The wonderful world of Spazio Chirale in Garbatella

At number 32 of Via Ignazio Persico, the northern edge of the Garbatella Garden City, an always-open shop window allows passers-by to glance inside a venue entirely painted in white, with lights and furnishings reminiscent of an art gallery.

This is the Spazio Chirale, a Laboratory and Study Centre opened in February 2016 by Chirale Srl to host research-and-development activities in digital fabrication applied to Fashion, Art and Design.

The Space was set up from the very start as an exhibition gallery, but unlike a conventional art gallery, in the window and visible areas it is not only the works — the final result of the work of artists and creatives — that are placed, but the entire process is represented, from experimentation to the realisation of the final work.

Since 2018, Spazio Chirale has also been the registered office of our company.

On the basement level there is a multipurpose laboratory, an extension and evolution of the Fab Lab model, hosting desktop-format digital-fabrication machines, including a 50 W CO2 laser cutter, several CNC vinyl cutters and a number of 3D printers in FDM technology, an electronics laboratory, a photographic darkroom and a small chemistry laboratory.

Although all the industrial-class machines and equipment have been moved to the nearby and larger FabLab Ostiense, the Spazio Chirale laboratory is able to provide all the fabrication services needed to support the installations or the educational events that take place in the street-level exhibition room, configurable as needed as a conference hall or classroom.

When not used to host exhibitions or events, Spazio Chirale is mainly intended as a Study Centre. The two rooms on street level and in the basement offer a comfortable and stimulating environment that welcomes students and researchers in a particularly evocative atmosphere among rare books, artworks and collectible objects.

The library is one of the strong points of the venue and includes hundreds of rare editions of books dedicated to Art, Fashion, Design and Technology. A real mine of information or source of inspiration for the students admitted to our internship programmes and for the researchers of the companies in our network.

Another asset of Spazio Chirale is the collection of vintage products that have been milestones in the history of industrial and technological development, or that are representative of success stories in innovative entrepreneurship. Browsing the display cases and shelves placed in the back room and in the basement, you can come across real gems — from vintage examples of the Intel 4004 chip, the first microprocessor in history, to the Verascope by Jules Richard, the first 3D camera in history, patented in the early 1900s, complete with rare 3D glass-plate slides and the related binocular viewers.

Each item in this collection is the result of the research carried out by our company in the field of innovation, both present and past. Studying past case histories is in fact a precious source of teaching for evaluating the businesses and initiatives of the future. Behind every success story, it is possible to grasp elements that can be used in everyday practice to refine our consultants’ audit and assessment skills.

Our most significant analyses have already been the subject of, and will continue to be the subject of, popularising articles on our blog.

In addition to those already mentioned, among the objects that document our research and that we have collected — inspired by the stories behind them — we can find chips belonging to the first series of the Zilog Z80 microprocessor, Nixie tubes from the 1960s, a ferrite-core RAM memory bank contemporary to the Apollo missions, several home computers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX 80, or the first Roland pen plotter.

Particular attention is paid to analog photography, a sector going through a real boom after its rediscovery by many visual artists in recent years.

The entire basement floor can be configured as a large darkroom, but if it is necessary to host multiple activities at the same time, a dedicated light-tight room can be used for that purpose. Three Durst enlargers from the 1970s, fully reconditioned in our laboratory and fitted with new LED lamps, and the legendary large-format Durst Labor 1200 enlarger allow workshops to be held and support the work and experimentation of many contemporary artists.

The collection of machines and objects that have marked the history of photography accompanies and enriches this area. Among the most significant items: one of the first Leica 35 mm cameras in history with its original set of accessories from the 1930s, a fully working glass-plate camera from the year 1900, and a rare specimen of Kodak Retina first series, the device that marks Kodak’s landing in Europe and the patent of the famous “135” cartridge film, still used today.

All the vintage machines are functioning and can be used with photographic glass plates bought from a US craftsman who manufactures them according to two original recipes from the late 1800s.

Modern equipment and technologies coexist with the products and technologies of the last century. An Optical Bench made of cherry wood and carbon fibre can also be used to shoot on glass photographic plates. 35 mm films produced with the aid of nanotechnologies can be used in the 35 mm Nikkormat SLR cameras by Nikon from the 1960s.

The chemistry laboratory of Spazio Chirale, in addition to supporting the development and experimentation of photographic processes, allows research in the field of bioplastics and biomaterials.

The study and development of polymers, derived from materials of natural origin and the result of artisan processes implemented under controlled conditions, is mainly applied to the sectors of Haute Couture and Design.

Creatives and designers have the opportunity to experiment with the realisation of new materials, usable in industrial applications or for the creation of unique artefacts and innovative concepts.

A rich materials library comprising several hundred samples is available to students and researchers for the experimentation of aesthetic and functional solutions that can be implemented through sustainable, low-environmental-impact production processes, by industrialising the relevant recipes.

Finally, a role of absolute importance is given to the field of Contemporary Art.

The Fab Lab della Garbatella, precursor to the Spazio Chirale project, was born in 2013 to support the community of Roman artists who used electronics and electromechanical interaction as expressive tools, especially in the field of visual, performance and sound art.

Since then, many established artists have produced their works in our laboratories, and Spazio Chirale has often been the venue for the events presenting their projects.

Contemporary artists of the calibre of Maurizio Mochetti, Daniele Sigalot, Gonzalo Borondo, Salvatore Iaconesi, Donato Piccolo and Fabrizio Cicero have produced and exhibited their works at Spazio Chirale.

Spazio Chirale has in turn been enriched with a rich collection of artworks across all the fields of contemporary avant-garde.

In the field of electronic music, an original analog Hi-Fi system with valve amplification allows the listening of vinyl records in rare editions, belonging to a constantly expanding collection.

In the field of visual and interactive art, every corner of Spazio Chirale is enriched with unique works, largely the result of the work of the artists who collaborate with us.

The setup of the spaces is not fixed but is a process in continuous becoming, following the rhythms of the present time and reflecting the projects and goals of the moment. Walking into Spazio Chirale, it is impossible not to be fascinated and engaged by the unique, swirling whole of the many souls that characterise this so peculiar place.