Spazio Hydro

HYDRO is a new cultural center that promotes visual and performing arts, social research, and civic cohesion. Created as a community hub, it’s a space where associations and citizens can express themselves, collaborate, and develop activities and projects, contributing to the improvement of the area they live in.

Active since 2016, it is managed by the Better Places APS association and is housed within the architectural complex of Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto in Biella.

HYDRO was born from the coming together of various cultural entities in the Biella area — individuals, formal and informal groups — all sharing a desire to actively inhabit the area, creating new collective visions through culture, music, visual, and performing arts. The promoted activities include both internal and external projects, realized through partnerships and collaborations with local, national, and international organizations.

HYDRO is a low-threshold gathering space that allows for cross-genre experimentation, the advancement of new proposals, and access to peer-to-peer learning opportunities. It’s a place to live and share, offering activities aimed at younger generations and cultural initiatives for the entire community, beyond the uniformity of mass consumption.

For four years, HYDRO was based in a space that once housed a water dynamo used to power the entire building, a textile factory located along the Cervo River. The name HYDRO references water and energy, symbolizing a space created to meet the city’s cultural needs and foster a generative dialogue among people.

In October 2020, its physical space was destroyed by a violent flood that struck the Cervo Valley. Since then, the HYDRO team has embarked on a journey of research and reconstruction to meet the new needs of the area, culminating in the opening of the new space in April 2023.

Over the years, Spazio HYDRO and the Better Places association have built a virtuous network of collaborations and partnerships on a local, national, and international scale.