il Valentino

Concept and text by Andrea Betta

” Il Valentino was my grandfather’s family’s tavern.”

His father had it built between the two world wars, and since then it has become the center of Venaria’s nightlife.

On Easter Monday, more than 500 bottles of Barbera were sold to families heading out for picnics in the countryside. The rest of the days were filled with wine, cards, darts, and bocce tournaments.

The wonderful atmosphere of those years has gradually faded away, leaving behind a simple, nondescript bar—one that’s even a bit run-down.

I demolished everything that wasn’t a load-bearing element, in an effort to restore it to its original state and eliminate all the superfluous additions that had accumulated over the years. I discovered that the internal structure consists of reinforced concrete columns, beams, and slabs, which I find surprising given the period and nature of the building. I like to think there was some connection between my great-grandfather and the French pioneers of reinforced concrete frame construction—perhaps even directly with A. Perret and Le Corbusier—during the construction of the house on Rue Franklin.

In the empty rooms, I restored the spaces’ functionality by adding only pieces of furniture to highlight the contrast between the new and the old. “