XNL Piacenza Contemporanea

Located in the heart of Piacenza, XNL Piacenza Contemporanea is a cultural center entirely dedicated to contemporary art, located in the Ex-Enel building owned by the Foundation of Piacenza and Vigevano.

XNL is the acronym of the wording "Ex-Enel" under which the historical building rested in the years following its disposal by the National Electricity Board and its acquisition by the Foundation in the early 2000s. Built in 1907 to house a cardboard factory and a lithograph, it was partially renovated in 1919, when the entire complex passed into the hands of the Italian Federation of Agricultural Consortiums, which was established in Piacenza at that time.

On this occasion the building found the appearance we see it today and that is due to the project of the engineer and architect Guido Tirelli from Reggio Emilia, author in Emilia of very recognizable neo-Renaissance buildings and the intervention of some painters in vogue at that time, such as Luciano Ricchetti from Piacenza. His are the allegories that can be admired, after the cleaning, on the staircase of the palace.