ITALIAN DESIGN DAY 2018 celebrated in London @ Italian Cultural Institute

Italian Design Day was held; the day dedicated to Italian design in the world for the promotion of the Italian lifestyle around it. The theme of 2018, the second year in which this Italian celebration is made, is the relationship that exists between design and sustainability. The Italian Design Day is hosted in various embassies and consulates around the world. The day is full of conferences, events, exhibitions and meetings to promote the Italian pride. This wonderful day was created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, the Milan Triennale, ICE Agency, the Milan Furniture Fair, the Association of Industrial Design, and the Compasso d'Oro Foundation.

Exterior of Italian Cultural Institute

Interior of Italian Cultural Institute

The Italian Design Day in London was hosted by the Italian Culture Institute. It is an official body of the Italian State, whose aim is to promote and spread the Italian language and culture in Great Britain by organizing cultural events to promote the circulation of ideas and arts. The institute favors proposals and projects for the knowledge of Italian culture and reality or in any case aimed at cultural and scientific collaboration. Last night we took part in an interesting conference held by Massimo Iosa Ghini on design and sustainability.

Numero uno, Armchair, 1986

Considered one of the fathers of Bolidism, Massimo Iosa Ghini is an Italian architect and designer. He is also known for his involvement with the Memphis Group featuring others architects including Ettore Sottsass and Michael Graves. His design is organic and streamlined, and is praised for his “visionary ability to blend disciplines, forms and dimensions crossing boundaries in art, design, and architecture.

Genio, coffee table, 1990

Iosa Ghini talked about his design thinking and his works through the years. For him, sustainability means to use less components and material as possible, with the minimum of actions and materials. This process is held in order to recycle in the best way all the materials used. He made some examples showing a lot of his project and works, from products to buildings to furnitures.

His latest projects are the most effective examples of how, nowadays, everything is moving towards a greener and more environmentally conscious way of thinking.