The Difficulties of Freedom of Choice

As planned in the program the days after we went visiting on Friday 16th Chiorino Tannery and Aurora, on Saturday 17th Saw and on Monday 19th Webert and Neve Rubinetterie.

On Tuesday we had the very difficult process of connecting the designers to the companies.

Here the list:

Aurora Due Srl (TO): pens, leather goods, paper / Brit Leissler – Germany

Cappellificio Cervo – Barbisio (BI): hat / Henny Van Nistelrooy – Holland

Carcerano Spa (TO): creative engineering / Christian Rodda (Carcerano Creative Engineering) – Italy

Chiorino Tannery con Zani del Frà (BI): leathergoods / Andrea Artusio – Italy

Gabbianelli – Altaeco Spa (BI): ceramics tiles / Natasa Perkovic – Bosnia Erzegovina

Birra Menabrea Spa (BI): beer / open to all designers

Neve Rubinetterie (NO): taps / Federico Piccinini – Italy

PMA Design (TO): creative paper and cardboard industry and enterprise promotion / Laura Fornoni – Italy

Saw Srl – Style Around the World (BI): contract furniture / Alejandro Vasquez Salina – Colombia

Serralunga Srl (BI): vases, lights, furniture / Tomas Alonso – Spain

Webert Srl (NO): taps / Andrea Plebani – Italia

The Last Week

Last week we left some spare time for the designer for meeting the companies once again before going back home.

So, Andrea A. went to Milano to meet Federico Chiorino of Zani del Frà and a couple of time to the Chorino Tannery in Biella. Henny went twice to Cappellificio Cervo. On Thursday Natasa to Gabbianelli and Alejandro to SAW (actually he is coming back in July for developing more directly with them), Brit to Aurora and Tomas to Serralunga on Friday, 23th while Federico and Andrea P. were going to the Tap Companies: Webert and Neve Rubinetterie, both close to Novara.

In this week we also met more experts/designers:
Tuesday, 20th

Angelika Burtscher and Daniele Lupo from Lungomare Gallery, started in 2003 as an experimental platform, Lugomare is a space where different disciplines can work together: from design, architecture, urban planning, art and theory to cultural production and sociopolitical issues. The aim is to question the relation between design and art and its physical, social and political environment.

Wednesday, 21th

Malagigi Edoardo, internationally renowned designer of sustainable furniture and objects – with specific reference to Montessori nursery schools and Professor of Design at Fine Arts Academy in Florence (Italy). Recentely he has been involved in the state-run overhaul of nursery school furniture design in South Korea. Professor Malagigi also manages the international outreach programme of the Fine Arts Academy of Florence, and is Artistic Director of the children in need charity Bambini In Emergenza.

Finally the workshop ended up on Saturday May, 24th with the opening of Art at the Center Turning Point Architecture.

Meeting Ross Lovegrove

May 15, 2008

It has been a honour having an expert like Ross Lovegrove for a session. It was very interesting listening to his energetic talk about the trust in the power of organic design and his inspiration by nature are becoming essential topic for gathering the pragmatic of the beauty together with the functionality of the objects. As well as watching concrete products realized thanks to his ability in blending high tech with the natural world.

Michelangelo Pistoletto himself took part at Ross’ public presentation. In fact Michelangelo already had the possibility to introduce to the designer his view about the power of art in catalyzing the Social Responsible Transformation in the Society, by introducing the Third Paradise concept. This is the way to survive and create a balance between the First Paradise (nature) and the Second Paradise (the artificial world).

All this topics go under the necessity of Turning Point in front of old fashioned ways of approaching the creativity by searching new paths.

That day was very intense: we had more than 3 hours Ross’ talk with the designers of the workshop during the afternoon: from 4.30pm to 7.30 pm. Then we extended the opportunity of meeting Lovegrove to the public, with another speech of 1 hour just before dinner. And we kept talking all together with him during and after dinner in the Cafeteria up to Midnight.

All this could be happening specially thanks to Maria Cristina Didero, responsible for Vitra Museum Italy, who joined us as well. Thanks indeed!

ROSS LOVERGROVE – Bio
Born 1958 in Cardiff, Wales
Lovegrove graduated from Manchester Polytechnic with 1st class BA hons industrial design in 1980.
Master of Design of Royal college of Art, London, 1983.
In the early 80’s he worked as a designer for Frog Design in West Germany on projects such as walkmans for sony, computers for Apple Computers, later moved to Paris as a consultant to Knoll International, becoming author of the highly successful Alessandri office system.

Invited to join the Atelier de Nimes along with Jean Nouvel and Philippe Starck, consulting to amongst others Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Dupont.
Returning to London in 1986 he has completed projects for amongst others Airbus Industries, Kartell, Ceccotti, Cappellini, Idee, Moroso, Luceplan, Driade, Peugeot, Apple Computers, Issey Miyake, Vitra, Olympus Cameras, Yamagiwa Corporation, Tag Heuer, Hackman, Alias, Herman Miller, Japan Airlines and Toyo Ito Architects, Japan.
Winner of numerous international award, his work has been extensively published and exhibited internationally including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum New York, Axis Centre Japan, Pompidou Centre, Paris and the Design Museum London – where in 1993 he curated the first permanent collection.
Lovegrove was awarded the world technology award by Time Magazine and CNN in November 2005.
www.rosslovegrove.com

Too busy

17. May 2008

We are all too busy to have time to write on the blog. Every day we are around to visit companies, to meet experts,…
We always arrive back at Cittadellarte late at night quite tired – so no fresh brain left to start writing about the day just spent. But on some days we will have some time to go on with our impression about the workshop. We are almost at the end of the visits. Yesterday we went to S.A.W. – Style Around the World.

Visiting the Companies

14. May 2008

Today we visited the fourth and fifth Company: Gabbianelli Ceramics and Cappellificio Cervo.

4 Days later…

May 15, 2008

Well.. it’s a few days that we didn’t post anything, but time is flying and we are just running after it. In the last 4 days the D_art Lab group has been having many engagements:

Vernissage Michelangelo Pistoletto Opening in Galleria Giorgio Persano in Torino: Ettore e Michelangelo Coetanei. The exhibition would represent the connection between Michelagelo and his father Ettore – both artists and both at the same age. In the exhibition Michelangelo’s works retake and morror his father’s works, done for mirror and be mirrored back.
Visit for research/documentation purposes at Material Connexion in Milano: the new material global resource. http://www.materialconnexion.com

Company visits: Carcerano, PMA Design, Gabbianelli, Barbisio and Menabrea. All the Companies had been very welcoming by opening their doors to us. They explained what they are doing at the moment, the technologies and the future goals that they want to achieve: that is the most important points for starting any further collaboration.On the other hand they seemed available of considering new proposals based on new materials and technologies.

Written by Francesca Minero

Serralunga visit and User centered Design

Almost running at 10:30 yesterday morning we had our first company visit, the nextdoor Serralunga: rare example of long-life enterprise (third century in business) and capacity
for ongoing evolution (from leather manifacture to design producer).

First company using the rotating plastic injection moulding system in the Design Field it started applying the tecnhology for making VASES, and extending it to LAMP and FURNITURE. How to forget the very famous VASONE? (the 20000 litres overdimensioned vase)
Keep looking for innovation both outdoor and indoor, Serralunga is always searching new materials and techologies for developping everyday products able to match the actual people lifestyle.

Here Marco Serralunga: ‘Design is an industrial way for finding creative solutions and for developping useful things [...] first study the material, than know very well the techology and so you can start thinking new products [...] observe the final user, understand what he wants, meet his needs and desires!
We do agree Marco! Many thanks for your collaboration!

Very linked to those last thuoghts, yesterday afternoon started, still on today, the User Centered Design Workshop hold by Mark Vanderbeeken and Jan-Christoph Zoels, Senior Partnets Experientia. Here the program:

FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Presentation of participants and methodologies. Task assignments.
15:00 Introduction of the participants and their expectations for the workshop
15:20 Presentation Experientia
15:40 Presentation on user-centered design methods and processes, with Q&A
17:40 Creation of three groups and assignments for the practical exercises
18:00 Close

SATURDAY
Practical exercises with intermediate and final presentations.
10:30 Individual meeting with Group 1
11:00 Individual meeting with Group 2
11:30 Individual meeting with Group 3
10:30 – 12:30 When not in individual meetings, the three groups work separately
12:30 10 minute presentations by each of the three groups on insights learned
13:00 Lunch
15:00 SWOT analysis and brainstorming based on the presentations
16:00 Preparation of final presentations
17:15 Final presentation (open to others!) on insights and opportunities learned

Written by Francesca Minero

Talk about the roleplay of Design in the Society

My approach to social responsible transformation provides the effort for changing the ideas which limit the progress. One of these is the general behavior towards the global crisis: everybody is waiting for the worst in the near future and in the common point of view the crisis will be a natural disaster or an increasing condition of war for reachint the key resources of the planet (oil, water, food). The general reaction is waiting for the end of this situation, and to find solution only after the espression of the crisis: this idea derives from the common perception of the people, – generally speaking – to lazy in order to take the necessary measures for changing, except after the individual crash.
The result of this fact is the common paralisis and the block to the creativity: it’s anusfull to search solutions if the people isn’t ready…
But if we observe the behaviour of society in the former thirdy years, we found that the cultural industry proposed in the seventies a quantity of films, books and ideas for the natural disaster expected for the year 2000 and…nothing important or so important happend.
We have social and technical solutions for a part of our problems but we don’t apply these ’cause everybody – in a subtile way – is waiting for the disaster. On the contrary, today is really necessary to propose to the society all the best effort for improving the general conditions and, first of all, the vision of a society who works already with these new opportunities.
Designers can partecipate to this cultural effort especially offering these ideas to society trough objects and symbols.

Written by Francesco Bernabei

Films and Videos
“Soylent Green” 1973
“A.I – Artificial Intelligence”2001
“Al Gore – The Climate Crisis” 2006
“Exposed: the Climate of Fear” CNN 2007

Websites
www.algaefuels.com
www.massivechange.com

The second day Workshop

The second day of the workshop starts at 10:00 with everybody meeting in the workshop space, all ready to start the guide tour around exibition spaces of Cittadellarte. Everybody was on time, that is already a good start!

Emanuele Bottigella, the Architect, showed the group around giving some historical information about the buildings of Cittadellarte and showing the exhibition “ART AT THE CENTRE of a Responsible Transformation of Society ‘07/’08: Turning Point Products”.

After this interesting meeting with Emanuele the group met Michelangelo Pistoletto, who showed us his exibitions space explaning his work. Then all toghether we went in the cafeteria for a talk with Michelangelo drinking a coffee.

Michelangelo explained how the Segno Arte Sign started, drawing it on a big sheet of white paper. We all understood very clearly the Segno Arte Sign and now this big paper drawn from Michelangelo (but not signed!) is kept by somebody!

After a nice lunch under the warm sun, at 3pm we are meeting Francesco Bernabei, who is in charge of the Economy Office.
Soon some info about his workshop will be contributed, he is going to send it soon.
I am in charge of the curtains: When the projector is on the curtains should be down in ordr to see the films, otherwise the light is to strong! On the meantime I’m writing these words and listen to the presentation, films, discussion…

Written by Armona Pistoletto

Discussion

Brit has posted the main points we (Laura, Brit and Henny) discussed after the presentatin about the Role of Art and design in the society. We came up with some interesting points I think as did the two other groups.

A point I like to add to this afternoon is that I find it an important thing to have environments like this where discussion is stimulated on important topics like this. My personal experience since graduating as a designer is that I had to start working for money straight away. This doesnt leave much, hardly any, space for discussions like this. Simply because my colleagues and friends started working on their own and the interaction and discussion that was lively in college is gone.

Being part of a workshop where I dont need to worry about income for a while and have the time and space to think, discuss and work on the larger perspective of design is a very nice and important thing. So thank you Cittadellarte for organising this and inviting us.

Written by Henny van Niestelrooy