Milan Design Museum Opens with Greenaway Exhibition

The Museo del Design, a new 1,900-square-meter museum dedicated to Italian design, opened on December 6, 2007, in the Palazzo della Triennale in Milan. The palazzo, designed by architect Giovanni Munzio in 1933, underwent a restructuring led by Michele De Lucchi, which included a striking wood-and-glass walkway connecting the two wings. Silvana Annicchiarico was appointed director, and Andrea Branzi served as scientific curator. The inaugural exhibition, titled "What is Italian design?," was staged by filmmaker Peter Greenaway and architect-designer Italo Rota, presenting design through both objects and a film-architectural installation. Additionally, Italian directors Pappi Corsicato, Davide Ferrario, Daniele Luchetti, Mario Martone, and Ermanno Olmi were commissioned to interpret "the obsessions of Italian design." Greenaway created films projected on transparent screens hung in the space, linking lifestyles and objects, with music by Marco Robino. The exhibition aimed to place humans at the center of objects and architectural spaces, opening a dialogue between art and design. Rather than displaying all riches of Italian and international design, the curators chose a historical, unusual path full of discoveries. Greenaway worked like a 1960s painter, considering the character of each era with the ruptures and distance of half a century, while maintaining his predilection for 18th-century aesthetics.