06   Dicembre   2016

Four characters “in search of” four Lezioni d’Autore

Entrepreneurial culture in the next future: not only a challenge, but a growing synergy between industry and the "world of knowledge”

Rodrigo Rodriquez, Francesca Molteni, Vanni Pasca and Chiara Alessi have been the protagonists of the first cycle of conferences which were hosted, in the framework of the Ceramicland project,  in the ceramic factories of our district. Four of them – and not six as in the famous Pirandello’s play Six characters in search of an author. Each with their own personality, strong identity, background and professional expertise. They  shared their valuable experience and considerations during four  Lezioni d’autore organized between June and September.
The conferences mainly focused on design and entrepreneurial culture, and took place in the form of a dialogue between the lecturers and Fulvio Irace - full professor at the School of Design of the Polytechnic University of Milan as well as scientific coordinator of the conferences. The aim was to explore  made in Italy and give a new role to the territory of the ceramic district, also promoting its “cultural dimension”.
Organised by Edi.Cer. and promoted by Confindustria Ceramica in cooperation with the professional associations of Architects of the Emilia Romagna region, and with the participation of the seven municipalities of the district and the four tile manufacturers hosting the lectures – Marazzi Group, Casalgrande Padana, Florim and Marca Corona 1741 –, the four Lezioni d’autore mainly attracted architects and project designers, who were given three professional course credits each. Architects and project designers also had the opportunity to earn two further professional course credits by visiting (through a guided tour) the plant and showroom of the ceramic company hosting the meeting, before attending the Lezione at the Conference Room: this shows that manufacturing plants, which have always been activity-oriented, are turning into window-places, where activity and thinking are combined.

The cycle opened with LezioneUno . Impresa, Cultura e Made in Italy by Rodrigo Rodriquez, hosted by Marazzi Group at the historic Crogiuolo in Sassuolo, where it was also shown a video celebrating the company's 80 years of life.
Rodrigo Rodriquez, working since 1972 as general manager and managing director at Cassina – a company which under his guidance became international leader in design furniture – recounted his professional experience and the fortunate relationships he has built with designers and architects over the years. Entrepreneurship, according to Rodriguez, requires interaction with culture, exchange and mutual influence so as to provide content to made in Italy, expertise of doing, and quality.

LezioneDue. Branding e storia d’impresa, took place at the Casalgrande Padana Old House, a building designed by Kengo Kuma. The lecturer Francesca Molteni belongs to the family owning Molteni, the historic furniture factory that in 2015, during Expo, celebrated its 80-year-long history by inaugurating its own Museum. Putting this idea into practice hasn't been easy - said Francesca Molteni. The idea, stemming from her own artistical and literary education, had to face at first some opposition coming from within the family. Furthermore, family research and reconstruction of the company's corporate history has proved rather demanding. Huge economic resources have been invested in the project, and important architects have been involved in its construction; but it was only when the right awareness arose that the Museum became what it is: a place important not only for its historical records – which Francesca Molteni well illustrated by showing us pictures of the inside -, but also as a live and enjoyable meeting place.

Design identity, or its allegedly lacking one at the moment; the evolution it went through; and its general meaning: these are the themes Vanni Pasca - architect, design historian and full professor at the ISIA in Florence and at the Polytechnic of Milan  – talked about during his LezioneTre . Nuove prospettive per il design, which was hosted by Florim.
The issue debated focused on whether design exists or not: what today appears as design is such a wide extension of its practices that it has lost its true identity, ending up matching a rather generic idea of  project, simple translation of the English term.
Design nowadays doesn’t necessarily entail “designing an object”. It can also mean many other business-related activities, including communication
Florim can set a good example of this - said Vanni Pasca. The company, by building on its premises a centre promoting research, training and medical simulation, accessible not only to health-care staff but to all citizens from Sassuolo concerned with health care and prevention as well as wellbeing, embarked on a design initiative, ready to open up new possibilities.

The new idea of design, and the last generation who gave substance to it, were the themes of LezioneQuattro . Millenials: design e società, lectured by Chiara Alessi at Marca Corona 1741. A journalist and essayist in design, Chiara Alessi recently wrote two publications where she analysed Italy's new project culture and its implications: in the conference, she illustrated the results of her research on the Millenials generation designers.
By examining facts – taking place within an established historic tradition; places – that is emerging companies, schools, communication spaces and their relation to the web; new and alternative ways of design; and in particular the names of over 200 designers born in the 80s, Chiara Alessi mapped out a precise and updated layout of the new creative Italian scene.
What emerged, leaving aside the famous names of contemporary designers, is highlighted in the title of her last book, published this year, Design without designers:  that is design after the 1910s as conceived  beyond the names –  so many of them, but all simply linked to those activities  (production, logistics, distribution, communication) which are necessary for the “Italian design system”.
Who knows if a new generation might not bring further evolution.. and who knows if Chiara Alessi might not illustrate such evolution at a new cycle of conferences… This is certainly what the organizers wish for, together with the participation of new characters (might be six in the next future?) “in search” of Lezioni d’autore.