The fifth edition of the Biennale Tecnologia opens in Turin today, April 15, 2026, and will run until Sunday, April 19. The event will host over 120 meetings and more than 300 guests from around the world. Organized by the Politecnico di Torino, the event’s theme is “Solutions” and focuses on how technology can be used for the collective good.
Compared to previous editions, the fifth edition goes beyond the university campus to various locations in the city, including the Circolo dei lettori, the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, the Teatro Regio, Piazza San Carlo, the Egyptian Museum, the National Cinema Museum, the National Automobile Museum, and other spaces. The Politecnico di Torino remains the main venue for the event.
The initiative is held under the patronage of the city of Turin, the Piedmont region, and the Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities, with support from the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, the CRT Foundation, the Turin Chamber of Commerce, among others.
The inauguration starts on Wednesday, April 15, at 5 p.m. with a lecture by physicist Alessandro Vespignani at the Aula Magna of Politecnico, focusing on the co-evolution between humans and artificial intelligence.
In the evening at 9 p.m. at the OGR in Turin, the show “Dov’è il Po?” (Where is the Po?) by Marco Paolini, directed by Teresa Vila, with texts by Giulio Boccaletti and Marco Paolini, will be presented. The show explores the Po as a physical and political reality, examining the territorial systems and hydraulic transformations that have shaped the relationship between water, the city, and power.
Between March 17 and April 14, before the main event, the “Tecnologia Diffusa” program offered meetings, workshops, and participatory activities in various neighborhoods of Turin and the metropolitan region, in collaboration with the Civiche Torinesi Libraries, the Case di Quartiere, and other association spaces, focusing on topics such as environmental sustainability, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing.
The program revolves around cross-cutting thematic axes under the leadership of Guido Saracco and co-commissioners Simone Arcagni, the Frame collective – Divagazioni scientifiche, and Federico Bomba de Sineglossa. The themes covered include brain-machine interfaces and neurotechnologies, geopolitics and technological democracy, artificial intelligence and human sciences, the impact of AI on work and the economy, space exploration, medicine and mathematics, sports and new technologies, environmental sustainability and water management, AI ethics, and robotics.
Among the guests are theologian and AI ethicist Paolo Benanti, philosopher Mariarosaria Taddeo, jurist Gustavo Zagrebelsky, journalist Karen Hao, filmmaker Hito Steyerl, mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, physicist Alessandro Vespignani, neuroscientist Giorgio Vallortigara, astrophysicist Marica Branchesi, anthropologist Michael Crawley, writer Joe R. Lansdale, and comedian Maccio Capatonda, as well as numerous Italian and international academics, researchers, and professionals. The show “Socrates 16.22” brings actor Stefano Accorsi and researcher Tatiana Tommasi together on the theme of artificial intelligence.
The event includes three exhibitions. “Framing Problems,” with the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, is spread across six locations in the city, showcasing eight international artists exploring the impact of new technologies through artistic practices.
“Sensitive Data,” hosted at the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento, is a collaboration with the Associazione Archivio Storico Olivetti, addressing the themes of the city, technology, and work through archival documents and Olivetti machines.
“BLACK-OUT. Energy, interactions, and mitochondria,” organized by Vincenzo Guarnieri, is presented at the Gallerie d’Italia, inviting the public to reflect on the urgency of energy availability. Both exhibitions offer the opportunity to interact with OLO, a chatbot developed by TIM Enterprise and trained on the Olivetti archives.
For schools and youth, activities are planned at the Politecnico’s labs and research centers as part of “Politecnico Aperto” on April 16 and 17. More than 200 students from different Italian regions will participate in a four-day residential campus.
On April 18 and 19, student teams from Politecnico will present their projects on Piazza San Carlo, showcasing prototypes in aerospace, nautical, automotive, robotics, and communications sectors. Activities are also scheduled for children and young people from primary and secondary schools. These will take place at the Politecnico’s 0-14 space on Thursday and Friday, and at Intesa Sanpaolo Protezione’s X space over the weekend.
