Milan, Design Week – from April 12 to 17, 2016
Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana
On the occasion of the 2016 Design Week, the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri, Living, and yoox.com are pleased to present Doppia Firma, an experimental project that brings together design innovation with the traditions of the great Italian artists. Taking advantage of the high potential of digital technology, this innovative coupling will be presented in over 100 countries worldwide. The project’s objective is to bring to life a unique collection (16 pieces) of elegant objects, each of which is the result of a creative exchange between a designer and an artisan in possession of an almost unique savoir-faire. These new pieces are born from a project, whose culture embraces the mutual influence of contemporary thought with a know-how that is an authentic expression of the territory.
The designers’ projects and artisans’ expertise come together in this creative exercise, using materials and techniques – often hard-to-find and seldom used – which range from cabinet-making to alabaster, from paper to brass, from soapstone to Grand Feu enamel, from rust printing to basket-making, from bronze to scagliola, from embroidery to Bucchero, from lustre glazed ceramics to glass. This project aims to increase the artisan’s possibilities for expression, thus helping them to understand which new dimensions can be explored and, at the same time, offering designers a chance to work with intriguing techniques, materials and practices, rich with narrative inspirations.
The pieces, created specifically for the 2016 edition of the Milan Design Week, will be displayed from April 12 to 17 at the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, an exceptional setting in the heart of Milan, in the “5 Vie” district. The library is one of the city’s most prestigious cultural institutions as well as the Milanese home of the YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP. The whole collection, made up of authentic narrative icons, comes across as an articulated and extremely evocative story about the local territories’ know-how and the visionary nature of contemporary design.
The project’s patron, yoox.com promotes the intellectual value of dialogue and opens up new scenarios for the partnership created with La Fondazione Cologni and Living, generating attention and admiration for a process that sits at the heart of the Made in Italy excellence, through a creative showcase accessible from all around the world. A selection of the works from the “Doppia Firma” collection will be available on yoox.com this summer. The creators of each piece and the phases of its creations will be presented during the exhibition as well as on yoox.com. The theme of the “doppia firma” (double signature) stems from this, and it generates value for both sets of protagonists – the designers and the master artisans.
Designers and artisans involved
Davide / Cooperativa Artieri
Eligo / Arturo Pozzoli
Marco Zanuso Jr / Gabriella Gabrini
Giorgio Vigna / Claudio Tiozzo
Studio Blanco / Atelier Bianco Bianchi
Giacomo Moor / Giordano Viganò
Matteo Zorzenoni / NasonMoretti
Analogia Project / Pino Grasso
Ugo La Pietra / Giovanni Mengoni
Michele De Lucchi / Daniele Papuli
Pietro Russo / Ambrogio Carati
Studiopepe / Antica Stamperia Carpegna
Waiting for the bus / Ceramiche Biagioli
Francesco Simeti / Fabscarte
Matteo Cibic / Bottega Gadda
Lorenzo Damiani / Roberto Lucchinetti
