Three Italian cities celebrate Adriano Olivetti with exhibitions on design and technology

Three Italian cities—Milan, Treviso, and Turin—are hosting exhibitions honoring Adriano Olivetti, the visionary entrepreneur who transformed Ivrea into an industrial design laboratory. In Milan, the ADI Design Museum will present "PODIO 14. I Compassi d'Oro di Olivetti," curated by Manolo De Giorgi with exhibition design by Gianni Filindeu, showcasing Olivetti's 14 Compasso d'Oro awards, including the Lettera 22 typewriter (1954) and the Gran Premio Nazionale (1955). In Treviso, the exhibition "Design e cultura secondo il pensiero di Olivetti" runs until June 20 at the Museo e Auditorium Santa Caterina, part of the [e]DesignFestival curated by Luciano Setten. It explores the birth of portable typewriters like the Lettera 22 and Valentine, with posters by Giovanni Pintori, Milton Glaser, and Ettore Sottsass, plus contemporary works by Emanuele Cappelli. In Turin, "Easy as a Kiss: humanizing technology through design" at the Circolo del Design runs until September 10, curated by Jan-Christoph Zoels and co-curated by Gillian Crampton Smith, Andrea di Salvo, and Mark Vanderbeeken. It traces the history of the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea (2000–2005), which pioneered interaction design and spawned innovations like Arduino, Processing, car-sharing apps, and online booking services. The exhibition is organized into six sections and features over 70 designers, researchers, and artists.