Umberto Riva retrospective at Fondazione Sozzani, Milan

The Fondazione Sozzani in Milan is hosting a retrospective of Umberto Riva, the 91-year-old Italian architect and designer, curated by Gabriele Neri. The exhibition, which opened in early April 2019, focuses on Riva's design work, exploring his relationship with light through illuminated glass pieces for FontanaArte and Barovier & Toso, his furniture designs including historical pieces and recent prototypes, and his graphic research with paintings, photographs, and sketches from his personal archive. The show includes iconic pieces such as the E63 lamp (1963), inspired by a Brâncuși sculpture and featured in Blade Runner 2049, and recent works like the Sud-Est lamp and E19 armchair (2019) from Rome's Giustini/Stagetti gallery. Riva describes his approach as that of a craftsman rather than an intellectual, emphasizing empirical and individual design processes. The exhibition runs alongside Milan Design Week.