News

By Erica Casareto

On 26 March 2026, the ISIE Talks hosted a presentation entitled “Turin 1911, the World’s Fair in Italy: Ephemeral Architectures and Digital Technologies,” dedicated to the history of the 1911 International Exhibition in Turin and the role of digital technologies in rediscovering its architectural heritage.

The talk featured Cristina Della Coletta, Filiberto Chiabrando, and Erica Casareto, who explored the architectural legacy of the exhibition and the challenges of studying structures that were designed to be temporary and largely disappeared after the event.

Held in Turin in 1911, the International Exhibition brought together pavilions and exhibition spaces showcasing architectural innovation, technological progress, and national identities. Although most of these structures no longer survive, their history is documented in photographs, drawings, postcards, maps, and other archival materials preserved in different collections.

The presentation highlighted how historical research and digital technologies can work together to recover this lost landscape. Through archival documentation, surveying, 3D modelling, and mapping, it is possible to reconstruct vanished architectures and gain new insights into the history of World’s Fairs.

The discussion also addressed the broader potential of digital approaches for interpreting and communicating ephemeral architecture, demonstrating how digital reconstructions can help make the past more accessible and open up new perspectives for research and public engagement.

The ISIE Talks provided an opportunity to reflect on the enduring significance of World’s Fairs and on how digital technologies can contribute to preserving and sharing the memory of exhibitions whose physical structures have long since disappeared.