Marco Giannitti

Mole Antonelliana

Symbol of the city of Turin, the unusual building was designed by the engineer Alessandro Antonelli (1798-1888) in 1862 on commission from the University of the Israelites, who wanted to have a large public synagogue built to seal the end of discrimination on religious grounds. The changes implemented during construction caused no small opposition, especially for the designer's goal of creating a skeleton-like pavilion on a very high drum that would allow for an enormous elevation. In 1869, when the building was largely completed, the Jewish community refused to disburse further funds, given that the technical measures adopted had significantly increased the expense, and four years later the construction site was taken over by the Municipality, coming to an end in 1889. under the guidance of the engineer Costanzo Antonelli (1844-1923), son of Alessandro, while the interior decoration was carried out around 1905 by the architect Annibale Rigotti (1870-1968). As desired by its creator, the Mole with a height of 167.5 m was confirmed as the tallest masonry building in Europe, a record lost in 1953 when a storm caused part of the spire to collapse. Further damage was caused by other atmospheric agents, such as an earthquake in 1887, which gave rise to significant consolidation problems, and a lightning strike which in 1904 caused the collapse of the statue of the winged genius. Seat of the National Museum of the Italian Risorgimento, from 1908 until the 1930s, the Mole has housed the National Cinema Museum since 2000, which for some years has been one of the most visited museum sites in Italy. Still the tallest masonry building in Italy, it is one of the best known monuments, so much so that it is depicted on the 2 euro cent coin minted by the Italian Republic.

During the years The model was exhibited in many exposition. For example, in 2018 in the Lego World, Copenaghen, the official lego event in the world. The model in 2016 was so famous that Lego Italy asked me to have a copy for their new shop opening in Turin. It is still exposed there.

Article on local newspaper
Lego shop opening on local newspaper

Scale: 1:90 (Aprox)
Pieces: 35000 (Estimated)