Region & Country: Italy

Paolo Castagna has theatre background. Student of the Polish director Jerzy Grotowski, considered as one of the best directors in the world in the 70s. Castagna has been Luca Ronconi’s assistant director for 10 years, working in the main European theatres. Theatrical direction and dramaturgy turned out as a fruitful background, also when he founded CastagnaRavelli with architect Gianni Ravelli, a studio focused on lighting and video illustration, for urban areas, shows, museum and exhibitions.

CastagnaRavelli’s works always have a strong theatrical and scenographic spin. Their works passed through many cities, not only in Italy: from Milan to New York, from Rome to London, from Turin to Beirut. They worked and are working with many brands and institutions such as Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Altagamma, Gianfranco Ferré and Bloomberg.

Corriere della Sera described them as ‘Light Magician’ in 2010. One of their video productions, ‘Luci futuriste’ won the best national public event in 2009 and it was included in the ‘Compasso D’oro Adi Index 2010’. It was the first time that it happened for a non-design project. Their most recent work is the production for the multimedia museum of Frederic II.

While working for the family business, Jacopo Foggini discovers the versatile nature of methacrylate. Enchanted by its qualities, he invents a machine to melt it and then mould it with his hands creating luminous shapes and monumental artworks.

After the debut in 1997, with an installation in Romeo Gigli’s space, Foggini’s luminous sculptures became part of the permanent collections of prestigious institutions around the world.

The creative path of exhibitions starts with Sinestesie in the current Fondazione Prada and Apnea at Acquario Civico in Milan. Foggini’s works reinterpret also historical places, like the sixteenth-century church of San Paolo Converso with the huge heart Devotion and the arch of historic Porta Garibaldi, where the monumental chandelier Plastic Palace is installed after being showed in Turin for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. He took part in many exhibitions at Università Statale in Milan during the design Week, among those: Ofigea, (Re)fuse, Golden Fleece, Plasteroid and Flysch. At Moscow Design Week, he presents Matrioska Super Hero. Long and successful is the collaboration with Edra, an encounter between art and design that produces unique pieces as the Capriccio table, the Alice armchair the Nel blu dipinta di blu chair (exclusive for the Musée D’Orsay), the Gina and Gilda chair the Ella armchair, the Ines lamp and the big Margherita armchair.

Umberto Branchini lives and works in Venice and Milan. He’s a multidisciplinary artist as an interiors designer and art director. He started off his career as a sculptor and held solo exhibitions, among which one in collaboration with Swarovski, and collective events organised by Milan Municipality and the Triennale Design Museum. Over the years, he has conceived and designed high-end interior design projects for the private residences among others in Venice, Milan, Rome, Paris, Cap Ferret and Yerevan of influential entrepreneurs in the world of fashion, business and finance, as well as showrooms in Milan and hospitality in Venice, Dubai, Marrakesh and Moscow. He created luxury accessories for brands such as Montblanc and Hugo Boss. In 2009, he designed the NeroUno Montegrappa fountain pen, which in 2009 won the award as best writing instrument of the year.

He has worked as an art director for Corneliani and collaborated with many photographers, among whom Giampaolo Sgura and Toni Meneguzzo and with publisher Franco Maria Ricci for editing a book of the 50th brand anniversary. He curated art exhibitions of various international artists, in collaboration with the Venice Biennale, Institute of Science, Literature and Art of Venice, Istanbul Biennial, National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur and the Musée de Marrakech.

Studio Fuksas, led by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, is an international architectural practice with offices in Rome, Paris and Shenzhen.

Of Lithuanian descent, Massimiliano Fuksas was born in Rome in 1944. He graduated in architecture from the University of Rome in 1969. Since the eighties, he has been one of the main protagonists of the contemporary architectural scene. He has been the Visiting Professor at a number of universities such as: Columbia University in New York, the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris, the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Wien, the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart.

Since 1985, Massimiliano Fuksas and Doriana Mandrelli Fuksas have been working together. From 1998 to 2000, Fuksas directed the La biennale De Venezia: Less Aesthetics, More Ethics. From 2000 to 2015, Massimiliano Fuksas was the author of the architecture column – founded by Bruno Zevi – in the Italian news magazine L’Espresso and Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas were also the author of the design column in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica from 2014 to 2015.

Mitja Borkert is the Director of Automobili Lamborghini Centro Stile (design center).

He is responsible for the design of future Lamborghini models and the coordination of the design team. Since his appointment in April 2016, he has already contributed to the development of the new Huracán Super Trofeo EVO racecar and the upcoming Urus Super SUV.

He attended the Design University of Pforzheim where he graduated in Transportation Design. In 1999, he began work at Style Porsche, in Weissach, holding various positions, including General Manager Advanced Design until 2014, when he was appointed Director of Exterior Design.

Edoardo Tresoldi plays with the transparency of mesh and with industrial materials to transcend the time-space dimension and narrate a dialogue between Art and World, a visual summary which reveals itself in the fade-out of physical limitations.

Mixing classical and modern language, he generates a third one, strongly contemporary. Born in 1987, he grew up in Milan where, at the age of 9, experimented different languages and techniques under the guidance of painter Mario Straforini. In 2009, he moved to Rome and started working in various creative areas. Cinema, music, scenography and sculpture gave him a heterogeneous vision of arts and became a platform for experimentation.

Since 2013, he has performed public space interventions, focusing his research on genius loci and the study of landscape elements.

His works have been featured in public spaces, archaeological contexts, contemporary art festivals, music festivals and group shows.

In 2016, he carried out, together with the Italian Ministry of Culture, the restoration of the Basilica Paleocristiana of Siponto, a unique convergence between contemporary art and archaeology.

In January 2017, he was included by Forbes among ‘The 30 most influential European artists under 30’.

Mario Cucinella is the founder of Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA). With over 20 years of professional practice, MCA has developed extensive experience in architectural design, with particular attention to energy and environmental impact of buildings.

He regularly holds conferences in Italy and abroad, while maintaining an active role in teaching at several universities.

In 2012 he founded Green Building the Future, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable development through green architecture and urban regeneration. In 2014 he worked as a tutor with ‘Senator for Life’ Renzo Piano on the G124 project for the recovery of the suburbs in Italy. Since 2015 he has started working in Bologna S.O.S.- School of Sustainability, focused on training new professionals in the field of sustainability.

In 2016 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded him an International Fellowship. In 2017 he received the important Honorary Fellowship Award by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

For the 2018 Venice Biennale, Cucinella will be the curator of the Italian Pavilion.

Lapo Vettori was born in Fiesole in 1984, the youngest son of Paolo Vettori and the grandson of Dario who is known as ‘il liutaio della montagna’ who began the tradition of violin-making in the family.

Vettori became involved in violin-making at an early age in his father’s workshop. He studied the violin at the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence and upon turning 18; he became a partner in the family workshop and began constructing instruments with his own label. In January 2003, he passed the examination of the Commission of Professional Italian Violin-Makers, making him its youngest member.

For the construction of his violins, Vettori uses the traditional models of Guarneri del Gesù, Pietro Guarneri da Mantova, Stradivari 1715, Camillo Camilli and Balestrieri; for his violas he uses the Francesco Mantegazza 1791 model from the collection from the Carlo Bisiach collection. He has spent considerable time abroad studying and working with prestigious ateliers. Vettori’s viola model Pietro Guarneri da Venezia received the highest score for acoustics at the 2009 XII Triennale International Violin Competition ‘A Stradivari’ in Cremona. Today, Vettori has built close to 100 instruments between violins, violas and cellos throughout his career.

Born in Milan in 1961, Massimo Bruto Randone graduated at the Politecnico di Milano (PhD at IUAV of Venice) in the last 20 years, as Strategic Designer, he supported Italian-International companies searching and researching new opportunities to develop specific processes of innovation.

‘Bridging islands’ is his professional attitude, connecting company needs and wishes together with the international university system as a huge learning environments constellation to engage and collaborate with.

As Strategic Designer and Design Thinker he teaches in different universities, such as Politecnico di Milano, Università Bocconi, Università Cattolica, Istituto Europeo di Design, Domus Academy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Vibram Corporate University is a specific company program born and developed to accelerate and feed the Vibram innovation process.

Massimo Giacon was born in Padua (Italy), in 1961.

In 1979 he started publishing comics on a regular basis in the major specialised magazines (Frigidaire, Linus, Alter, Dolce Vita, Cyborg, Nova Express, Blue), soon becoming one of the points of reference for the ’bizarre’ comics.

In 1980 he started a music activity that drove him to create several indie music bands. He has since concentrated on his musical activities as solo artist. In 1981, together with Vittore Baroni and Piermario Ciani, he took part in the multimedia network project TRAX, the forerunner of the future activities of subversive Luther Blissett. Then he began a constant artistic-performing activity which led him to a series of exhibition events in Italy, America, Greece, Portugal and Switzerland. In 1985 he took an interest in design and launched into a collaboration with some of the major architecture offices in Milan (Sottsass, Mendini, Thun). He also created designs for the well-known brands such as Memphis, Swatch, Artemide and Alessi.

He designed carpets, laminated materials, illustrations for fashion magazines, websites, fabrics, virtual characters, TV theme songs, ceramics, and is now working for graphic novels, various editorial projects, musical and commercial videos, new design objects, art exhibitions and music production. www.massimogiacon.com

Francesco Librizzi is the Architect and Founder of Francesco Librizzi Studio which deals with architecture, interiors, exhibition and product design, founded in Milan in 2005. Its works are focused on the essential features of space and the way its tectonics are influenced by objects, structures and humans. Finding a balance between new interventions and the existing architectural heritage has been so far the center of its realised projects and the theoretical research of the Studio. Its notable interior architectural projects include Casa C, (Domus n. 958) and Casa G (Abitare magazine n. 538 cover project). He also designed the Italian Pavilion in 2010 for the Venice Biennale, several installations for the Milan Triennale, and is currently involved in a series of lamps designed projects for FontanaArte. Many of his projects have been awarded with prestigious prizes, including the ‘AZ Awards 2015, Best Residential Interior’, the ‘Award Archmarathon 2015, Private Housing ‘, the ‘Prix Émile Hermès 2008’, the ‘Honorable Mention Compasso d’Oro 2014’. Since 2008, Librizzi cooperates with universities and design academies in Italy and abroad. He currently holds the position of Guest Professor in Interior Architecture at the Master Interior and Living Design at Domus Academy and at the Faculty of Architecture of Genoa.

Odo Fioravanti studied Industrial Design at the Design Department of the Milan Polytechnic. Since 1998, he has worked as an industrial designer, as well as experimenting graphic and exhibition design, with a firm will to melt different design areas into a continuous matter. His projects received prestigious international design awards since he has created Odo Fioravanti Design Studio. He taught and lectured in many design schools and academies: Milan Polytechnic, University of Venice, San Marino University, Istituto Marangoni, Domus Academy, HEAD Genève.

His works have been featured in many international exhibitions. In 2010, the Design Museum of the Triennale di Milano featured the personal exhibition “Industrious Design” about his works.

He won the Compasso d’Oro Prize ADI with the Frida wooden chair by Pedrali in 2011.

He also works as a freelance journalist for design magazines, trying to explore and to change the boundaries of design as a discipline.

Since 2006, he has been running the Odo Fioravanti Design Studio, developing projects for many companies, notably Abet Laminati, Ballarini, Casamania, COOP, Desalto, Flou, Fontana Arte, Foscarini, Land Rover, Normann Copenhagen, Olivetti, Palomar, Pedrali, Pircher, Toshiba, Vibram, Victorinox.

Giulio Vinaccia has worked for twenty years as a product designer in developing electronics, sports equipment and lighting. He has realised projects for the most important Italian brands such as Brembo, Ferrari Spa Piaggio Spa ,Momo Design -,Ducati ,Aprilia, New Max Spa , Data Process ,Moschino and Borsalino.

Since 1994, he has been a consultant for development projects through the use of design as a development tool, collaborating with different organisations and international institutions.

Today, after working in more than 22 countries, he is one of the most considerate expert in ‘social design oriented’ projects, with expertise ranging from the identification of the cultural heritage, to the design of new lines of products, from the creation of commercial brands, graphic systems and visual identification to the concept of the communicative strategies.

In 2015, he was awarded with the World Green Design Contribution Award and in 2016, he received the ‘Compasso d’Oro’, the most important international design prize, for his work in Social Design.

He is now full time engaged with Social Design Projects as a Senior Consultant for UNIDO and other UN agencies.

Mario Trimarchi was born in Messina. He graduated in architecture and moved to Milan in the 1980s, where he lives and works now. In 1999, he founded Fragile, a corporate identity studio, where, in parallel with strategic positioning and communication projects, he continued his personal research on design. For nearly ten years, he was part of the Olivetti Design Studio, where he designed, along with Michele De Lucchi, personal computers and cash dispensers. During the same period, he studied how to give a domestic touch to technological innovation, creating concept designs and products for Philips, Siemens and Matsushita Denki.

Since 2016, he is the Design Advisor for the Korea Craft & Design Foundation.

He designs for Alessi with a certain continuity: La Stanza dello Scirocco, baskets and trays (Good Design 2010), Il Tempo della Festa, the silicone drum series and copper moulds (Design Plus 2013 and Mention of Honor at the XXIII Compasso d’Oro. In 2014, he designed the Ossidiana coffee maker winning the prestigious XXIV Compasso d’Oro, the Red Dot Award, the International Design Award Silver and the brand DfA-Quality Design for All. Between 2015 and 2016, he self-produced the Oggetti Smarriti and Strawberry Fields Forever collections.

In March 2017, he presented Swan, a technological high-performance sculptured faucet, developed for Hansa and Alessi. In April 2017 he designed a line of printed fabrics for a capsule collection made in Orange Fiber for Salvatore Ferragamo.

Alberto Meda

Upon his graduation of the Master in Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico of Milan in 1969, Alberto Meda continues his career and living in Milan. Before collaborating with his son, Francesco Meda, in 2008, he has been working as an Industrial designer collaborating with many companies since the 1980s to this very day.

He won 5 ‘Compasso d’Oro’, in 1989 with Lola., in 1994 with Metropoli, in 2008 with Mix all lamps by Luceplan, in 2011 with Teak table by Alias and in 2016 with Flap by Caimi Brevetti.

Besides working with different companies, Meda has also won various awards, including the Honorary Royal Designer for Industry by RSA London in 2005. He also won the INDEX: Award with the ‘Solar Bottle’ in 2007.

On the other hand, the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) has included Meda’s ‘Light Light Chair’, ‘Soft Light Chair’, ‘Longframe’ by Alias and ‘On-Off’ and ‘Mix Lamp’ by Luceplan in its permanent collection since 1994.

Francesco Meda

Born in Milan in 1984. Graduated in 2006 from Milan’s Istituto Europeo di Design in Industrial Design. Following the degree, Francesco gained experience in London working at Sebastian Bergne’s studio and later at Ross Lovegrove’s. Since his return to Milan in 2008 he has been collaborating with his father Alberto Meda on projects for clients such as Alias, Vitra, Alessi, Kartell and Marsotto. In 2014, he participated in designing a hydro-formed aluminum chair for Alias with his father.

Concurrently he has been pursuing his own personal Art and Design projects with other companies such as Nilufar Gallery , Hong Kong’s Schoeni Art Gallery, Henraux, Luce di Carrara, Rossana Orlandi Gallery, Mint Gallery in London. When working with Caimi Brevetti, he has also won several design awards throughout 2015 to 2016.

His “Orme Cinesi” collection, which was extensively published and exhibited in Hong Kong at the Lane Crawford store, and was presented by Schoeni Art Gallery during the 2012/2013 Hong Kong ART fair. In 2013 he co-designed “Flap”, an acoustic panel produced by Caimi Brevetti. In the same year he began his own production with objects such as LED lamps, marble stools, tables, benches and 3D printed jewelry, some of which are part of the Triennale Design Museum collection.

Marco Balich is referred to as the ‘Designer of Emotions’. His career began in the music world: organising concerts for international stars and one of the biggest music festivals in Europe, the Heineken Jammin’ Festival. He produced many prime time television shows and music videos over for 15 years.

Balich is considered one of the top Olympic Ceremonies Executive Producers: from 2002 Salt Lake City Flag Handover to Torino 2006 Olympic Ceremonies; from the Rio Flag Handover in London 2012 to the Sochi 2014 production. He has received an Emmy Award for his work.

For Expo Milan 2015, Balich was the Artistic Director of the Italian Pavilion and creator of the iconic Albero della Vita – Tree of Life. Balich was awarded by The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the Order of Kurmet, for his professional contribution through the celebration of the 550th Anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate. He has been the executive producer of the Rio 2016 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies, produced by CC2016.