pinot-gallizio was born in alba, piedmont, where he became an independent left councilman and a chemist. in 1955, he met asger jorn, with whom he co-founded the experimental laboratory of the imaginist bauhaus in alba, which was part of the international movement for an imaginist bauhaus, in opposition to the return to productivism by others in the bauhaus school, in particular max bill. it was held in pinot-gallizio's studio, a monastery from the seventeenth century, and was attended by such artists as enrico baj who experimented with nuclear painting techniques, walter olmo, who experimented with musical interventions, ettore sottsass, elena verrone, and piero simondo.