March 15 – April 9, 1999

with the financial support of the Provost’s Office

The study of contemporary Italian design takes us back to the 1950s, when postwar circumstances created an environment in which design could flourish. The need to rebuild the economy prompted manufacturers to develop new and attractive products that could be marketed worldwide. Talented architects, unable to work on architectural projects, were enlisted to work with manufacturers on small-scale design projects. The Italian traditions of fine arts and skilled craftsmanship contributed to the exploding creativity. Many Italian firms were small family-based operations that were willing to take risks with innovative designs.

Although designers had access to the technological breakthroughs that had occurred in the postwar period, many of them kept their products low-tech, using the added values of design and style to attract high prices. Modernism was solidified in the "Italian look" of the 1950s. In our exhibit, Paolo Venini’s work in Murano glass typifies the emphasis on style and product aesthetics. At the same time, manufacturers producing for a mass market placed a premium on the economic dictates of the market place. The primary center of this activity became Milan, where designers such as Mario Bellini, Vico Magistretti, and Tobia Scarpa embraced a minimal, geometric style.

In the 1960s, the Italians elevated the use of plastic and were the first to use it in combination with other materials. Enzo Mari, working for Danese, experimented with ABS plastics, producing stylish innovations, such as the Pago Pago vase, displayed in the exhibition. The groundbreaking Blow chair designed by De Pas, D’Urbino, and Lomazzi in 1967 combined new materials with an innovative design. The child’s chair by Poltroncina, on exhibit, is a smaller version of this plastic inflatable chair that depends on air for its comfort.

Also in the 1960s, a growing number of avant-garde designers reacted against the stylized elegance of the Modernists and envisioned a utopian world where good design would contribute to everyone’s quality of life. They took their cues from Pop culture, kitsch and Las Vegas. Groups of designers such as Archizoom and Superstudio, both formed in Florence in 1966, became think-tanks for design. They produced prototypes, organized design installations, and staged events that illustrated their concern for the total environment rather than the individual object.

The 1970s saw these groups and other individuals become a significant force, known as the "Radical" or "Anti-Design" movement. Furthering the concepts of Postmodernism, this movement sought to undermine the "good taste" and elite aesthetic values of Modernism. The Milan-based Studio Alchimia was founded in this climate in 1979. Its chief spokesman was Alessandro Mendini, but it also comprised Ettore Sottsass Jr., Paola Navone, Andrea Branzi and Michele de Lucchi. Studio Alchimia promoted the transformation of everyday consumer goods into objects of aesthetic contemplation. Color, strong pattern, texture and ornament were treated with the same attention as form.

Mass media increasingly interacted with and popularized the world of design. This is especially true for the designs of Ettore Sottsass, Jr. Drawing on his experience as a designer since the late 1940s, Sottsass formed the Memphis studio in Milan in 1981. He gathered around him a group of international designers, whose work incorporated decoration and color in radical terms. Their output took many forms: furniture, lighting, ceramic, glass, textiles and jewelry, all of which were marked by surprising combinations of heterogeneous elements. Cheap, plastic laminates were used alongside expensive materials, to create products full of cultural references, from mass culture to high art. In the exhibit, Sottsass’ Mandarin chair for KnollStudio and his accessories for Alessi in the 1980s may serve as an example. Postmodernism and Milan-based Memphis shared the same principles in that they emphasized historical references and the importance of the consumer. These aspects are visible in Robert Venturi’s Deco Chair and accessories by Michael Graves and Aldo Rossi for Alessi.

In the 1990s, Italian design has been greatly influenced by ecology, functionalism and technology. Designers have become more aware of the materials they use and they consider the long-term effect of their work. No longer are national boundaries between designers so clearly cut, as Italian designers work in the United States and other countries and vice versa. The designs of Giovanni Pellone exemplify this global collaboration.

Established "master" designers continue to emerge in new avenues of design. Alessandro Mendini has made his mark in the world of architecture and design. Enzo Mari, a long-time designer and more recent educator, is using his skills to design street furniture for the city of Milan. Alessi, an early manufacturer of Italian products and a proponent of Modernism, has contracted former Anti-Design designers to produce new products. Alongside these "older" designers, new designers invent products that are colorful, whimsical, and playful, such as Mendini’s Anna family and Venturini’s Nonno di Antonio garlic press in the exhibit. The Broadway chair by the architect Gaetano Pesce reflects the use of ever-changing materials by designers.

A new generation of designers is faced with the task of continuing to find new directions for Italian design. Antonio Citterio’s Dolly folding chair represents a successful attempt at finding a new way to present the decades-old plastic chair. His collaborations with Oliver Low on the OXO PC stand and Leopoldo table combine flexibility with a high-tech look. The Propeller table by Emanuela Frattini is both functional and aesthetic. Companies, such as Zelco and Benza in the United States, have brought forth a line of products from young Italian designers that stand out through the simplicity of their forms and the flexibility in their function. Take note of the playful, yet useful, Relax headrest, Buco doorstop, Mutant vase and Boing dish in the exhibition.

An important component of Italian design is fashion, by itself a subject broad enough to produce several exhibitions. Italian designers are a major force in the fashion world and Milan is one of its centers. Today’s Italian designers are not limited to haute couture. Their designs are geared to attract a broad audience, as may be seen in the design activity of the innovative Prada company.

The high profile designs of the late Gianni Versace attracted media attention and a celebrity following. His legacy continues through his sister Donatella. Others trends dominating the Italian fashion scene include the cool sophistication of Giorgio Armani, the elegance of Valentino, the edgy and whimsical Dolce & Gabbana, the signature colorations of Missoni and the classic designs of Fendi. Gucci has been re-energized by the trend-setting American designer Tom Ford.

The History of Murano Glassmaking

Thoughts of Venice evoke an aura of romance, leisure in the sun, and a gentle ride through the canals in a gondola. But an image of Venice would not be complete without the beautiful and delicate examples of glass that have remained unrivalled since the days of its origin. Glass created at Murano in Venice has achieved fame since the Middle Ages and its history is as unique and vibrant as the glass products displayed here in the gallery.

During the Middle Ages, the Venetian Republic had strong economic ties to the Orient. It is not surprising, then, that Venetian glass was born under the influence of the techniques and forms of Oriental art. By the 14^th century, Venice was exporting its glass throughout Europe. England, France, Flanders, and the German countries held Venetian glass in high regard and esteemed it worthy to be considered fine art.

Venetian glassmaking entered a new era, marked by major technological innovations, in the mid 15^th century and Muranese glass experienced a rebirth not unlike the Renaissance occurring in Italian art during the same time period. In his family workshop, Angelo Barovier perfected the process that led to the development of glass crystal. However, the height of the Murano glassmaking industry did not occur until the 16^th century when glassmakers invented filigree work with which they created exquisitely light, simple, and pure forms. By this time, Venetian glass had achieved such a high reputation that designers and makers were forbidden to leave the republic and only those persons belonging to the "Magnificent Community of Murano" could practice the art.

The first manual of glassmaking technology, L’Arte Vetraria, was written by the Florentine priest Antonio Neri in the 17^th century. With the translation of this publication into English, Latin, German, French, and Spanish, Venetian glass began to be reproduced throughout Europe. By the late 1800’s, Muranese glass technology broke away from older, traditional styles and entered into the modern age with a new Modern Style. This style was characterized by such products as vases formed in glass-mosaic, called murrino, and decorated with colorful floral motifs.

The transition from traditional and modern was accelerated by the formation of the company Cappellin-Venini & Compagnia in 1921 by Paolo Venini and Giacomo Cappellin. Venini became one of the foremost names not only in Muranese glass, but also in the whole of the Venetian glassmaking industry. Examples of his artistry can be found in the exhibit, notably the striped decanter, the "Handkerchief" dish, and the "Notte" glass vase.

A Graphic Look at Italian Books

In Italy, as around the world, books are the ambassadors of culture. They transmit stories and ideas, data and facts, and romance and fantasy to whoever chooses to open their covers. In this exhibition, we will look at Italian books from the standpoint not of literature, but of design, focusing on the graphic artists who clothed the cultural ambassadors in style, and masterminded the visual appeal of books to the Italian public. From the point of view of graphic design, Italian books took a tremendous leap forward after the Second World War. Before this time, the book was considered first and foremost a work of literature whose value lay in the words it contained."You can’t judge a book by its cover" held true in Italy prior to World War II, because book covers were generally quite simple. They stated the title,he author’s name, and the name of the publishing house in a simple font on a monochrome background; the really interesting material was to be found inside. But after 1945, graphic designers and publishing houses made an important conceptual leap: although one can’t judge a book by its cover, one can at least make the cover look interesting. In other words, publishers realized that a book required more than just an author to write the text. Before it could hit the presses, a book also needed a graphic designer to lay out the text and to create an attractive cover with a visual appeal to customers.

As Italian publishing companies such as Rizzoli, Garzanti, and Einaudi began to team up with graphic designers, they realized that establishing a graphic program for their companies could also help to create a corporate identity. This could be accomplished by using the same typeface on all their covers; by using the same logo, and by standardizing the size of the book cover. In this way, even books that were written by different authors would have some similarity to their covers, and would be recognizable as coming from a certain publishing house. Thus, a graphic program that gave its books a strong visual character was an excellent way to communicate the corporate identity of a publishing house. In this exhibition, we find three books in a series of pocket paperbacks, published by the Vallecchi Company. Although the main cover images differ, the books nevertheless share certain characteristics. For example, each book cover uses the same size of Claudio font to announce the author’s name, in boldfaced capitals, in the upper right-hand corner. Below, in upper- and lowercase, is the title of the book. In the upper right-hand corner is the book’s number in the "TV", or "Tascabili Vallecchi" (Vallecchi Pocket Books) series. Here, we have numbers 18, 19, and 52 in the TV Series. The front cover is finished off with a simple frame, rounded elegantly at the corners.

Similarly, the covers of In Africa con Amore, Il Pozzo Profondo, and Palcoscenico Sotto il Sole, designed by Claudio Marchesini, are so graphically similar that they must unmistakably come from the same publishing house. Like the Vallecchi books, they use the same typeface and basic layout on the cover to communicate, not only the author and the title, but the corporate identity of their publisher.

Some of the most stunning covers in this exhibit were designed by Mario Mariotti for the Il Castoro publishing company. Mariotti used the book cover as more than just a space for the title, author, and a picture; rather, thecover becomes a space for his imagination to play and to poke fun at the viewer. His front covers are rather straightforward, but his back covers are quite literally ‘the back,’ as if the pages were invisible and one could see straight through the book. Often, Mariotti used a photograph on the back cover, which was reduced to a silhouette on the front cover. Thus, in order to get a complete picture of each book’s subject, the viewer would have to look at it from all sides. From 1967 to 1981, Mariotti designed a total of 204 such covers for Il Castoro.