Autogrill. Una storia italiana

Hailed as an emblem of modernization, criticized as an icon of consumerism and alienation and most recently dubbed a “non-place”, Autogrill has played a central role in the historical memory of the Italians ever since Mario Pavesi invented the first “restaurants for drivers" in the early ‘70s and the neologism which was soon to become its definitive “label” (auto-grill). In reconstructing the origins of motorway cuisine, the birth of Autogrill (in 1997 arising from the merger of businesses under the Alemagna, Motta and Pavesi labels) and subsequent vicissitudes before being privatized (it is now controlled by Edizione Holding, the Benetton family holding company), this book shows us the “great transformation” of Italian society in terms of consumption, cars and motorways