Circolo del Design di Torino launches post-pandemic design platform

The Circolo del Design di Torino has launched 'Welcome to the Post Analog Condition', a digital platform exploring design responses to the pandemic. The project, initiated during Italy's lockdown in March 2020, collects reflections from curators, critics, and designers to build a reservoir of ideas for the future. Director Sara Fortunati and curator Elisabetta Donati De Conti first interviewed eleven design theorists, asking them to look beyond tactical solutions like masks and 3D-printed valves. The second phase involved designers using historical examples—such as Le Corbusier's 1964 unbuilt hospital for Venice, Hans Hollein's 1969 inflatable mobile office, and Ilmari Tapiovaara's wartime infrastructure for the Finnish army—to address macro-themes. Contributors include Giulio Iacchetti, who cited Giorgetto Giugiaro's Fiat Panda as a case study in direct client relationships, and Roberto Sironi, who linked Joseph Beuys' performance 'I like America and America likes me' to zoonotic disease risks. The platform's title quotes the book 'The Age of Earthquakes' by Shumon Basar, Douglas Coupland, and Hans-Ulrich Obrist. Fortunati noted that some interviewees plan to reduce overseas travel for short events, questioning the ethics of flying for brief talks. The initiative aims to foster collective thinking over individualism in design.