When you enter the Fiat factory, you might believe that you are in a large, clean, modern hotel, with symmetrical staircases and large glass doors. All white, no decoration, only the most essential furniture: bleak, but grandiose. The first building is not for working: there are offices and schools. Americanism begins with philanthropy; philanthropy made up of calculation and mutual benefit. The idea must have been Agnelli’s, the man of intuition and psychological perspicacity. It would be impossible to understand the good fortune of Fiat and its popularity among the multitudes if you didn’t consider Agnelli’s almost poetic qualities: the captain of industry who knows how to understand and exploit (in others!) the value of indifference, the man who knows how to conquer with a smile.
Piero Gobetti, Visita alla Fiat, dicembre 1923
Children along the helical ramp of the Balilla tower, Fiat summer camp, Marina di Massa.Interior of the Balilla tower.Giovanni Agnelli visiting the colony.The Senator at the Feast of the Mother and Child at Villar Perosa, 1937.Fiat Vocational College.Giovanni Agnelli, Vittorio Valletta and Ugo Gobbato with the gymnasts of the Fiat Recreational Club, 1924.Blessing and laying of the foundation stone of the Edoardo Agnelli International Institute, 1938. Cardinal Fossati and the Rector Major of the Salesians Fr Pietro Ricaldone were present with the authorities.Giovanni Agnelli visiting the Tina Nasi Agnelli Sanatorium in Pra Catinat, Fenestrelle, 1938.Giovanni Agnelli visiting the Tina Nasi Agnelli Sanatorium in Pra Catinat, Fenestrelle, 1938.
Cooking soup for the Lingotto plant cafeteria, 1943. During WW2s darkest moments the connection between Fiat and the city of Turin became very close. Company stores sold food, firewood, clothing, furniture, shoes, practically supplementing public institutions.
