Since 2007, the Italian Design Museum has been annually renewed, narrating the protagonists, the historical and social context of Italian design, and showcasing products and people, companies and values. Masters such as Andrea Branzi and Alessandro Mendini have curated the various editions, with installations designed by Antonio Citterio, Studio Cerri & Associati, Pierre Charpin, Italo Lupi, to name just a few. Inaugurated on February 7th, the new exhibition, curated by the Museum’s director Marco Sammicheli and Marilia Pederbelli, with an exhibition design by Roberto Giusti, unfolds chronologically through approximately 400 objects on display, spanning from the 1920s to the early 2000s. It tells the story of Italian design as an intertwining of ideas, innovations, and relationships with industry and society. «A museum conceived as a school and an increasingly accessible space. We have also decided to make admission free for students of all ages and from all over the world», explains Stefano Boeri, President of Triennale Milano.
The five interactive site-specific installations
The exhibition route is complemented by five transversal thematic insights, conceived together with Mammafotogramma as true interactive site-specific installations, dedicated to the themes of: decoration, industry magazines, person, self-design, and lightness.
● Decoration: a tactile tapestry and a table containing a 3D puzzle to stimulate free interaction, starting from fragments of decoration taken from objects, drawings, and photographs preserved in Triennale’s collections and archives.
● Magazines: in addition to examples of Italian and international magazines, a video animation illustrates, through various cinematic techniques, the main characteristics of a publication.
● Person: this section refers to fashion and accessory projects, whose playful setup recalls “Gira la Moda,” an 1980s game used to create model designs. On the three superimposed monitors, images can be scrolled like a slot machine.
● Self-design: for this installation, an algorithm has been developed capable of activating a generative process that composes furniture based on a series of real data.
● Lightness: represented by Gio Ponti’s Superleggera chair, chosen as the paradigm for this theme, it invites the public to experience the meaning of “designing lightness.”
New acquisitions
The exhibition highlights the expansion of the collection, which among its new acquired works includes those by masters such as Ettore Sottsass, Carlo Mollino, Piero Bottoni, Antonia Campi, Tomás Maldonado, contemporary professionals like Antonio Citterio, Patricia Urquiola, Andrea Vallicelli, Ron Arad, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Naoto Fukasawa, Piero Lissoni, Jasper Morrison, Marc Newson, Fabio Novembre. There are also objects by Monica Bolzoni, Carla Crosta, Cinzia Ruggeri, and the archive of Giusi Ferrè, in addition to illustrations and graphics by Giorgio Forattini, Saul Steinberg, Armando Testa.
Photo credits: Andrea & Filippo Tagliabue – FTfoto, courtesy of Triennale Milano
