Biography

Guido Chiarelli was born on 24 September 1902 in Caltanissetta. He spent his childhood there and studied at the Technical Institute. He was the eldest in a family of four children and his father encouraged him to become a mining engineer. He began his studies at the University of Palermo, and finished them at the Polytechnic University of Turin after attending a Course in Electrical Engineering. From 1928 to 1968 he worked at the City Hall of Turin where he was able to put into practice the lessons learnt in his engineering courses: he was appointed Chief Engineer in 1956. Guido Chiarelli died in Turin on 7 October 1982 at the age of 80.

During his career he worked in different fields, designing and building electrical wiring, heating systems, pipeline transport, street clocks, and traffic lights. In the 1950s he also designed a luminous signage column to be positioned at tramway stops. His name, however, is mainly linked to public street and highway lighting for the changes he made. In the early 1960s Guido Chiarelli's plans for lighting Turin were groundbreaking and elevated municipal lighting to an appreciated form of design leading to city becoming known as the Italian "Ville Lumière"^.

 In 1961 for the celebrations of the centenary of the Italian unification, he particularly designed and installed several, innovative lighting systems. With Guido Chiarelli's modern applications and creations, for the first time public lighting had also an artistic impact which could be seen in the lighting of the fountains and of the rock garden at Parco del Valentino, created for Expo 61 which attracted over 4 million visitors. In 1961, he also realized the project for the lighting of the Mole Antonelliana, at the end of the work for the reconstruction of the spire. In 1958 he obtained the title of Knight and in 1965 the title of Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 2011, for the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification, his work was commemorated in Turin three times: in June with posters in Palazzo Carignano square, on 8 July at the Lingotto Gallery and during the celebration on 24 July at the Officine Grandi Riparazioni. On June 9, 2012, in Agliè, on the occasion of the awards of "Il Meleto di Guido Gozzano" literary competition, with the poetry reading of ‘’An Evening Sky’’, Guido Chiarelli was honoured for his street lighting works.

On July 3, 2019, at the presence of the City Hall authorities, a commemorative plaque for Guido Chiarelli was unveiled in Valentino Park.