aldo rossi. design 1960-1997 at milan's museo del novecento

350 ALDO ROSSI-DESIGNED PIECES TOGETHER, FOR THE FIRST TIME

Milan’s Museo del Novecento pays tribute to Aldo Rossi, one of the leading figures of the 20th century visual culture, with an exhibition completely dedicated to his work. Titled Aldo Rossi. Design 1960-1997 and curated by Chiara Spangaro in partnership with Fondazione Aldo Rossi and Silvana Editoriale, the show takes a closer look at the architect, designer, theorist and critic’s oeuvre.

The exhibition puts together — for the first time ever — 350 pieces of furniture and ordinary objects, prototypes and models, paintings, drawings and studies by Aldo Rossi from 1960 to 1997. The result is a visual testimony to his work as an architectural designer and theorist.

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A TRIBUTE TO AN ITALIAN MASTER

One of the leading figures of the postmodern movement, Rossi designed numerous completed works in Italy and beyond, including the residential unit in Milan’s Gallaratese district (see more here), Modena’s San Cataldo cemetery, and Berlin’s Quartier Schützenstrasse. Throughout his entire career, Rossi investigated the relationship between architecture and the cityscape, monumental constructs and objects. It was, indeed, the city what tied all of his work together, constituting the theme of his theoretical research and professional activity.

In 1979 he ventured into the real of industrial production and high craftsmanship, creating furniture and consumer products with Alessi and then with Artemide, DesignTex, Bruno Longoni Atelier d’arredamento, Molteni&C|UniFor, Richard-Ginori, Rosenthal and Up&Up (now UpGroup). In total, he created more than 70 pieces of furniture, many of which are still in production today.

With a layout designed by Morris Adjmi – MA Architects — an assistant and later an associate of Rossi’s in New York — the exhibition invites visitors to dive into Rossi’s world, one room at a time. His universe is presented in nine rooms, each one featuring a realm in which a certain relationship between graphic design and craft/industrial products emerges with references to Rossi’s architecture and private space.

A catalogue raisonné entitled Aldo Rossi. Design 1960-1997, published by Silvana Editoriale, edited by Chiara Spangaro and with a critical essay by Domitilla Dardi, will be brought out in conjunction with the exhibition. This is the first publication to bring together all of Rossi’s designs: prototypes, finished objects, previously unseen works and out-of-print works by the Milanese architect-designer who won the Pritzker Prize in 1990.