In Trieste there is the most beautiful gym in Italy: it is John Reed Fitness that combines workout, music and art in the scenic building of a former bank from the early twentieth century that today hosts exhibitions with exceptional curators, the latest of which is dedicated to Superheroes, and original rooms set up inside the old vault.
John Reed is a fictional name that, in the mind of its inventor Rainer Schaller, evokes that of a “rocker” with a free soul and a curious mind.
The first John Reed center was opened, in fact, in Bonn in 2016 with the dream of creating a new concept of gym that would enhance the importance of music during training and experiment with the healing power of art, making it an integral part of each session.
John Reed has always recognized the importance of artistic expression as an integral part of one’s identity, also in sports.
(Samuele Frosio, CEO RSG Group Italia, artist & curator)
A concept that has been very successful, leading John Reed to open 48 clubs in 12 countries, including Berlin, London, Istanbul, Los Angeles, present in Italy in Trieste since 2022 and in Mestre since 2017 (members can obviously have access to all the gyms in the network).
Located in the central Corso Italia, the John Reed Fitness Trieste headquarters offers 2000 square meters on four floors with a bar, rooms for live courses, group workouts, cardio area, functional training, cycling, free weights, sauna, spaces dedicated to personal training on request and, obviously, many works of art.
Inside the John Reed gyms, unique in Italy, exhibitions are regularly set up in collaboration with with entities that embrace their same philosophy. Like the one inaugurated in October 2024 and open until January 2025 “We Are All Superheroes”, a project curated by the artist Alessandra Pierelli and Francesca Baboni, which invites us to reflect on what it means to be a hero in today’s life.
On display are 7 artists who have worked on the theme in a pop key: Gus Andy, who uses AI to create cinematic characters, Felipe Cardena, whose kaleidoscopic collage refers to a dreamlike reality, Fabrizio Ceccarelli, who mixes lettering and graffiti in a neo-pop style, Marco Murri, who works with a painting that mixes sacred and profane, Andrea Poggipollini who reinterprets iconic figures such as Catwoman and Batman according to the canons of classical statues, Giulia Maglionico, who addresses the fight for women’s and minorities’ rights through both real and fictional characters, from Wonder Woman to Kamala Harris, and Alessandra Pierelli who reflects on the concept of mask and identity through a three-dimensional language with resin sculptures that she covers with drawing pins.
The exhibition projects were strongly desired by the CEO of RSG Group Italia, Samuele Frosio, an artist himself and son of Angelo Frosio, art master and founder of the first social cooperative in the world to use art as a treatment tool for people with cognitive difficulties of all kinds, the Bergognone Art School and its Folligeniali Museum, with which the John Reed brand has often collaborated.
The interior of John Reed Fitness Trieste was developed by artistic director Ron Miller who in the concept played with the contrast between the splendor of the building’s past and a modern suburban decadence.
After the long conservative restoration, all the original decorations of the imposing early twentieth-century building, such as the old bank vault with attached safes, have remained intact and “incorporated” into the gym. Not without irony, some rooms have been covered in gold mosaic precisely to pay homage to their initial destination.
Various permanent urban art works are also exhibited on the walls and in the spaces of the gym, some of which are for sale. The artists, including Samuele Frosio, are coordinated, in addition to Ron Miller, by Luca Mayr, curator and artistic director of Urban Colors.
And every Monday and Thursday evening at John Reed Fitness Trieste a special guest arrives: a DJ who plays live from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm to start or end the week with the right vibe.
Truly unique in Italy.
The Secret
The artist Alessandra Pietrelli, from the Marche region and Trieste by adoption, approached the world of John Reed as a client of the gym. Having learned of the idea of hosting exhibitions inside, she proposed herself as a curator and her idea was enthusiastically welcomed by Samuele Frosio.
Useful Info
John Reed Fitness Trieste
Corso Italia 5
34122 Trieste
Membership from 60 euro per month
Free admission to exhibitions even for non-members of the Club every Saturday from 3pm to 9pm or on request
