“It will be a museum of empathy. A dynamic place to which you want to return, to get involved, to touch what you see. The future of design is sharing.” These are the words of Ico Migliore, the creator together with Mara Servetto (Migliore+Servetto Architects) of the exhibit design of the new ADI Design Museum – Compasso d’Oro in Milan, and together with Italo Lupi of the logo found on all the materials of the museum, as a graphic expression of the link between past and future.
The objective of this cultural center is to present design to a wide audience as the result of the successful collaboration between the creativity of designers and the productive intelligence of companies, with a spotlight on the objects that have won the Compasso d’Oro. Objects that since 1954 ADI has gathered in a historic collection, entrusted to a foundation created and recognized since 2004 as a cultural asset of national heritage. At the same time, the space acts as a meeting place, offering theme exhibitions.
The official presentation was made with the attendance of the president of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana and the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala, accompanied by the president of ADI Luciano Galimberti and the president of Fondazione ADI Collezione Compasso d’Oro Umberto Cabini at the Porta Volta headquarters, still under construction, at the center of the revitalized area between Via Ceresio and Via Procaccini. A complex of industrial buildings, already in the phase of conservative restoration prior to the decision to insert the museum, which in the 20th century contained a tram depot, and then a large power plant of Enel.
The exhibition area of 2400 m2 is joined by 600 m2 for services (foyer, cafe, bookshop), about 1500 m2 of storerooms and 500 for offices, where ADI will move its headquarters over the months to come. The first appointment: 18 April 2020, just before Milano Design Week 2020, with the assignment of the XXVI Compasso d’Oro ADI awards, and an exhibition of the chosen products. The full official opening is slated for June 2020.
