Italian Design

Since the end of the 2nd world war Italy became to the design-nation par excellence. The names Alessi, Brionvega, Danese Milano or Flos are today known as synonym for the history and prepresence of the Italian product- and furniture-design.

In comparison to Germany, the industrialisation occured very late in Italy and the transfer from manual to the industrial production occured in many branches after the war. When the design ways were developed in the 1920s (like the ones of the Bauhaus), the design in Italy became famous at the end of the 40s.

An important role for this development were exhibitions like the ones in Triennale in Milan (since 1933), competitions and magazines. Besides the daily Triennale, it was especially the prize Compasso d´Oro, the "Golden circle", which the Milan department store chain La Rinascente gave away since 1954, and the magazines Domus (1928 which Gio Ponti founded) and Casabella (1929), which was advanced by the modern Italian design and offered by experts of a platform for discussions.

Other than the theoretical approach of the Bauhaus school in Germany or the marketing- and profit-oriented design notice of the Americans, the Italian design used to live especially of its experimenting-propensity, the improvisation acquirement of small craft producers and the old cultural tradition, which did not want to seperate beauty from function.

Especially the small craft producers, handcraft smiths and family businesses were the ones who created new creations of product designs in cooperation with architects and through its dynamic and individual shapes. The "Italian Line", became the international epitome for modern, cultivated and cosmopolitan lifestyle in 1955.

1960s / 1970s

In the 1960s Italy got to know the time of wealth and mass consumption. To that came new technologies and materials, like the use of plastics, which set new impulses for the design of products. Companies like Olivetti or Kartell profited by these innovations and made Italy to the precursor of new developments in design. This hegemony of the Italian design was especially shown by the exhibition "The Domestic Landscape", which was seen in the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1972. The exhibition showed mainstream- and antidesign, elegance and experiment, classics and provocations and represented the allowance and openness, which still stand for the Italian design.

The exhibition reflected the whole contrariness of the at that time Italian design situation. While on the on hand were interior tools where shown, which represented the esthetic quality („Bel Design“) and the conventional industry production, where on the other hand experimental and futuristic objects, which originated a subversively design culture. There almost hasn't been a consistent Italian design in the mid 1960s.
Not least because of the worker's protests and studying disturbances where also groups formed at the architecture faculties of Northern Italy, who created and developed utopian designs and theories against the mainstream. The main point of attack were the cult about the estheticsm of the industrial produced products and the stultifying circulation of production and consum in the capitalism. Out of that resulted the movement of the Radical Designs, whos coal it was, to change the community with design and architecture. The young wild arranged the „Bel Design“ than the older designer-generation.

An Italian phenomenon in the late 1960s was that the gap between industrial production and experimental designs are united in some designers and manufacturers. Around 1970 appeared risky and experimental entrepreneurs who secured several drafts of the young rebels. Thereby classics arised for example the beanbag by Zanotta Sacco (1968), or the flashy wardrobe Cactus by Gufram (1971). When the industry was open for the new design culture of the young designers, at the same time the wind was taken out of there sails. It is surprising that the mid-1970s a second wave of Radical Design came up with the groups Alchimia (founded 1976) and Memphis (founded 1981). With the unconventional objects from Memphis, including Michele De Lucchi, Matteo Thun and Ettore Sottsass, the design revolution spill over the borders of Italy. Each year Memphis brought out a new collection. The focus of the movement was the design of surfaces and colorful surfaces, the multi- instead of monofunctionality and the communicative aspect of the products.

1980s /1990s

In the middle of the 1980s, with the second Memphis Generation, the movement degenerated into a simple fashion. However the group caused a new way of enjoying experimenting, that led to the establishment of new companies and gave new inspiration to the older companies. Firms like Artemide, Driade and Zanotta employed Memphis Designer just like Alessi, under the leadership of Alessandro Mendini, broke new ground when working together with Aldo Rossi or Stefano Giovannoni.
In the 1980s new ways of Advertisement, Image Building and Personality-cult were developed because of the economic revival. Design became a Synonym for Lifestyle and an important Marketing-Tool. In the context of Corporate-Identity-Programs the Names of Designers and companies became more important.

This changed during the economical insecure years of the 1990s, when the cult about the spectacular Object ran out. Design became decent and a lot of manufacturers went back to serious, solid and exclusive creations. Especially the cooperation with international Designers was intensified. Since then italian companies like Alessi, Driade, Moroso or Flos work together with renowned international Designers like Jasper Morrison, Konstantin Gric, Philippe Starck or Ron Arad. This is one reason why the creations can not be easily classified as Italian Design, but it is also the reason why they successful all over the world.