From BMW Welt, Ferrari and Nissin to Webuild: Top Corporate Museums

Corporate culture is not an abstract concept, but a living heritage made up of memories, archives, spaces and initiatives that tell the story of companies and, through them, that of entire nations. Immersive museums, exhibitions, events and cultural projects all arise from a single idea: that business is not only about production, but also about creativity, innovation, and responsibility.

This is the key to understanding a trend which, for over a century, has accompanied social and economic transformations.

Corporate culture as an organised phenomenon took shape at the beginning of the twentieth century, particularly in the United States and Europe, when companies realised that it was not enough to produce – they had to communicate an identity. Henry Ford’s Ford Motor Company, with its museums dedicated to the history of mobility, was among the first to codify a narrative of itself.

In Italy, the phenomenon took root later, but with significant results: from the Pirelli Foundation, guardian of historical archives and promoter of exhibitions, to Olivetti in Ivrea, pioneer of a model in which design, culture, and enterprise intertwined. Olivetti did not merely produce typewriters – it organised exhibitions, supported architects and artists, and conceived the factory as a place of community.

In the 1980s and 1990s, with globalisation and the spread of major brands, corporate culture became a strategic tool to consolidate public image. Corporate museums began to appear, becoming true tourist attractions such as Casa Martini in Pessione, the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, and the Lavazza Museum in Turin.

Spaces where industrial memory blends with artworks and territorial promotion, offering visitors an immersive experience that is historical, emotional and identity-shaping at the same time.

From Japan to the United States, from France to Germany, retracing the history of corporate culture means delving into unique, immersive experiences that still today shape the image of brands that have become icons.

In Japan, in Yokohama, a museum celebrates the story of Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin, who in 1958 invented instant noodles and in 1971 launched the famous Cup Noodles. That story is now told within the Cup Noodles Museum, where instant noodles are presented as a tool of global nourishment: from the space race (they were chosen by NASA astronauts as food for missions) to humanitarian emergencies, where they have proved to be a quick and accessible meal.

Just as with food, cars too have become the subject of iconic museums and a means of promoting corporate culture. In Munich, Germany, BMW Welt combines exhibition, cutting-edge architecture and storytelling of the renowned car brand. Opened in 2007 next to the historic BMW Museum (1973), BMW Welt is a futuristic architectural complex housing permanent exhibitions, prototypes, concept cars and motorbikes, as well as cultural events, concerts and temporary shows.

With over 3 million visitors a year, BMW Welt has become one of Germany’s most visited sites, symbolising how a company can turn its brand into cultural heritage.

In the United States, The Coca-Cola Company has transformed its archive and brand into an immersive museum experience that attracts millions of visitors every year to Atlanta. Inaugurated in 1990 and completely renewed in 2007, the World of Coca-Cola is an experiential museum that tells the story of the world’s most famous drink.

Here the brand becomes a spectacle. Visitors can explore historical archives, advertising collections, immersive installations and, above all, the legendary “Vault” — the sealed room said to hold the secret formula for the Coca-Cola recipe. There is also a tasting hall with more than 100 beverages produced worldwide. More than an immersive exhibition, it is a storytelling machine that blends memory, emotion and marketing, turning corporate culture into a tourist attraction.

Telling the story of Coca-Cola is not the same as recounting a bridge or a dam. But infrastructure, too, is becoming the subject of emotional and cultural storytelling. In Italy the Webuild Group has launched a cultural initiative aimed at narrating the impact of infrastructure on people’s lives. A new point of view to show infrastructure with a different perspective, telling how bridges, dams, metros and high-speed trains have changed Italians’ daily existence, contributing to the development that made the country one of the world’s leading industrial powers.

This is the meaning of Evolutio, the cultural project launched by Webuild, consisting of an exhibition and a permanent Digital Museum.

The exhibition, “Evolutio – Building the future for the last 120 years”, is held at the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome from 8 October to 9 November. It guides visitors through the great transformations of twentieth-century Italy: from dams to motorways, from metros to high-speed rail, up to the Strait of Messina Bridge.

The exhibition route at the Ara Pacis Augustae unfolds through six themed rooms that take visitors on a journey spanning over a century – from the 1930s to today. Each room represents a fragment of history in which technical progress intertwines with people’s lives.

The Digital Museum, “Evolutio – Infrastructure for human development” (www.evolutio.museum), is the first native digital museum dedicated to major infrastructure works. It makes this heritage accessible to all through an interactive museum that gathers Webuild’s previously unseen multimedia heritage, consisting of about 1.5 million digitised documents, including photos and videos.

Through a variety of virtual museum tours, visitors can explore more than 12,000 photographs, as well as a wide selection of documentaries and vintage films. They can also access the Edutainment Area, with 3D videos and interactive graphics that offer an in-depth look at the world of great infrastructure.

Evolutio is therefore not merely a communication initiative, but a declaration of identity through which Webuild – which over 120 years has completed more than 3,700 projects in 50 countries – chooses to share with the public a legacy made of construction sites, ingenuity and progress.

Corporate culture thus becomes an integral part of its mission: to build not only material but also cultural infrastructure, capable of strengthening awareness of the role that major works have played and will continue to play in the development of Italy and the world.