Italy has played a pioneering role in the field of industrial design, producing artifacts, lamps, and accessories present in museums and homes around the world. At the same time, it is equally important to analyze today the evolution of a discipline so deeply rooted in life and society, and ask ourselves about its future developments. These are the levers that prompted the Department of Architecture of the MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, directed by Lorenza Baroncelli, to inaugurate, with a series of prestigious acquisitions, a collection of contemporary design.
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Twelve are the studies and independent designers involved, thanks to the contribution of Joseph Grima, architect, curator, founder of Space Caviar and Creative Director of the Eindhoven Design Academy: Architetti e Artigiani Anonimi; Bloc Studios; Formafantasma; Stef Fusani; Kostas Lambridis; Maximilian Marchesani; Jasper Morrison; Objects Of Common Interest (Ooci); Older Studio; Rehub; Martina Taranto; Studio Plastique – Snøhetta – Fornace Brioni.
Proporzione Mediterranea Vase II by Architetti Artigiani Anonimi – Photo © Omar Golli
Lapsus Materiae by Kostas Lambridis
While the identified segments are five: Industrial Design, which combines refined aesthetics with large-scale production; Collectible Design, where the builder directly treats the project to get a unique piece or a limited series; Anonymous Design, referring to those articles whose importance lies more in functionality than aesthetics and history; New materials, with projects that welcome the current challenge of integrating innovation and sustainability in the field of design; and finally, Digital Design, aimed at new media and their continuous evolution.
Ondamare by Bloc Studios – Photo © Studiomare
Becoming Stone #3 by Stef Fusani
At the center of the selection is the value given to the dialogue between Italian and international culture. This includes both aspects related to the territory, with projects connected to local productive realities; both the influences of Italian culture and tradition on the new generations of authors and on works made in the first decades of the 21st century.
Botanica by Formafantasma – Photo © Luisa Zanzani
Clelia by Bloc Studios – Photo © Dario Salamone
This first nucleus of works on display gathers in itself the lines of research and trends to which contemporary creative production turns. A carefully selected assortment of objects, from consumer products to the most innovative devices that highlight how design can shape, and at the same time be shaped by, technological advancements and societal transformations.
