In Padua, DU30 is about to be born: a new cultural and community center that will rise in Arcella, in Piazza Azzurri d’Italia, on the site of the former Coni building. The name is not a simple acronym: it actually recalls the famous Du 30, the chair designed by Gastone Rinaldi and produced by Rima in the 1950s, right in the factory that was located near the area destined for the new building.

Du 30 is one of the most representative chairs of post-war Italian industrial design, and in 1954 it won the Compasso d’Oro in the first edition of the award destined to become the most prestigious recognition of Italian design. With its minimalist shapes, structural lightness, and technical innovation, it remains one of Gastone Rinaldi's most significant designs. The choice of the name DU30 restores visibility to an important part of the city's industrial and design history.

A new place for the neighborhood

The new center has been conceived as a public space open to the city, designed to foster participation, culture, and encounters among people of different ages and backgrounds. The project includes exhibition spaces, a library with a meeting room, a terrace, areas dedicated to events, artist residencies, and social housing.

The intervention is part of the Hub Arcella 2030 program and the National Innovative Program for Housing Quality, funded through the PNRR – Next Generation EU. It is also part of the process through which Padua submitted its candidacy for Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2028, shaping up as one of the infrastructures, both symbolic and concrete, that make credible the vision of a city capable of connecting neighborhoods, institutions, and contemporary art. After the preliminary remediation operations started in 2024, the project has entered the operational phase and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2027.

Press Review

1. IL GAZZETTINO, 23-07-2026 — "The DU30 at the former CONI ready for spring 2027", by Alberto Rodighiero

2. MATTINO DI PADOVA, 16-07-2026 — “New cafeteria at Du30, the Municipality is looking for the operator «We will soon have the call for tenders»”, by F. Pad.

3. artribune.com, 17-06-2026 — “Padua's candidacy for Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2028. Great names and ambitions”, by Editorial Staff.

4. ilgiornaledellarte.com, 17-06-2026 — “Padua, the city of the «three withouts», runs for Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2028”, by Cecilia Paccagnella.

5. MATTINO DI PADOVA, 17-06-2026 — “Contemporary Art Padua runs, led by Cattelan = Contemporary Art The return of Cattelan for Padua capital”, by Claudio Malfitano.

6. padovaoggi.it, 17-06-2026 — “Padua candidate for Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2028”, by Editorial Staff.

7. GAZZETTINO PADOVA, 13-05-2026 — “Du 30, the windows are arriving too: square closed = At the Du30 hub here are the windows Piazza Azzurri d’Italia closed”, by Nicoletta Cozza.

8. MATTINO DI PADOVA, 29-04-2026 — “Site inspection at Du30 «Works near completion»”, by Editorial Staff.

9. MATTINO DI PADOVA, 19-04-2026 — “«A museum at the former Configliachi with paintings from the Eremitani»”, by Felice Paduano.

10. GAZZETTINO PADOVA, 17-06-2026 — “The places included in the project: from the Castle to the Altino, up to the Du30 and the former Configliachi”, by Lu. Prez.