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Tuesday, 17 May 2005 | Levent OZLER
The History of Design through Danese's History
Danese is an important element in the definition of the identity of Italian design. Their path of development began back in 1957, representing a form of relationship between designers and business that was extremely advanced and innovative at the time.
The History of Design through Danese's History
Danese was created in 1957 and was devoted to creating items for the home and office, art editions and didactic children's games. From a modern perspective, Danese intended to implement the transition from hand crafted production to mass production on the basis of a streamlined production structure, handling the planning, testing, distribution, promotional and communication phases themselves while transferring production to a network of suppliers. These suppliers were chosen from the vibrant world of small and medium-sized enterprises using rigorous quality as the watchwords.
Danese's commitment was therefore expressly directed towards the project, by inviting artists such as Bruno Munari and Enzo Mari, creating a close relationship between art and design. They then proposed a workshop to experiment with the creation of mass produced objects. This experimentation was manifested through the use of countless different materials: aluminium, ABS, stainless steel, alabaster, nylon, brass, porcelain, cardboard, marble...
The first Danese production phase, which lasted until 1962, saw the company give identity to everyday design and objects, expressing pure and essential geometries. Thus there came about such design icons as the Cubo ashtray, made of melamine and aluminium, by Bruno Munari (1957), the puzzle-sculpture Sedici Animali by Enzo Mari (1957), produced in wood using a single cut, the Putrella multi-purpose tray by Enzo Mari (1958), obtained from sections of construction steel.
From 1964 to 1967 their research was focused on materials and design, reaching innovative dimensions: Bruno Munari and Enzo Mari experimented with new relationships between materials and languages, using plastic and fabrics, among other things. Bruno Munari's Falkland was created (1964), which transforms a nylon tube into a light sculpture, as was the Nature series of prints by Enzo Mari (from 1963). Another element that contributed significantly to the Danese image was the study of packaging, to present products simply and eloquently: simple materials and minimal forms.
In the years that followed, experimentation continued as a working method: capitalising on what they had done thus far, Danese explored new ways and new forms of sensoriality.
So it was that the Timor perpetual calendar (1967) and the In Attesa basket (1971) by Enzo Mari came about. The last decade of the first phase of DANESE history saw the company expressing new contributions in terms of sobriety of forms and sophistication of materials in a minimalist vein. Flores by Enzo Mari and Ellice by Marco Ferreri appeared (1990).
The ownership of the company was transferred in 1991; it has subsequently undergone various other passages of ownership and in 2000 it began a new adventure, starting precisely with attention to production and experimental continuity and the relaunch of its image.
The Danese World Today
Danese started with the study of its constituent parts, its genetic code, so to speak, composed of various elements:
- brand as an instrument of production and value;
- reduced dimensions as a knowledgeable choice;
- responsibility and concreteness of language;
- the individual at the centre of the project;
- long duration as key quality;
- mono-material in poly-material concept;
- products designed for sustainable use;
- continuous experimentation as methodology.
In the early years of its new management, DANESE is coming to grips with the ideas, materials and scenarios where the relations between people and their ways of living are continually redesigned, working on the design and testing of both materials and typologies.
So we have the Archiviovivo lectern by James Irvine, obtained from extruded metal, the Pin up magnetic board by Paolo Rizzatto, responding perfectly to the different management of information through the various colours, the Elisabetta tray by Enzo Mari (2001) a folded and riveted aluminium plate. At the same time the company have reissued their historical pieces, which today still represent a topical design response, such as the 1983 glasses by Achille Castiglioni, today still made of crystal glass through hand crafting processes.
Over the years, precisely the work together with various international designers has produced a continuous flow of new ideas and exchanges for the company's development, in both design and production terms. Danese therefore continues to be a company that distributes while Òlimiting itselfÓ to the logistical management of the product. The Bincan system by Naoto Fukasawa was created (2004), which is adaptable to any type of situation, as regards both form and function, and the Pagina 38 bookends by Huub Ubbens (shortlisted for the Compasso d'oro 2004).
DANESE today advance in their research in the two most significant areas of experience of their long production history: the world of work and that of light.
Quality has always been the focus of the company's attention: quality understood both as a design and a logistical process. The very environment in which Danese operates responds to the concept of quality consistent with the fundamental aim: to give quality to the environment where we work. The two operational centres are currently concentrated in two strategic centres: one in Milan, with the relative showroom as its European nerve centre, the other in Hong Kong as an antenna in the Far East.
The future sees consultancy as protagonist in the design and the production spheres.
Danese's new image seeks to represent the brand through its production, drawing together the past, the present and the future. The innovative aspects of this new image lie in the presentation of the new collections together with DANESE products from the past.
For more information about the new products 2005: http://www.danesemilano.com/product.htm
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