Machinery was stripped out, the factory demolished, the site developed to a design by Renzo Piano, a leading Italian architect, and the AcademiaBarilla opened in 2004, its basement housing the library.
Academia Barilla's many American students head first for books on American cooking, says Giancarlo Gonizzi, the librarian who classified its contents along the lines of the Dewey decimal system to help users find their way around.