THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF ITALY
AND THE ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE IN SAN FRANCISCO

are proud to present

June 11th – 24th, 2013

Created and presented by
Fondazione Giannino Bassetti
with the exhibition “The New Italian Design 2.0” by
Triennale Design Museum of Milan

Under the patronage of
Regione Lombardia, Comune di Milano

In collaboration with
Camera di Commercio di Monza e Brianza, Politecnico di Milano, Confartigianato, Triennale Design Museum of Milan,
Academy of Art University, San Francisco Design Week

Sponsored by
Deutsche Bank, Gruppo Poltrona Frau

Supported by
Axelera, The Renaissance Link, Robilant Associati

Stay tuned!
#FGBitalyinus2013
https://www.fondazionebassetti.org/italyinus2013/
info@fondazionebassetti.org

For 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the US, Fondazione Giannino Bassetti presents in San Francisco and the Bay Area the culture, the beauty and the innovation of Made in Italy design: a week of exhibitions, debates and comparisons between the cutting edge models of Italian production and the technology of Silicon Valley towards a new economy of beauty.

Purpose of the week is to draw back the curtain upon a comparison between the multiple forms of creativity and innovation found in Milan and its Region and San Francisco and the Bay Area, to recount the story of artisanship and design as ‘new ways of working’: a lesson of style and technique available to a culture of work invigorated by the opportunities of the 21st century.

We are promoting discussions between intellectuals, from Italy and the US; between artisan workshops and laboratories of «makers»; between systems of interest, companies, and networks of actors on both sides.

Historically, the ideas of architects and engineers have come together in artisan studios and workshops, taking new materials and ‘creating’ design. Lombardy and Milan in particular are still the centers of excellence in this process today. The world still recognizes and appreciates Italian cultural ability to understand and represent how an object’s relationship to a person counts more than the object itself: design is poetry, because it is human potential. Today we find a sector that is looking to the future through companies that hold the beating heart of artisan production in their hands, and have previously unseen technological, financial and reputational needs. Immersed in this century long tradition, but with our feet firmly on the ground, we have learned to recognize the developments that are changing the models of global production.

«Just as the World Wide Web has democratized bit technology innovation, a new class of technology that allows rapid prototype production today – and includes 3D printers and laser cutters – is democratizing the innovation of atoms» (Chris Anderson, Makers).

Milan and San Francisco are equal protagonists, each with its own particularities. Milan building upon and reconstructing its renaissance heritage of artisan workshops, San Francisco through the cutting edge use of technology, where the bit meets the atom: two cities in the bright fog of change looking for new paths, working for the future of humankind.

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