designers + artisans unveil whimsical creations at doppia firma '23

‘doppia firma. dialogue between design and artisinal excellence’

On the occasion of the 2023 Salone del Mobile, the non-profit Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship unveiled the seventh edition of ‘Doppia Firma. Dialogues Between Design and Artisanal Excellence’. The exhibition took place at Palazzo Litta, highlighiting creations by Adam Nathaniel Furman, Atelier Biagetti, Jaime Hayón, and many more.

Every year, the Doppia Firma event spotlights the alliance between design innovation and the tradition of great master artisans not only from Europe but also, for the first time, from other continents, such as Asia (with a project crafted in Pakistan) and Latin America (with the works of Colombian artisans), to foster a creative partnership between a designer/artist and an artisan, or a manufacturer of excellence. ‘These one-of-a-kind objects are born from the cross-fertilization between a design culture and a savoir-faire that is an authentic expression of its region of origin,‘ writes the organizing team.

‘Zig Zag’ folding screen designed by Zoe Piter, crafted by Maximilien Pellet

image © Gregory Copitet – Double V Gallery

a 7th edition exploring playfullness, humor, and more

The Doppia Firma 2023 exhibition focused on ‘playfulness’ — a theme unbound by rules and conventions. From humor, irony, and allusion to metaphor, jest, and deliberate confusion, going as far as overturning perspectives and values, the designer and master artisan were invited to express their vision, through exchange and rule-breaking, within a spirit of pure pleasure and creative freedom.

For this year’s edition, the organizing partners have thoroughly researched, on an international level, a series of works created around this theme in the spirit of Doppia Firma — a spirit that has long since established itself both as a methodology and a benchmark, becoming a much-appreciated format that has inspired several similar initiatives, in which designer and master artisan interact, complement each other and work with the same authorial dignity (hence the principle of the ‘double signature’). Moreover, both designers and master artisans have worked with many different materials and techniques (ceramic, metal, mirror, wood, glass, straw, paper) to create new interpretations of functional and decorative objects.

exhibition view at Palazzo Litta | image © Luca Rotondo

showcasing 24 international designer-artisan duos

From April 18-23, 2023, visitors were welcomed into the historical Palazzo Litta’s Ducal Apartment on the first floor, where the 7th edition of Doppia Firma unfolded. Michelangelo Foundation, Fondazione Cologni, and Living Corriere della Sera introduced the show with an imposing site-specific artwork executed by Milanese master artisan Gianluca Pacchioni, who specializes in stone and metal sculpting, jointly with Girasole Pietre Naturali, an artisan atelier in Verona dedicated to the research and processing of stone. In addition, Italian baroque architect Francesco Maria Richini’s monumental 17th-century Courtyard of Honor played host to this exceptional artisan-artist project, a veritable demiurge, and heir of the Renaissance tradition.

Overall, the exhibition showcased 24 couples of international artisans and designers to express the value of their creative dialogues. Two of the couples were featured in the ‘Artijanus / Artijanas’ program, developed under the curatorship of Triennale Milano.

chair designed by Chris Wolston, crafted by José Luis Álvarez | image © David Sierra

Below are all the creative couples of designers and artisans, or outstanding craft businesses, featured at Doppia Firma 2023: Meherunnisa Asad, with Muhammad Ashfaq (Pakistan); Atelier Biagetti, with Ceramiche Gatti (Italy); Jean Blanchaert with Lucio Bubacco (Italy); Giampiero Bodino, with De Castelli (Italy); Yvonne Brunner and Daniel Zeisner, with Breitwieser Manufacturer (Austria); Victor Cadene, with Maison Thevenon (France); Matteo Cibic, with Simone Crestani (Italy); Philippe Cramer, with Atelier B (Switzerland); Adam Nathaniel Furman, with Curiousa (UK); Adriana Gomez (Switzerland/Colombia) with Yecid Robayo (Colombia).

The list continues with Pierre Gonalons, with Craman Lagarde (France); Jaime Hayón, with Lladró (Spain); František Jungvirt, with Ajeto Glass Studio (Czechia); Helle Mardahl, with Jørn Friborg (Denmark); Pierre Marie, with Lison de Caunes (France); Lucia Massari, with Barbini Specchi Veneziani (Italy); Julien Michaud, with Emaux de Longwy (France); Luca Nichetto, with Lunardelli Venezia, (Sweden/Italy); Zoe Piter, with Maximilien Pellet (France); Supertoys Supertoys, with Studio Zand (The Netherlands); Mario Trimarchi, with Massimo Lunardon (Italy); Chris Wolston (America) with Jose Luis Álvarez (Colombia). Lastly, as part of the Artijanus/Artijanas project: Gianni Cinti, with Elena Mulas, and Sonia Pedrazzini, with Walter Usai.

image © Luca Rotondo

‘Some of these creative couples were asked to design and produce works specifically for the Doppia Firma exhibition at Palazzo Litta. The collaborations between Biagetti and Gatti, Blanchaert and Bubacco, Bodino and De Castelli, Cibic and Crestani, Massari and Barbini, Nichetto and Lunardelli Venezia have resulted in masterpieces that harmoniously combine design and craftsmanship with the extraordinary creative freedom and wealth of references, associations and insights fostered by the exhibition theme, in the name of creativity that is perpetually unconventional,’ concludes the organizing team.