outfitting of the exhibition “Techniques Discrètes – Le design mobilier en Italie 1980-1990” Musee des arts decoratifs Paris, (with M. De Lucchi graphics by S.Tedesco and M.Varotti)

This major exhibition of 1980s Italian furnishings and design, promoted by ICE (Istituto Italiano per il Comercio Estero), Assoarredo and the Union des Arts Décoratifs, traced a critical path through a decade that was not easy to interpret. The curators rejected the usual approach (organize the mass of objects to fit their own aesthetic and stylistic preconceptions, common enough in attempts to assess Italian products), trying to explore the specific materials and techniques of construction that become the staples of an exhibition that offered an alternative to the usual form-function analysis. The survey puts in evidence an Italian particularity about technology, which means that is “discretely present also in the zone of senses – writes the curator Manolo De Giorgi” –, giving the Italian design a experimental connotation. This interpretation was supported by the installation, laid out on two floors of a gallery devoted to temporary exhibitions. The items were arranged in nine sections, according to their constitution, surfaces and finishes (including steel, aluminum, glass, plastic, fiber, wood, upholstery, stone and marble) and were arranged in nine caged in the form of hyperbolic paraboloids, somewhat resembling outsize lobster pots; the highly unusual display stands were illuminated only from above, with the light entering throw large circular skylights situated directly overhead. The dialogue between the two floors was created by a large wall supported by the staircase between them and cutting diagonally across the gallery; a circuit of screens provided images and a commentary.