A Look at the Latest Italian Design Trends:
Sustainability, Innovation & Emotion
Wednesday, Sept. 21 I 6.00 PM I INNOVIT – Italian Innovation & Culture Hub
Panelists: Monica Aggio, Simone Bonanni, Davide Brugiolo, Cristina Celestino, David Darling
Moderator: Simone Mazzetto
A panel discussion featuring leading Italian furniture and textile designers on current design trends and approaches with a focus on sustainability, innovation and emotional impact. Some iconic furniture design samples will also be on display.
How is eco-friendly furniture designed and produced? What kinds of recyclable materials can be used? How essential are research and exploration of how a product will be perceived within specific contexts? What kinds of emotions does it raise? What furniture manufacturing processes can match technology with sustainability? What are the values inherent in hand-making, innovation and cultural heritage?
These are some of the questions that will be discussed during a conversation about some case study products with US manager of Pianca Spa, Monica Aggio; Milanese designer Simone Bonanni; Tessoria Asolana textile designer Davide Brugiolo; Milanese designer Cristina Celestino; architect David Darling, FAIA, IIDA, ASLA, Aidlin Darling Design; and moderator Simone Mazzetto, architect and interior designer, RH San Francisco.
Organized by the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects San Francisco (AIASF).
ABOUT
SIMONE BONANNI, panelist
Simone Bonanni was born in Pordenone, Italy, in 1989. He graduated from IED Istituto Europeo di Design (Milan) in 2011 winning an honorable mention at the 23rd ADI Compasso d’Oro Award (Targa Giovani). In 2012, he joined the Marcel Wanders team in Amsterdam, where he worked as product designer and project leader for 3 years. In 2015, he founded Simone Bonanni Studio (SBS) in Milan. Simone Bonanni is currently working on projects for selected international brands such as Alessi, Moooi, MDF Italia, FIAM, Falper, Mingardo and many others, focusing both on product design and Limited Editions. His work has been featured in reputed publications including Zeit Magazin, Dezeen, Abitare, Elle Decoration, Elle Décor, Il Sole 24 Ore, Marie Claire Maison, Interni, Domus, and many others. From 2015 Simone Bonanni has taught Product Design and been a lecturer at IED Istituto Europeo di Design and IED Master in Milan.
DAVIDE BRUGIOLO, panelist
Davide Brugiolo studied fashion and costume design at the Bruno Munari Art Institute in Vittorio Veneto and graduated from the Art School in the Art Academy field. In 2013 he developed an interest in manual weaving. In 2014 he presented the “Ri-mossa Project” at the SaloneSatellite in Milan (Salone del Mobile) and collaborated for a few years with the Lanificio Paoletti in Follina, recovering precious material and processing waste from the pulp, reweaving them to reach new levels of textile expression. Since then, he has continued to work in the world of textiles, most notably as a carpet designer, producing rugs as part of the relaunch of the historic Tessoria Asolana, a hallmark of the Italian art of weaving and a contemporary expression combining past and present, emphasizing the importance of doing.
CRISTINA CELESTINO, panelist
Cristina Celestino was born in 1980 in Pordenone. In 2005, after completing her studies in the Department of Architecture of IUAV University of Venice, she began to work with prestigious design studios, focusing on interior architecture and design. In 2009 she moved to Milan and founded the brand Attico Design, making lamps and furnishings based on in-depth research on materials and forms. In 2012 she was selected to participate in the SaloneSatellite, and her products have since been shown in many international galleries and showrooms. Her creations include the Atomizers project, produced by Seletti, now part of the permanent collection of Italian design of the Milan Triennale. In 2016 Cristina was awarded the special jury prize at Salone del Mobile. That year, in occasion of Design Miami, Cristina designed “The Happy Room” collection for FENDI. Today Cristina Celestino designs exclusive projects for private clients and for companies. In 2017 at the Green Pea of Torino, with Pianca she presented “Calatea Green” an edition of her famous armchair completely produced with sustainable processes and materials
DAVID DARLING, FAIA, IIDA, ASLA
David Darling is a founding partner of Aidlin Darling Design, formed with Joshua Aidlin in 1997, with a shared interest in exploring design across a wide range of scales, programs, and disciplines including institutional, commercial and residential architecture, as well as furniture, landscape, interior, and product design. Founded on a closely held conviction that design can engage all of the senses, his work has pursued an interest in the connection between design, food, art, culture and place. Mr. Darling has augmented this multi-disciplined pursuit through teaching, through his involvement with the James Beard Foundation, Slow Food USA, AIA, IIDA, ASLA, and through his studio’s trans-disciplinary design work. Recent work has included projects as far away as Doha Qatar and Hong Kong. Completed projects include the restaurant In Situ at SFMOMA, the 3 Michelin starred restaurant Benu in San Francisco, the Windhover Contemplative Center at Stanford University, a 160,000 sq. ft. LEED Gold craft brewery in San Leandro, and several wineries that push the boundaries of sustainability in agriculture and architecture. Current work includes a Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia, and a waterfront pavilion for the new Expedia Headquarters in Seattle, Washington. In recent years, his firm has garnered over 250 regional, national, and international awards including two James Beard Awards for restaurant design, two Civic Trust Awards, and seven National AIA Awards. In 2013, the firm was bestowed a National Design Award from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for the firm’s full body of work.
MONICA AGGIO, panelist
Monica Aggio is the US manager of Pianca Spa.
SIMONE MAZZETTO, moderator
Architect, Senior Interior Designer at Restoration Hardware Gallery in San Francisco, Simone Mazzetto was born in Padua in 1969 and he graduated with honors in architecture from IUAV University of Venice. He soon broadened his interests to include design, graphics, cinema, and theater, cooperating with the main prestigious cultural institutes of Venice such as La Biennale, Venice City Office of Cinema and the Theatre of Ca’ Foscari University taking part in international conferences, publishing a variety of essays, and giving lessons in film scenography at Ca’ Foscari University. He worked as Interior Designer for some leading design firms in Venice (Boris Podrecca, Studio Caprioglio, Studio Valle, Hangar Design Group) and for international residential, hotel and retail companies including Boscolo Hotels, Versace Home, and Fendi Casa – Luxury Living Group. With Carlo Colombo Architect, he was an active part in the new Luxury Living Contract department developing high-value projects worldwide. In 2016 with Marco Costanzi Architect he developed the first Fendi Casa Hotel in Rome at “Palazzo Fendi”. In 2017 he joined Pianca World Contract to develop international contract projects and in 2020 in Venice he designed the remodeling of Palazzo Pianca as a boutique hotel.
Tessoria Asolana
In the wake of the longstanding tradition in the Veneto plain of combining textile manufacturing and agricultural activities, the Velo family had been managing one of the region’s largest weaving workshops since 1848. Yet, it was from the beginning of the 20th century that Tessoria Asolana gained international fame under the direction of American journalist from California Lucy Beach and later of British painter Flora Stark. Stark’s salon was attended by British artists and intellectuals, who became acquainted with Asolo and moved there thanks to the well-known poet Robert Browning. In the ’30s, Tessoria Asolana took part and won important prizes in Specialized Expos, as well as the golden medal at the Triennale di Milano, and partnered with acclaimed designers and architects like Gio Ponti and BBPR. On the occasion of the monumental campaign for the restoration of the Palladian villas, Flora Stark came up with idea of producing furnishing fabrics inspired by the colors of the mansions’ frescoes; the result was the outstanding textiles that can still be seen at Villa Barbaro in Maser or at Villa Malcontenta in Mira. Owing to the dissemination effort made by Flora’s daughter Freya Stark — writer, explorer and cartographer — in the aftermath of World War II, Tessoria Asolana’s fabrics and silks arrived as far as Buckingham Palace and other major international residences. In the ’60s, Carlo Scarpa settled in Asolo and started a partnership that would lead to the creation of original pieces of textile. In 2015, Pianca acquired Tessoria Asolana with the will to bear its testimony and continue the work of one of the finest examples of Veneto’s manufacturing industry. The encounter with young carpet designer Davide Brugiolo, who has spent the last few years researching about handlooms, has created a new carpet collection. The production process and the raw materials are entirely developed in Italy: Sardinian wool is dyed in Tuscany with non-toxic pigments, while manual looms with four healds are employed in Veneto to produce carpets in different sizes and, one of a kind. In 2021 the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in collaboration with the European Center for Architecture, Art and Design assigned the Green Good Design 2021 award to “Apollo” rug for sustainability and innovation product technique.
Tessoria Asolana
Pianca Spa
Pianca is a major, well-known Italian brand that produces furniture systems and accessories distinguished by an elegant, minimal and simple style. Each product – from wardrobes to night and day systems, from bookshelves to tables, from sofas to chairs and complements – is designed to be customized in shapes, dimensions and finishings. Pianca uses eco-friendly wood sourced from certified forests with controlled harvesting to limit deforestation. Our panels are free from toxic adhesives. We were the first to use water- based gloss lacquers to protect the health of our employees and reduce pollution in the home. Off-cuts are burnt in special furnaces to produce energy, solar panels produce about 1 Megawatt of electric power and our packaging systems are 100% automated and recyclable.
Pianca Spa