The Universal Exposition of Turin 1911 was officially born during a meeting of the Camera di Commercio (Chamber of Commerce) of Turin, on February 11, 1907. During this meeting, the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Teofilo Rossi, announced his plan to invite approximately 1000 guests among the wealthiest representatives of the Turinese society (inclusive, therefore, of members of the aristocracy and the high bourgeoisie, mainly land owners and industrialists) for a discussion aimed at defining the features of the Exposition. This discussion took place during a subsequent meeting of February 14, 1907. During the February 14 meeting, two Exposition Committees (General and Executive) were created.

The minutes of this meeting reveal that the organizers voted to call the exposition “Exposition of Industry and Labor” to separate it from the archeological and artistic exhibitions already planned in Rome. The choice also underscores the need that the organizers felt to celebrate Turin as Italy’s “capital of industry” at a time when the competition with Milan was becoming stronger and stronger.