Dream Factories - People, Ideas and Paradoxes of Italian Design

Dream Factories: People, Ideas and Paradoxes of Italian Design

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Salone del Mobile, Triennale Design Museum devotes its fourth edition to the people, companies and projects which contributed to develop the system of Italian design from the end of the Second World War to date and contributed to the global success of Salone del Mobile.

By means of an overview of iconic objects, a story is told aimed on the one hand at illustrating the specific activities and deep nature of what Alberto Alessi terms the "Factories of Italian Design," moving along a line joining the functional, semiotic and poetic values of the objects being manufactured and - on the other hand - at illustrating the great abilities and skills implemented in such "research laboratories" which also attract foreign designers who choose to work in Italy since they are aware of the excellence of Italian production.

The exhibition is organised around two poles: on one hand a detailed and precise theoretical approach deriving from the analysis conducted on such issues by the coordinator over the last years and on the other hand a poetic, artistic and fictional approach drawing from the imagery of Lewis Carroll and Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

The design project by Marti Guixe is conceived as one of the adventures narrated in Alice in Wonderland: a dialogue involves objects and designers and the histories of great entrepreneurs are intertwined with their individual biographies in a joyful atmosphere rich in emotions and hints. It is an extraordinary occasion to discover some of the most famous objects of Italian design from new points of view.

After having answered the question What is Italian Design? by means of The Seven Obsessions of Italian Design, Series, Off Series and The Things We Are Triennale Design Museum, the first museum of Italian design, confirms to be a dynamic museum capable of renewing constantly and offer unprecedented and diversified approaches to its visitors. It is an emotionally involving museum, a living and changing organism that - thanks to its innovative formula - every year can ask questions, pose problems and start debates.

Triennale Design Museum