Marco Zanuso e Alessandro Mendini Design e Architettura exhibition

The exhibition “Marco Zanuso e Alessandro Mendini Design e Architettura” (Marco Zanuso and Alessandro Mendini Design and Architecture), produced and hosted by the ADI Design Museum in Milan, opens March 7 and continues until June 12, 2022, focusing on the work of two key figures in Italian design.
In response to ADI’s invitation, curator Pierluigi Nicolin and his research team compare these two very different, even opposed designers, in their approaches and visions and in the formal results they achieved. The intention is to determine whether the two have anything in common, discover new relationships and introduce new paths for the study of key figures in Italian design. The result is a theme exhibition broken down into twelve sections, symmetrically divided into six plus six and arranged to form an exhibition route unfolding along the centre of the museum space.
The six sections dedicated to Marco Zanuso are entitled: "Comfort, New Aesthetic, Large Scale, Modular Construction, Innovation and Stone Walls", while "Alchemies, Global Toys, Decorations, Museums, Houses, Text and Image" are the sections focusing on the work of Alessandro Mendini.
Proceeding through the centre of the museum, with the two designers’ projects facing off against one another, visitors experience Zanuso and Mendini’s work simultaneously in a parallel set-up stimulating reflection and suggesting cross-references, juxtapositions and influences. Beyond the contrast between Zanuso’s design method and Mendini’s postmodern way of proceeding, the exhibition reveals how the two start out with different visions and achieve different formal and aesthetic results, while both share a singular empathy for things and an ability to bridge the boundaries of their disciplines, offering solutions crossing the borderline between design and architecture that are appropriate for today’s new mindsets and tastes.
The exhibition concludes with a special installation in the area set aside for winners of the Compasso d’Oro for Lifetime Achievement providing a summary of the life and work of Marco Zanuso and Alessandro Mendini alongside their iconic portraits by Roberto Sambonet.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Images courtesy of ADI Design Museum exhibition photo by © Martina Bonetti

Title: Marco Zanuso e Alessandro Mendini. Design e architettura
Date: 8 March - 12 June 2022

Concezione e direzione della mostra / Exhibition concept and direction: Pierluigi Nicolin
Coordinamento scientifico della mostra e curatela della sezione Ritratti / Exhibition scientific coordination and Portraits section curatorship : Maite García Sanchis
Sezione Marco Zanuso curata da / Marco Zanuso section curated by: Gaia Piccarolo
Sezione Alessandro Mendini curata da / Alessandro Mendini section curated by: Nina Bassoli
Progetto di allestimento / Exhibition design: Studio Nicolin con / with Maite García Sanchis in collaborazione con / in collaboration with studio Sonnoli
Grafica della mostra e della comunicazione / Exhibition and communication graphic design by: Leonardo Sonnoli, Irene Bacchi - studio Sonnoli -
Progetto illuminotecnico / Lighting design Artemide
Direzione lavori / Work supervision by Maite García Sanchis
Allestimento / Exhibition set-up Exibiz
Trasporti / Transports Crown Fine Art
Assicurazioni / Insurance Petrelli Broker
Catalogo / Catalogue Electa

Captions

01-06 exhibition photo by Martina Bonetti
07_ Ritratto di Marco Zanuso photo Roberto Sambonet
08_ Marco Zanuso - Stabilimento Brinel, Brionvega, Casella d’Asolo, 1963 - 1967, dettaglio della facciata. Foto Marco Zanta
09_ Ritratto di Alessandro Mendini photo Roberto Sambonet
10_ Corbu, Appartement 50, Le Corbusier Cité Radieuse, Marseille, France, 2016. Arredo temporaneo per l’appartamento 50 di Jean Marc Drut e Patrick Blauwart. Foto Philippe Savoir © FLC - ADAGP.

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