ADI design museum shows evolution of radio with works by keith haring, le corbusier & more

the exhibition in milan looks into the roles of radio as a multifunctional communicative device and a tool for propaganda, to name a few.

matthew burgos September 5, 2024 4 min

‘Radio Design: the Aesthetic Evolution of Radio Devices’ exhibition

At ADI Design Museum in Milan, the exhibition Radio Design: the Aesthetic Evolution of Radio Devices takes place, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the first public radio broadcast. It tells the changes and innovations that have shaped the world of radio design and technology by displaying the models of these devices backed by their history. Model after model, the show gazes at the roles of radio in society as a multifunctional communicative device, a medium to play tracks, and even a tool for propaganda. Even the designer and exhibition curator Davide Vercelli himself brings over more than 50 radio models from his own collection to fully showcase the evolution and revolution of radio design.

As visitors roam around, they see that radio and society don’t have a single channel. There’s a connection between them, an exchange. One has influenced the other, and both have been influenced by social and cultural changes. Radios have lived lives, and these stories are told through socioeconomic contexts, personal narratives, and the inventions of the designers such as Keith Haring and Le Corbusier. These are all explained and showcased at ADI Design Museum in Milan, from September 5th to 27th, 2024. After these days, Radio Design: the Aesthetic Evolution of Radio Devices moves to Bologna from October 4th to 31st, 2024, hosted by the Cirulli Foundation.

ADI museum radio design — all photos by Denise Manzi, courtesy of ADI Design Museum, unless stated otherwise

ADI Design Museum shows radio designs of past and present

From the first valve models to their upgraded and most modern forms, the exhibition thrives on colors, components, and contexts of radios. Some spaces inside the ADI Design Museum are dedicated to a few significant companies, such as Braun, Ducati, and Brionvega. Radio design and technology from design masters such as the Castiglioni brothers, Zanuso and Sapper, Le Corbusier, Starck, Panton, and Loewy show up too.

Away from focusing only on the aesthetics, Radio Design: the Aesthetic Evolution of Radio Devices shares stories about the technological changes caused by the invention of transistors. From here, the exhibition explains why radio design has started to become smaller and smaller. It ends up highlighting the impacts of advanced technologies on radios, as well as the past and present materials used to produce them.

exhibition that examines radio as a tool of propaganda

Here, the mass production of goods using plastic comes through, the advent of Bakelite and the modern technopolymers included. The exhibition keeps on to examine radio as a tool of propaganda and national unity, a common instrument by Italy and Germany back in the days but used in different ways.

In another space, the modernist radio born from the competition launched by Gio Ponti and the Space Age of the 1970s appears, continuing the inventions of the designers who contributed to the aesthetic evolution and the spread of radio from the 1930s to the present day. ADI Design Museum hosts Radio Design: the Aesthetic Evolution of Radio Devices in Milan from September 5th to 27th, 2024.