concerts were regularly held there. The building also housed a library, reading areas, and spaces for leisure, complete with television, a café, billiards, and games. All of this was arranged within a hexagonal structure designed to offer constantly changing views of the surrounding landscape while minimizing its environmental impact.
The brown stoneware floors, the slate-clad interior walls, the white marble inlays along the balcony, and the varying ceiling heights — which follow the natural contours of the land — create a rich and dynamic aesthetic. The big entrance, expansive glass surfaces, and accessible roof establish a seamless continuity between indoors and outdoors. Outside, there are three tennis courts complete with changing rooms and spectator stands, four bocce courts, and an equipped outdoor fitness trail.
The nearby former convent of San Bernardino, meanwhile, housed for decades the offices of the Olivetti Sports and Recreation Club, together with a café, a restaurant, and the meeting centre for the Spille d’Oro.
Overall, this company canteen is anything but ordinary: it is a place designed for the daily renewal of both body and mind. Far from hindering the company’s productivity, this philosophy proved to be one of its greatest strengths.
