Magistretti at the Milan Triennale. Stefano Boeri: “An exhibition that pays homage to creativity and elegance in the name of that simple complexity at the basis of Magistretti’s artistic ideals”
The Triennale of Milan pays tribute toMilanese architect and designer Vico Magistretti (1920-2006) with a large exhibition that traces the entire design process. Magistretti is in fact one of the most representative masters of Italian design, “an innovative artist with an implacable elegance” affirms the President of the Milan Triennale Stefano Boeri. On this front he began his career in 1946 by exhibiting at the RIMA exhibition (Italian Meeting for Furniture Exhibitions) at the Palazzo dell’Arte.
He participates in several editions of the Milan Triennale, including the VIII, the IX (Gold Medal) and the X (Grand Prize). Since the 1960s he has collaborated with numerous companies, including Artemide, Cassina, Oluce, De Padova, Schiffini Mobili Cucine, Flou, Fritz Hansen, Kartell and Campeggi. At the end of the seventies he was visiting professoral Royal College of Art in London, of which in 1983 he became an honorary member. Among his students are Jasper Morrisone Konstantin Grcic. In 1986 he received a gold medal from the SIAD (Society of Industrial Artists and Designers), in 1994 the Compasso d’Oro for his career and in 2005 the special prize “Abitare il tempo”.
Initially scheduled for 2020 to celebrate the centenary of Magistretti’s birth, the exhibition, created in collaboration with Vico Magistretti Foundation and curated by Gabriele Neri, exhibits the precious heritage of drawings, sketches, models, photographs, prototypes and original pieces preserved in the archive of the Milanese architect, together with materials from the archives of companies, institutions and individuals. Divided into thematic sections, the exhibition presents the work of Vico Magistretti to the public for the first time in a unified way, in a path in which architecture and design, in all their many forms, are intertwined in order to restore the breadth of his activity, thus offering an updated and extended critical interpretation beyond the celebration of his most famous icons.
The fil rouge of the exhibition is the Red, his favorite in big choices and small charms, such as wearing only socks of this color. The red that holds together an inestimable collection of objects and memories, capable of telling in a sentimental but at the same time precise way the disruptive, creative and charismatic personality of Magistretti and his extraordinary artistic sensitivity. Red that becomes an emblem and intermediary between modernity (the red of the avant-gardes) and tradition (the brick red of old Milan) which is intimately characteristic of his work.
This is how 100 + 1 years since the birth of the Milanese artist are celebrated and remembered. An imperfect anniversary, postponed, the wrong year. A comma out of place that makes us return to look at the future with hope. A very just imperfection that, I believe, Magistretti would have looked at with a sweet smile because after all it happened at exactly the right time.
Magistretti at the Milan Triennale. The interview with Stefano Boeri, President of Triennale ad Affaritaliani.it
“The exhibition is very important because it is a tribute to one of the protagonists of Italian architecture and design of the second half of the last century, it is a tribute to creativity and elegance “- he says Stefano Boeri, President of Triennale Milano to the microphones of Affaritaliani.it – “What characterizes Magistretti is precisely the elegance in any object. He was an absolute protagonist, like Enzo Mari and other characters that Triennale has followed closely over the years. We are doing a job of great attention in the enhancement of a creative and human capital that is a piece of the history of Italy.
We had a tense phase during Covid. Today we are happy because what Triennale is showing these days is an explosion of ideas and creativity; Enzo Mari, Magistretti, Carlo Aymonino, the Design museum, all together are an invitation to courage: to understand that it is time to take some risks and look to a new future.
Simplicity is one of Magistretti’s great lessons, which does not mean non-complexity. The simple and the complex are two elements that miraculously go together in all of Magistretti’s work. A wealth of ideas, materials and innovation even in an essential and simple object. “
Boeri: “An innovative artist and relentless elegance”
“Simplicity, elegance and genius are the three great components in the design DNA of Vico Magistretti, one of the main architects of that extraordinary story which, since the Second World War, thanks to the fruitful dialogue between designers and enlightened entrepreneurs, has projected Italian design from Milan into the whole world “- continues during the work -” The celebration of Magistretti – whose relationship with the Milan Triennale is long-lasting – is a dutiful act for our institution, which is part of a path of exhibitions and in-depth studies dedicated to some of the most extraordinary Italian exponents of design and architecture “.
Magistretti at the Milan Triennale. The interview with Lorenza Baroncelli, Artistic Director of the Triennale ad Affaritaliani.it
Lorenza Baroncelli, Triennale Artistic Director said to Affaritaliani.it: “Dthe link between Magistretti’s architectural production and design objects emerges from the exhibition. There is constant dialogue between intimate life, design and architecture in his artistic production.
It is a great wealth to be able to reopen the Milan Triennale with a figure like this. We try to do it with a constant dialogue between past and present; it is no coincidence that we have chosen two young emerging figures for the curatorship and the staging: Gabriele Neri and Lorenzo Bini from Binocle. This is the common line that we have tried to carry forward in our work under the presidency of Stefano Boeri: the celebration of the past with a modern eye to look at the past with freshness.
Art and culture are fundamental and the Triennale has always played an important role in understanding how to start again. Because culture and places like the Milan Triennale are fundamental places with their ability to read what is happening and propose solutions for the future.
We want to support the municipality in imagining how the restart will be and how the way of life in cities will change, such as the work we are doing in the San Vittore prison. They are tools to support the city and the country to imagine the future. ”
Baroncelli: “We celebrate the great masters with a modern eye”
Magistretti at the Milan Triennale. The interview with Gabriele Neri, Curator of the exhibition ad Affaritaliani.it
“Magistretti is a character of the house for the Triennale, here in fact he conceived his first projects. It is a fundamental point of reference for the whole Milanese and international design culture of the second half of the 20th century “ – these are the words of Gabriele Neri, Curator of the exhibition to the microphones of Affaritaliani.it– “He was among the protagonists both in terms of architecture and design. What distinguishes his artistic creations is their timelessness, a concept that we find in the red color that is the fil rouge of the exhibition. Red which is the color of the avant-garde, of modernity, a red that looks to the future and at the same time refers to the red of the Milanese tradition that we find, for example, in the brick color of the Castello Sforzesco. Color that creates a polarity between modernity and tradition. Simplicity is complex as Magistretti said. I believe that to achieve simplicity one must be able to dialogue and struggle with the complexity of the world around us. And this Magistretti did it in a masterly way ”.
Neri: “Magistretti fought against the complexity of the world”
Magistretti at the Milan Triennale. The interview with Rosanna Pavoni, Scientific Director of the Vico Magistretti Foundation ad Affaritaliani.it
Rosanna Pavoni, Scientific Director of the Vico Magistretti Foundation ad Affaritaliani.it: “Remembering Magistretti ci gives the idea of vitality, the vitality of a great architect and designer and of his way of working. It was important for the Foundation to be able to put Magistretti’s digitized archive online at the beginning of the centenary year, which coincided with the pandemic beginning of the pandemic. This was that thread of hope, precisely because it is open to all, in trying to make the value of this person known and therefore being here today to inaugurate the exhibition at the Triennale which is nothing more than the outcome of this archive curated for almost a decade from formation.
I am convinced that art and culture have always played an important and fundamental role. The restart must start from this, from the awareness and certainty that we can move forward, finding new stimuli, new strategies and new visions. Let’s start from what’s there, which gives us the possibility to feel free ”.
Pavoni: “Culture gives the necessary freedom to restart”
Magistretti at the Milan Triennale. The interview with Luca Fuso, CEO of Cassina ad Affaritaliani.it
Luca Fuso, CEO of Cassina ad Affaritaliani.it: “Magistretti has always been one of Cassina’s most important signatures, the relationship has been very close for many years. Today we wanted to pay homage to him by becoming a partner of the exhibition.
We started two years ago with a project, Cassina Lab, set up with the Politecnico di Milano, with which we decided to focus on the theme of sustainability as regards the materials that are used in our products. Already in 2020 we presented sustainable materials and we want to go forward on this path, continuing to experiment and do research, which is why the partnership with the Politecnico is very useful. Cassina hosts the Salone del Mobile in its showroom. We do not actively participate but if the Salone del Mobile asks us to participate in this very special edition, we will certainly take it into consideration. “
Fuso, Cassina: “Magistretti is fundamental for Cassina”