giulio iacchetti - oggetti disobbedienti

giulio iacchetti: 'oggetti disobgedienti'
triennale design museum, milan
may 29 to june 28, 2009

'odnom' (world globe), 2009, prototype produced by palomar
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

'oggetti disobbedienti' takes its name from the definition giulio iacchetti gives to the
pieces he has selected himself for the exhibition. on show at the triennale design museum
is what the designer likes to call manifesto-like items, 'disobedient', as he sees them as
paradigmatic and emblematic of his overall career. ranging in design from chairs, knives,
taps and even biscuits, through his designs iacchetti explores the need to expand and strengthen
the democratisation of design, through a dialectic relation between culture and marketing.
iacchetti's approach is conceptual, in which he works on ideas rather than objects.
he captures the spirit of the time and analyses its contradictions, creating objects that
generate meaning and suggest deviations, short circuits, and contrasts.
his 'disobedient' objects are often a commentary on or question of the state of the world today.

odnom is derived from the reflected letters of the word 'world' (mondo in italian).
in renouncing the geographical conventions by which north usually dominates south,
the odnom globe restores visual equity and appropriate importance to the most hidden zones
of the earth. the base of the globe consists of an inclined mirror, with geographical terms
for the southern hemisphere written in reverse, so as to be perfectly legible once
reflected by the mirror.


'un sedicesimo 9', 2009, bimonthly magazine edited by pietro coraini and illustrated by maurizio prina
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

war and peace: half of the magazine's pages are dedicated to images of little soldiers
(all alike, all in order and all the same color), and half show a series of profiles of a
hypothetical peace march: youth with banners, families, nuns, buddhist monks, all different,
colored, disorderly...the game consists of cutting out the figures along their edges
and folding the little tab near the feet. the children and adults a like are free to choose
whether to make up an army or a festive peace march, or maybe both.


'vespa table', 2009, limited edition coffee table made of bruno vespa's books, particleboard panel, nylon belt
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

the 'vespa table' was a readymade project for the 'madeathome' exhibition at
spazio rossana orlandi, curated by atcasa/corriere della sera.it. the side table is
realized entirely out of recycled materials. the table's surface and base are cut from
old cupboard doors found on the road, while the support stand is made up of a pile of
books by bruno vespa, bound together by a nylon belt.


'ai piedi della memoria', 2008
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

created as an alternative street signal marking, showcasing the plaques commemorating
fallen partisans or other places that have marked the life of the city. the outlines of two feet
and an arrow are marked on the asphalt using a stencil. the signal is meant to draw the
attention and curiosity of passersby, inviting them to raise their heads and take a look
at the spot which is being marked.


'flexible bench', 2008 made from tubular steel, multilayer wood and plastic laminate
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

flexible bench is meant to act urban seating. the seat/back element can rotate,
turning the bench into a shelter, a place where one may sleep for the night, or act as a
roof to protect oneself from the summer heat(or bad weather). the project is meant to
remind us of the inhospitality of cities, dedicated to the homeless, but is not intended to
offer solutions to social problems.


'luk luk', 2008, anti-theftsystem for bicycles with prototype by extra vega
made of steel, aluminum cast and painted iron
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

realized with alessandro gnocchi, luca spagnolo and the turin community of cyclists,
as part of the exhibition 'torino geodesign' curated by stefano boeri, stefano mirti
and lucia tozzi (for torino world design capital 2008). 'luk' promotes the use of he bicycle
in the city by rationalizing the use of antitheft devices. the system has the form of a large
padlock fixed onto numerous poles in the city: the intention is to free cyclists from the
weight of chains and locks, both physically and metaphorically. only key and lock are
personal and easily transportable.


'bye bye fly', 2007
flyswatter, injection moulded polypropylene produced by pandora design
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

'bye bye fly' was originally conceived as an unconventional souvenir for milan.
iacchetti was inspired by the mosquitos and flies which infest milan during the
summer evenings. that's how the design was born for a flyswatter that was reproduced
to look like the street layout of milan. normal flyswatters have a net-like griding
which reminded iacchetti of the plans of cities. however, milan is made up more of rings
and radial streets.
'I bet the flies, as long as they have to die, would prefer being killed on the spot
on via montenapoleone! (exclusive street in milan)' - GI


clay font, 2007 in collaboration with MUNLAB ecomuseo dell'argilla at cambiano within the context of 'eco e narciso'.
cultura materiale/design, curated by rebecca de marchi and stefano mirti (id-lab)
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

'clay font' was the result of an open project in which designers and design schools
were to promote the use of six material characteristics: water, clay, cotton, iron, stone
and talc. inside the carena kilns, where MUNLAB operates, the typic 'air-bricks'
are produced, the piedmont half-fill brick used for making partitioning walls and for plugging.
the program calls for producing the three dimensional numbers and letters of the alphabet,
out of clay, by making simple cuts and beveling, to be operating on transverse sections
of the raw brick, without any further modification to the structure of the handiwork.
clayfont can be downloaded in digital forma from: www.giulioiacchetti.com


'flag plaid', 2007 with nylon fabric produced by invicta
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

'an object in fabric, urban, striped'. all one needs to do is raise their eyes and glance at
many windows of the city decked out with the peace banner. passing from the vertical
to the horizontal is quickly done: a colored flag that becomes a cloth -
or a cloth that becomes a flag? spread it out in the meadow or on the beach or keep it in
the car or motorcycle trunk. equipped with a pocket and four tips at the corners for fixing
to the ground, the cloth allows you to always have your own personal microcosm at hand,
while transmitting peace loving signals.


'pantheon game', 2007 multireligious wall symbol, wood
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

this game is an inflection of a classical furnishing accent for the wall.
by varying the positions of the cubes, it is possible to obtain seven religious
or political symbols. the twelve blank faces correspond to atheism and a
haphazard combination corresponding to a state of spiritual confusion.
'pantheon game' offers the possibility of containing many within a single object,
making them equal within the context of a play of images constantly undergoing a change.


'st. peter squeezer', 2007, ceramic cocktail juicer produced by pandora design
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

a stylized reproduction in miniature of st. peter's square. the basilica's cupola becomes
the juicer and the square before it becomes the recipient for the squeezed juice.
the project of st. peter squeezer inflects and associates the term 'squeezing' with the
voluntary tax contribution directed toward the catholic church, for which st. peter's basilica
in rome is the symbol.


'lingotto', 2006, ice cube tray, silicon rubber produced by f.lli guzzini
image © ramak fazel
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

original name of the project: H20ro, designed for the exhibition 'acqua', opos 2003.
the project arises from the invitation to conceive concrete solutions for introducing
greater consciousness into the use of water in our daily lives. here water,
in the form of icecubes, is presented as being the equivalent of gold.




'policino', 1999
with matteo ragni, fernando contreras wood
image © studio iacchetti
courtesy of the triennale design museum, milan

a chopping board for bread, the device is 4cm in diameter and is meant to hang around
your neck like a jewel. a micro-cleaver, for dividing crumbs of bread equitable.
the pollicini ('tom thumb') chopping board for crumbs is meant to be provocative
and totally useless. it is meant to push us to reflect on the irony of rich resources
and their unjust distribution throughout the world.