Featuring Sir Peter Cook, Herzog & de Meuron and more
October 16–17, 2026, 10am
Dorado Community Hub
Turin 10152
Italy
Sir Peter Cook, Herzog & de Meuron, Carolyn Steel, Monumental, Nice Developers, Powerhouse Company and more come together in Turin for two days of bold ideas for the urban future, from placemaking and architecture to development, infrastructure and urban technology.
What began ten years ago as an experiment in bringing the world’s most radical urban ideas to Turin has grown into an international gathering for people passionate about the future of cities. Last year alone, Utopian Hours welcomed over 4,000 people, with guests and audiences representing more than 30 cities around the world.
For part two of its “Ten Years Edition”, thousands will gather again in Turin to encounter the ideas, projects and people imagining our urban future. In true Utopian Hours spirit, the programme moves freely across disciplines and scales, from placemaking and architecture to development, housing, infrastructure, mobility, urban technology and civic action, confronting some of the most urgent challenges facing 21st-century cities.
Sir Peter Cook, co-founder of Archigram, joins as Guest of Honour just days before his 90th birthday. In a special masterclass, Cook reflects on 90 years of urban imagination and a practice that has persistently challenged what architecture and cities might become. Alongside the festival, Stratosferica presents The City Is a Garden, Cook’s first solo exhibition in Italy, extending his lifelong exploration of architecture, landscape and speculative urban futures.
Other guests include Wim Walschap, CEO and Senior Partner at Herzog & de Meuron; Zahra Ebrahim, co-founder of Toronto’s Monumental; Carolyn Steel, architect and author of Sitopia; Robert Winkel of Nice Developers; Paul Stavert of Powerhouse Company; and Léon van Geest of Rotterdam Rooftop Days.
The ideas take shape in projects already reshaping cities. Gleispool Dreispitz reimagines former railway infrastructure in Basel as a public swimming pool, while Helsinki’s Crown Bridges creates a major new connection for trams, cyclists and pedestrians, with no private cars. Romain Minod of Quatorze explores architecture as a tool for community action and transformation.
The anniversary began in May with a special first chapter at Rotterdam’s Groot Handelsgebouw. In October, that relationship continues in Turin, with Rotterdam as European Guest City, bringing another layer of exchange between two cities with distinct cultures of experimentation and urban transformation.
Utopian Hours does not offer a single vision of the city to come. It puts different visions in the same room: architects alongside activists, developers alongside urbanists, established figures alongside emerging voices. Ideas are tested, challenged and shared, not only on stage, but across the festival.
On October 16–17, La Centrale Lavazza and Dorado Community Hub become the setting for two days of talks, masterclasses, exhibitions, roundtables and the Urbanites Fair: a celebration of ten years of urban imagination, and a place to discover what might come next.
