Another way of doing agriculture. Another way of producing good design, that, although less eccentric and obvious, is still absolutely necessary. The production of agricultural machinery is one of the Italian industrial sectors that occupies an important place in the world. This is thanks not only to advanced technologies, but also to a very strong and deep-rooted tradition. A tradition to which the SAME company can be said to have contributed. Founded in 1942 by the Cassani brothers, – who, in 1927, had already built one of the world’s first tractors with a diesel engine – SAME is a testament to their ability to innovate, adapt and respond to the needs of the time. The company’s success grew over time, so much so that SAME initially acquired Lamborghini Trattori, followed by Hürlimann (a Swiss company) and, in 1995, the German company DEUTZ-FAHR. This last acquisition formed the SDF (SAME DEUTZ-FAHR) Group which today is one of the leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery and diesel engines in the world. The company has a long and fascinating history. The way it applied evolution and technology to a sector that is so important for food production and employment can be discovered at the SAME Museum, and by consulting the documents preserved in the SDF Historical Archives in Treviglio, near Bergamo, where it all began. The itinerary unfolds in an exhibition space of about 1,000 square meters. Tractors are lined up in chronological order from 1927 to 1983. Engines and mechanical components are told through advertising brochures, product catalogs, and images that bear witness to the communication of the time and its evolution.

Kartell was founded in 1949 by the brilliant Giulio Castelli, newly graduated in chemical engineering and student of Nobel Prize winner, Giulio Natta. The first company in Italy, and one of the first in Europe, to produce plastic household items, Kartell contributed to a genuine design revolution. The first homeware items by Gino Colombini made it into the catalogue in 1951 after the first car accessories. The Lighting Division was created in 1958, with lamps by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Marco Zanuso, as well as the Labware Division, dedicated to plastic lab items. But it was the 1960s, with the creation of the Habitat Division, that led to production of the first Kartell furniture products destined to become icons of Italian design. In 1964, Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper created the K 1340 children’s chair (later called K 4999), the first to be made entirely of polymeric material. At the end of the 1960s, the Noviglio plant, designed by Anna Castelli Ferrieri (architect, designer and wife of Giulio Castelli) and Ignazio Gardella, was inaugurated. In the same period, the collaboration with Joe Colombo produced the 4867, the first plastic chair for adults. They were produced by injection molding with two or more dies assembled according to the design, into which the polymeric material was injected. This innovative and fast manufacturing method made it possible to produce beautiful, futuristic objects at low cost. In 1969, another timeless classic arrived: the Componibili Tondi storage units with sliding doors. Available in various colors, these designs by Anna Castelli Ferrieri have been a bestseller for over fifty years. In 1972, the MOMA in New York celebrated Italian-made products with the exhibition “Italy: the new Domestic Landscape”. Curated by Emilio Ambasz, it focused on great Italian designers. Kartell participated with three household furniture prototypes designed by Ettore Sottsass, Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper, and Gae Aulenti. In 1988, Claudio Luti, the Castelli’s son-in-law, acquired the company and partnered with the best Italian and international designers and architects, including Ron Arad, Antonio Citterio, Ferruccio Laviani, Piero Lissoni, Alberto Meda, Vico Magistretti, Philippe Starck, and Patricia Urquiola. This led to a completely new approach to material that resulted in outstanding products with satisfying shapes, high strength and excellent functionality. In 1999, Kartell was the only brand in the world to use polycarbonate to create mono-material furnishing objects. Two emblematic creations designed by Philippe Starck were born: La Marie, a transparent chair with simple lines, followed by Louis Ghost, also transparent, but inspired by Louis XV armchairs. From this point on, Kartell never stopped innovating on the theme of transparency, a signature feature that has made the brand both unique and original. Kartell continued to research surfaces and shapes and make use of advanced processing techniques and high-performance materials.

Today, all this history can be found in the Kartell Museum. Founded in 1999 to mark the company’s 50th anniversary and awarded the Guggenheim Impresa & Cultura prize for best corporate museum the following year, it is a wonderful exhibition space set up in the historic exhibition hall of the company’s factory. Around a thousand objects are on display that paint an accurate picture of the brand’s evolution and production.

We are in Brianza, an area with a long history of furniture production. This area is brimming with ateliers and small furniture factories that often bear the name of the owner and where everything is custom-made, with meticulous attention to detail and a mix of artisan and industrial techniques. Angelo Molteni had already set up his workshop in Giussano in the 1930s. Like many small businesses, his began as a small local carpentry workshop. At his side was his wife, Giuseppina, an expert accountant. A few years later they founded the Arredamenti Angelo Molteni together. By 1947, they had 60 workers, including craftsmen and collaborators. In the Fifties, the company had already become more industrial and less like a workshop, with sawmills, a wood slicing department and the first industrial machines from Germany. However, the company still retained its strong attachment to its roots, tradition and high-quality, meticulously finished products. Molteni became one of the largest furniture companies in Europe and the first in Brianza, with an industrial set-up for mass production.

In 1955, at the first “Mostra Selettiva – Concorso Internazionale del Mobile” in Cantù, Molteni presented its first prototype of modern furniture: a chest of drawers with a 3-fork geometric joint (made entirely of wood, without the use of metal screws), designed by the Swiss architect, Werner Blaser, an intern of Alvar Aalto and assistant to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It won first prize.

In the 1960’s, Angelo Molteni was one of the 14 founders of the Salone del Mobile. In 1968, production quickly moved from period style furniture to modern furniture. The transition was sparked by the meeting with Luca Meda who was assigned the artistic direction of the brand. This led to important collaborations with Aldo Rossi, Afra and Tobia Scarpa. In the 1970s, the company continued to grow, opening its first branches abroad. In the 1990s, it started collaborating with big names in Italian and international architecture, including Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Álvaro Siza and Norman Foster. Today nothing has changed, except for the numbers. Molteni is a world-renowned group that includes three brands: Molteni&C Dada, producers of home furniture and kitchens, UniFor, specializing in contemporary office design solutions and Citterio, European leader in the field of office furniture and partitions. The company has four industrial sites in Italy, hundreds of product lines, about 180,000 square meters of covered production area, 941 employees, 10 commercial branches, 600 stores, 55 single-brand stores and 4 Research and Development centers. It works with major names in architecture such as Rodolfo Dordoni, Vincent van Duysen, and Michele De Lucchi, as well as brilliant designers like Ron Gilad, Michael Anastassiades, Francesco Meda, and Studio Klass. It produces top-of-the-range furniture using processes that are 100% Made in Italy.

In 2015, the Molteni Museum was inaugurated to mark the company’s 80th anniversary. It was curated by Jasper Morrison whose name clearly indicates how much care goes into the organization of the exhibition space. The museum is seamlessly integrated into the company’s production site, occupying a large open space with a light, minimal layout that frames each of the brand’s 48 iconic products as if they were works of art. The museum is also responsible for the re-editions of important historical furniture and accessories such as those by Gio Ponti, showcased in the Heritage Collection. At the end of 2021, a new building was scheduled to open dedicated entirely to the museum and curated by Ron

In 1912, Giuseppe Cimbali opened a copper workshop in the center of Milan. In the 1930s, it acquired S.I.T.I, one of its customers specializing in the production of espresso coffee machines, thus forming Ditta Giuseppe Cimbali. Rapida, the first steam-operated machine with a vertical boiler, was created with the LaCimbali brand name. The business grew and achieved the height of success in the 1950s when Cimbali equipped its machines with lever technology. This produced coffee with crema, the evolution of the black coffee produced and consumed up until that point. In 1962, Cimbali collaborated with the architects, the Castiglioni brothers, to create a new espresso coffee machine, resulting in Pitagora. Its simple, clean lines, the exclusive use of stainless steel, color and screen printing earned it the Compasso d’Oro award. It was Pitagora’s meticulous design that enabled the mass production of LaCimbali products. In the mid-1990s, Cimbali acquired FAEMA, its historic competitor, creating the Gruppo Cimbali, which today also includes the Slayer, Casadio and Hemerson brands. The group, which has been firmly in the hands of the same family for over one hundred years, holds over sixty patents for innovative solutions and is a leader in the world of professional machines for espresso-based beverages. This all-Italian company now has a network of 700 distributors in over 100 countries.

In 2012, to mark the company’s centenary, the Cimbali family inaugurated Mumac, the museum of professional espresso coffee machines. In the company headquarters in Binasco, what was originally a spare parts warehouse has been transformed into a multipurpose space that houses the permanent exhibition, the MUMAC Academy (a place for training and promoting coffee culture open to professionals and enthusiasts alike), the MUMAC Library (one of the largest libraries dedicated to coffee), as well as a location for exhibitions and events. This ambitious project was carried out by the architect, Paolo Balzanelli and the engineer, Valerio Cometti, who took care of all the architectural and exhibition aspects. The exhibition space was later restyled by the Gruppe Gut-Design Factory, with traverso-vighy architetti in charge of the reception areas. With its curved lines and red external walls, the building has great visual impact. The 100 most important espresso machine models (in terms of technological innovation and design) from the end of the 19th century to the present day are on display, covering each of the brands’ milestones in the industry. Each room is an exact reproduction of the period in question, with furniture, background music and thought-provoking graphics contributing to the atmosphere. The museum offers an original way to retrace the history of design through the evolution of an everyday object like the coffee machine, bearing witness to all the changes in the taste and style of Italian society.

Pietro Cozzi had an overwhelming passion for Alfa Romeo, a brand that has made design and technology its signature features. In 1955, Cozzi opened a car dealership with the Biscione dragon logo in Legnano. He also started collecting cars. Not just any car, but one of each Alfa Romeo model, chosen from among the best-selling or most interesting for collecting purposes: sedans, coupes, cabriolets. The first was a China yellow Giulietta TI. It was on its way for demolition, but Pietro Cozzi said to those in charge, “Put it there”. Sixty years later, the Fratelli Cozzi Museum was created, a unique space that represents the connection between the world of cars and architecture. The concept design of the museum is by Gabriele and Oscar Buratti who chose strikingly evocative colors: white for the exterior, a dazzling red that welcomes visitors and the black of the floor which evokes the road surface and highlights the objects and cars on display. Not even the lighting is left to chance: the cars are arranged as if they were on a catwalk, with lights that emphasize their chrome plating and details. There are two unique examples among the models on display: the Alfa 155 of the Speed Record and the Giulia 1600 TI Super Quadrifoglio Verde, the only one of its kind produced in grey. All the cars in the collection, produced between 1950 and 2015, are perfectly preserved, gleaming, original and in working order, ready to recount Italy’s most recent history. In addition to the cars, the museum houses an important archive. Cozzi.LAB hosts more than 300 original posters, hundreds of photographs, brochures, owner’s manuals, car and spare parts catalogs, repair manuals, trophies and art objects, together with the main industry-based magazines and books. There are also thousands of documents that testify to the commercial development of these cars through the sales and marketing techniques of the dealership that sold them.

Parabiago, 1926. Roberto Rancilio worked in a small mechanical workshop as a laborer until he decided to open his own workshop. Not, as local tradition would have it, to produce footwear, but to start making a product that was until then unknown to many: the instant coffee machine. Although patented by Bezzera in 1901, the gadget was still an absolute novelty. It had not yet become part of Italian daily life and Rancilio was faced with a significant challenge. In 1927, he created his first machine: the Regina. He made many more until his death in 1956, constantly upgrading them with new technologies such as vertical structures or new lever systems. Roberto’s three sons, Francesco, Antonio and Romano, took over the company and continued in their father’s footsteps, managing the family business impeccably. Over time, the artisan aspect of the brand started to make way for the introduction of modernity and mass production. The Rancilio name is now recognized everywhere. In 1971, the desire to revamp its image led to the company’s collaboration with Marco Zanuso (one of the very first designers to work with large corporate brands in the creation of everyday objects) resulting in the addition of a brand-new machine to the catalog. The Z8 was the instant coffee machine that consolidated the company’s success, opening the doors of the most important international markets to Rancilio. In 2010, the company museum, Officina Rancilio 1926, was founded right in the center of Parabiago, in the premises once occupied by Roberto Rancilio’s artisan workshop. The museum is a cultural space that showcases and promotes Rancilio’s historical heritage. The display includes 60 historical machines produced between 1927 and 1980, 20 vintage grinders, an archive of images and documents that tell the story of the family and the company, its communication and advertising.

In 1952, Gio Ponti raised the question of officially recognizing the profession, work and products of industrial designers in an article in Domus magazine. Two years later, Gio Ponti himself invented the Compasso d’Oro award which has since become the most prestigious award for excellence in Italian design. The image was designed by Albe Steiner (with the collaboration of Marco Zanuso and Alberto Rosselli), inspired by Adalbert Goeringer’s compasses and the golden ratio. ADI, the Industrial Design Association, was founded in 1956 by a group of architects, designers and entrepreneurs. In 1958, it took over the organization of the award until it was entrusted to La Rinascente.

In every edition, a qualified jury rewards the most deserving projects among those already selected by the ADI Permanent Observatory of Design and collected in the ADI Design Index.

Today, the Historical Collection of the ADI Compasso d’Oro Award, managed by the ADI Foundation, includes more than 300 prizewinning projects and products, along with Honorable Mentions. It is permanently located in the brand-new ADI Design Museum, in Piazza Compasso d’Oro 1, near Via Ceresio and Piazzale Monumentale, in Milan. Located in a former industrial area where culture and fashion mix, the museum was created from the restoration of a 1930s building that used to be a depot for horse-drawn streetcars and an electricity distribution plant. The exhibition space does not only attract sector-based professionals: it is an inclusive environment open to the city that retraces the history of design and its surroundings, with in-depth or thematic temporary exhibitions that, thanks to the superb work of a group of curators and designers, do not have a clear boundary with the permanent exhibition, but coexist and interact with it.

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