The Cannon-Sandretto Plastics Collection Re-opens!

Cannon owns one of the World’s largest collections of antique plastic objects, hosted in an elegant 19^th century villa in Pont Canavese, a half-hour drive from Turin, Italy. The town of Pont is located at the foot of the Alps and was once at the centre of an important network of roads that crossed the mountains – a place to trade and meet different cultures. The villa was originally the guesthouse for the Sandretto factory. The building required significant renovation and this, of course, was incompatible with keeping the Cannon – Sandretto Plastics Museum open to visitors. Today, after several years of intense refurbishing, the site has been reopened. It is now a non-profit cultural organisation known as the “Cannon – Sandretto Plastics Collection – Civilization of Plastics”.  Seven rooms host one of the richest collections of objects made in plastic materials, ranging from the early Ebonite, Celluloid, Casein plastic, Urea-Formaldehyde and Bakelite to the most modern technopolymers. New graphics, timelines and visual displays help the visitor familiarise with the history of polymers, the main types of plastics and their applications. An opening ceremony has been held on Sunday, June 7, 2015. The Cannon Group management attended the event with their families, accompanying a number of guests that included the town government and population, members of the Italian plastics community, local and national press.

Marco Volpato, Cannon Group‘s President, expressed its satisfaction for this long-expected occasion: “It has been a challenging task, but we finally made it: the public fruition of this Collection was a promise that we made to ourselves and to the plastics community when we acquired its property several years ago. We had to face a number of technical and bureaucratic obstacles, but at the end we are here to open it again. A century of research, patents and inventions has generated a huge amount of products that have changed the way we live on this planet. These products are now back on display here. It’s a good day for us all at Cannon and for Pont !” An agreement signed between Cannon and the town’s government ensures that a guide will be available to open the site to the visitors who booked their visit in advance. During summer 2015 the Collection will be open during the week ends, or by appointment during the working days.

 

To book a visit contact communication@cannon.com   or   info@comune.pontcanavese.to.it    or call +39 0124 862511