triennale design museum: dream factories 2011

‘dream factories: people, ideas and paradoxes of italian design’ at triennale design museum, milan
image © designboom

on the occasion of the 50th salone del mobile (milan design week), the triennale design museum presents ‘dream factories: people, ideas and paradoxes of italian design’ an exhibition devoted to the individuals, companies and various projects which have played an important role in the history of italian design – from the end of the second world war to the present – and that have contributed to the global success of the annual event.

martí guixé and alessandro mendini
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the story is told by alberto alessi, president of italian company alessi , who has curated the exhibition. he brings together an overview of iconic objects, illustrating the activities and nature of ‘factories of italian design’ as he calls them. he tells this narrative by moving along a line of the functional, semiotic and poetic values of the products being manufactured, while also displaying the great abilities and skills implemented in such ‘research laboratories’ which have attracted foreign designers to choose to work in italy since they are aware of the quality of italian production.

the overall design of the exhibition space has been conceived by spanish designer martí guixé, who envisions the show as one of the adventures narrated in ‘alice in wonderland’,
developing a dialogue between objects, designers and the histories of great entrepreneurs in combination with the artistic and fictional imagery of authors lewis carroll and antoine de saint-exupéry.

entrance of the show
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in total there are twelve themes presented: the phenomenon of the powerhouses of italian design; powerhouses of italian design vs. mass-production indstries;
what is the real meaning of the term ‘design’?; the role of objects in a consumer society; the powerhouses of italian design as research laboratories; design as art and poetry; transgression as a constant in the history of italian design; the languages of objects and designers; the technique of epiphany in contemporary design; the practice of the borderline;
paranoic designers and metanoic designers; the metaphor of the good gardener.

the exhibition’s graphic by martí guixé draws influences from the poetic and fictional imagery of authors lewis carroll and antoine de saint-exupéry
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life-size photography light boxes of italian design greats (editors and company owners) are situated amongst the collection of products on show. ernesto gismondi, marco bonacina, giulio meroni, …
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the ‘courageous captains’ or entrepreneurs, are displayed in life-size totems alongside the pieces on show. they exhibit the full portraits of italian design greats, while on their backs important data about the history and relevance of their company and design collection can be read.

cesare cassina
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piero fornasetti
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for the first time, all of the pieces on show can be freely used, to touch or sit on, while smaller more precious pieces are placed under glass protection, and prototypes are placed on a podium.

sergio gandini
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a view into the exhibition
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michele de lucchi and maddalena depadova
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carlo guglielmi and gio ponti
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tawaraya, a boxing ring-cum-playpen with a monochrome striped base, pastel colored ropes designed by masanori umeda
LC4 chaise lounge designed by le corbusier, pierre jeanneret and charlotte perriand, produced by cassina
image © designboom