Hi guys and welcome back to my channel! If you are new welcome! My name is Germana and in today's episode there I will talk about Made in Italy furniture and design.
I will tell you about its value, its history, its elements characterizing and what it represents nationally and internationally. You are ready? Let's begin!
As I imagine you know, Made in Italy is characterized by operating in four product sectors defined as the 4 A. Clothing, which also includes textiles and accessories; Furniture and design; Agri-food; Automobiles. So before moving on, I recommend that you listen to the podcast previous in which I tell you about Made in Italy fashion and clothing.
You can find it in the "Podcast" playlist or by clicking on the link in the description. So, how was Italian design born? In today's podcast we will retrace together some fundamental stages of its evolution to understand the meaning and understand what it represents today.
Italian design is presumed to date back to the early 1950s, but most likely its roots go back even earlier. In those years, Italy was lagging behind most advanced European nations as far as he was concerned the promotion of contemporary art of industrial innovation and of any other advanced design expression of contemporary thought. The Italian economy was in fact still mainly based on agriculture and this backwardness was not only visible in the design and furniture sector, but also in the textile sector which, although slightly more advanced, it still maintained a highly decentralized artisan structure on work.
The workforce, in fact, was unskilled and it carried out activities such as the treatment of silk and the spinning of fabrics in private accommodation and not in specialized factories. From the point of view of education, however, the Italian panorama seemed to go against the trend. In fact, already in the eighteenth century a clear one emerged subdivision of the Academy of Art into two components: there was a traditional current that was born and yes developed in cities such as Genoa, Bologna, Venice and Florence, promoter of the teaching of the so-called major arts; and then another in Milan, Naples, Parma and Turin which, on the contrary, opened up to the minor arts through the establishment of ornamental design sections.
The first industrial exhibitions in Turin are certainly worthy of mention , Milan and Venice as well as the first Italian exhibition of 1861 in Florence. A bound sensitivity slowly developed to the applied arts that began to find use in the production of luxury items as furniture, tapestries and porcelain for the courts of the pre-unification states. In this context, the first manufacturing communities developed that constituted the premise for subsequent territorial productive aggregations which, together with the districts, they will form the engine of the Italian industrial economy of the 1900s.
Despite this, Italy still remained characterized by an evident provincialism compared to the European panorama, both in the field of visual and applied arts. Behind this state of backwardness, there was a motivation linked to a spirit little inclined towards innovation coming from the industrial revolution and the scenario continued to worsen due to strong regional differences. From the end of the nineteenth century a new training model began come to life in Venice, Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome and Palermo: that of the schools of art applied to industry often linked to industrial art museums.
Only at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did he begin to flourish a new interest in the arts applied to industry and this above all thanks to the increase of the average annual income and to the realization of a first network of large industries present mainly in northern Italy. In the immediate postwar period, however, the production of an artisanal nature constituted by geographical extension and economic dimension still a predominant part of the national productive economy. In particular, in the furniture sector, the artisan organization still remained very strong and tied to a strong regional tradition.
However, it is precisely in the years between the two wars which opened the way to a new taste of a simplifying and functionalist nature which was integrated with references to an Italian spirit expressed in a modern adaptation of classicism. The first objects appeared such as the radio of the Castiglioni brothers and Caccia Dominioni, pioneers of that new generation which will make design the primary commitment and no longer simply an auxiliary to architecture. Design thus became an essential element strongly linked to functionality.
The 1950s were a decade suspended between the new myths of modernity industrial and the static nature of an ancient and provincial Italy. In those years, the architect Gio Ponti designed the famous Pirelli skyscraper that it will remain the symbol par excellence of the reconstruction of post-war Italy. Together with him, the aforementioned Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni left their mark , but also Marco Zanuso, Bruno Munari and Ettore Sottsass.
Italy was radically modifying and modernizing not only the economic structure, but also that of the social assets of the country. Many Italians emigrated from the south, which was still in a backward condition, to northern Italy, which, on the other hand, was already in the midst of industrialization. Purchasing power increased, the standard of living of families and families improved consumption began to expand towards products for the home or for mobility.
There was an evolution in the taste for home furnishings, the demand for modern furnishings as opposed to the traditional house grew and a new dynamic and metropolitan bourgeois class emerged . In short, through the furniture one could express one's social status. The professional boundaries changed and the designer became a real expert marketing a bit of an art director, as well as obviously a designer.
Design thus became a symbol of modernity and capacity for innovation and Milan was transformed slowly in the world capital not only of fashion, but also of design. The Salone del Mobile was born in 1961. In the 1960s, design underwent numerous developments and came into conflict two types of different currents: that of institutional design which he saw discipline linked solely to the functionality and usefulness of the object; and that of radical design that he wanted instead be provocative and needed social and political involvement.
However, what characterized Italian design abroad was its territorial identity and its ability to create the products of success that were the expression of certain territorial contexts. We can say, in fact, that today Italy is one of the major exporters of aesthetic goods in the world and a large part of the assets of its balance of payments are made up from products related to fashion and design. In particular, Milan has now become the heart of these productive sectors and it can be considered as a single district linked to design innovation.
This is because Italian design has been able to express itself through a constant attitude of inconsistency, representing the needs and requirements of one society that was experiencing changes brought about by industrialization. So if you want to understand Italian design in depth, we must accept the coexistence of apparently irreconcilable opposing tendencies such as craftsmanship and large series, luxury and mass production, local systems and advanced research, the historicized tradition and the new materials. This contradiction and instability is the characterizing element of the design Italian that has led him to persist and always be contemporary over the years.
It is, therefore, the most effective formula of representation of a living country the crisis not as an episodic and emergency phenomenon , but as a stable condition to live with. Well, that's all for today. Now that we have covered the main historical stages together of the evolution of Made in Italy furniture and design, what are the phases that most intrigued you?
Let me know in the comments below what you think. I hope this podcast was interesting for you and for having given you food for thought and research. Thank you for listening to me and I look forward to seeing you at the next episode!
Bye!
