Italian Design Day 2018 in Rotterdam

This year the Italian Design Day (IDD) will be celebrated with a conference in Rotterdam organised by the Italian Embassy in collaboration with Italian Professionals Netherlands group. Participation only by invitation (see below):

“Coming Back of Radical Design” will see Cristina Dosio Morozzi introducing Formafantasma.

The conference will take place on Monday 5th of March, 2018, at 17:00h, in the auditorium of the
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen,
Museumpark 18, 3015 CX Rotterdam.

The Conference will be followed by a wine serving and soft drinks from 19:00 to 20:00.
Meanwhile, guests will also be welcome to visit
the permanent collection of the Museum.

To participate as an IPN follower, please send an email with subject [DES18] to ipn.eventi@gmail.com

THE CONFERENCE

COMING BACK OF RADICAL DESIGN

CRISTINA MOROZZI AND FORMAFANTASMA

This is the season of the “coming back”: the revamp of the handmade, the attention, more and more strict, to the sustainable projects; the exhibitions on radical design of the 1960/70s in Florence at Strozzina Gallery with “Utopie radicali”, an overview on the Florentine radical groups, as Archizoom, Superstudio, 999, and in New York with the exhibition “Super design” at the R&Company Gallery, curated by Maria Cristina Didero, focused on the projects of Studio 65 based in Torino. The Milanese Gallery Era studio at Miami design 2017 showed a series of radical pieces by Nanda Vigo, Lapo Binazzi, Urano Palma, Riccardo Dalisi.

In the book “Poltronova backstage”, published in 2016 by Fortini, Miami, the history of the mythic company, based in Agliana, Tuscany, which produced in the 1960s the pieces of furniture of Ettore Sottsass, as Ultrafragola, luminous mirror, still in production and Superonda by Archizoom, still in production, there are texts on the radical movements by the members of Archizoom and Superstudio, and by Barbara Radice and myself. Next April 2018 at the Triennale di Milano, as a celebration of the Superond’s 50th anniversary, there will be a series of 6 Superonda with new dresses created by the member of Archizoom (I designed one for my husband, on the basis of his drawing, pink with fucsia dots). On my professional autobiography “Il design non è una cosa seria, ”edited in 2017 by Rizzoli, I wrote about my experience aside the Archizoom, as the girlfriend of Massimo Morozzi, one of the member of the group. This unconscious training gave me a special eye to look at design.

In the book “Oggetti risorti” edited by Costa&Nolan,(1998), one of the first on transformation, I wrote about the first samples of regenerations of materials and objects. At the time it was an auspice, now is a need for everyone, designers and companies. There is a link with my experience and the history of Formafantasma, as they both studied in Florence with Gilberto Corretti and Paolo Deganello of Archizoom. Our common origin is the Radical design. And there is a link also with my engagement, in advance, with ecology and their first presentation in Milano at Rossana Orlandi gallery’s (2010) with the installation “Autarchy”, based on flour and bread.

The recent exhibitions on Radical design underline the increasing need to take advantage of these experiences for a regeneration of contemporary design, which is too much business oriented. And ecology has to be a binding priority in every field of the contemporary society.

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Formafantasma (Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin)

Andrea Trimarchi (1983) and Simone Farresin (1980) are Studio Formafantasma, an Italian designers duo based in Amsterdam. Their interest in product design developed on the IM master course at Design Academy Eindhoven, where they graduated in July 2009. Since then, Formafantasma has developed a coherent body of work characterised by experimental material investigations and explored issues such as the relationship between tradition and local culture, critical approaches to sustainability and the significance of objects as cultural conduits.

In perceiving their role as a bridge between craft, industry, object and user, they are interested in forging links between their research-based practice and a wider design industry. As a result, works by Studio Formafantasma have been commissioned by a variety of partners including Fendi, Max Mara – Sportmax, Hermès, Droog, Nodus rug, J&L Lobmeyr, Gallery Giustini – Stagetti/Galleria O. Roma, Gallery Libby Sellers, Established and Sons, Lexus, Krizia International and Flos. Whether designing for a client or investigating alternative applications of materials, Studio Formafantasma apply the same rigorous attention to context, process and detail to every project they undertake. The added nuance for the duo is that they do so with an eye to the historical, political and social forces in their environments.

Their work has been presented and published internationally and museums such as New York’s MoMA, London’s Victoria and Albert, New York’s Metropolitan Museum, the Chicago Art Institute, the TextielMuseum in Tilburg, the Stedelijk’s-Hertogenbosch, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, MUDAC Lausanne, the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in North Carolina and the MAK Museum in Vienna have all acquired Formafantasma’s designs for their permanent collections. In March 2011 Paola Antonelli of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and esteemed design critic Alice Rawsthorn listed their studio amongst a handful of practices that would shape the future of design.

Andrea and Simone are lecturing and heading workshops in various Universities and Institutions. Currently they are teaching at the ‘Well Being’ and ‘Contextual Design’ Departments of the Design Academy Eindhoven. Since October 2016, they are at the head of the Design bachelor at MADE Program in Siracusa, Italy.

Cristina Dosio Morozzi

Cristina Morozzi is a writer, critic, fashion and design curator. For 9 years from 1987 to 1996 she was chief editor of the famous design magazine Modo. Specialized in avant-garde, she organized several exhibitions, among which: the design’s section of Biennale Giovani in Torino in 2000; in 2002, again in Torino, “Manifatture aristocratiche; in 2008 “Salvatore Ferragamo Evolving legend 1928-2008” (Shanghai and Triennale di Milano); in 2009 “L’anima sensibile delle cose” at Triennale design Museum.

She published many books, among which: “Oggetti Risorti” (Costa&Nolan 1998) “Stefano Giovannoni” (Mondadori Electa 2008); “Konstantin Grcic and Philippe Starck” (Il Sole 24ore 2011); Terrific design and Terrific fashion (Il Sole 24 Ore 2013 and 2014); “Il design non è una cosa seria”, professional autobiography (Rizzoli 2017).

She is visiting professor of design in Italy and abroad. Currently a writer for several magazines in Italy and abroad, she was editor in chief of Modo design magazine for nine years. From 2007 to 2009 she was art director for the Coincasadesign and from 2009 to 2012 for the brand Skitsch. Since november 2010 she has been coordinator of Altagamma, the committee composed of Italian luxury brands, for which she invented and edited the book “Altagamma Italian Contemporary excellence” and was curator at of the homonymous exhibition (Triennale di Milano, December 2012-February 2013). She is currently chief editor of The Moodboarders, blog on design, fashion, architecture and art by Slamp, and brand ambassador of Istituto Marangoni.