italian design icons at the triennale design museum

italian design icons at the triennale design museum
littorina autarchica – bicicletta in legno e alluminio, 1939, vianzone
courtesy collezione privata

italian design icons
triennale design museum, milan
on now until february 22nd, 2015

milan’s triennale design museum presents ‘italian design icons’, an exhibition curated by silvana annicchiarico (director) that showcases different objects, products and artefacts that have shaped and defined creative development in italy — from the origins of italian design in the thirties, to the present day.

salvatore ferragamo, sandalo femminile, 1936-38
courtesy museo salvatore ferragamo

chronologically organized, the exposition greets visitors with a room dedicated to artist fortunato depero and his atelier casa d’arte in rovereto, where he realized a number of costumes, furniture, paintings, graphics, tapestries etc. next, patrons are taken on a journey of over 650 works including pieces by: massimiliano adam, franco albini, renata bonfanti, andrea branzi, lorenzo damiani, fortunato depero, salvatore ferragamo, piero fornasetti, antonia fields, formafantasma, martino gamper, ugo la pietra, bice lazzari, enzo mari, fausto melotti, alessandro mendini, carlo mollino, bruno munari, gaetano pesce, gio ponti, ettore sottsass and paolo ulian; concluding their tour in a space that is devoted to the contemporary practice of denis santachiara who is dedicated to open source design and self-production.

lorenzo damiani, flying office, 2004
courtesy lorenzo damiani

supported by an exhibition display conceived by antonio citterio, patricia viel and partners, the feature of ‘italian design icons’ is a ‘high altar’ which hosts a rotating exposition of six objects (5 icons, plus 1 super icon). the articles presented here are curated by a different italian design master and change each month. this intimate selection of products offers insight into the thoughts of some of the industry’s key players, and their careful consideration of what they acknowledge to be classics; each one devoted to expressing and remembering shared values and achievements.

enzo mari, proposta per un’autoprogettazione, tavolo 1123 xi, 1974
courtesy galleria luisa delle piane

the first selection of objects has been made by the great enzo mari (on until may 4th) and will be followed by:

cini boeri – may 6th / june 8th, 2014
mario bellini – june 10th / july 13rd, 2014
andrea branzi – july 15th / august 31st, 2014
nanda vigo – september 2nd / september 28th, 2014
alessandro mendini – september 30th / october 19th, 2014
ugo la pietra – october 21st / november 16th, 2014
michele de lucchi – november 18th / december 14th, 2014
gaetano pesce – december 16th, 2014 / january 18th, 2015
antonio citterio – january 20th / february 22nd, 2015

corradino d’ascanio, vespa 98, piaggio, 1946 (selected by enzo mari)

‘what is left. what resists time and modes, which goes beyond trends and schools, which stabilizes in perception and settle as a ‘classic’ imaginary. in a mutant museum, that changes each year exhibition design and selections, and tells the story of italian design proposing whenever objects, projects, and different artifacts, could not miss a section in some way ‘different’ : less mutant and more permanent.’ – silvana annicchiarico, director of the triennale design museum

BBPR, lodovico barbiano di belgiojoso, enrico peressutti, ernesto nathan rogers, serie spazio, olivetti, 1957 (selected by enzo mari)