The Municipality of Cesano Maderno on the occasion of Milan Design Week promotes the exhibition Olivetti. Stories from a collection. Palazzo Arese Borromeo is the setting that will host the event, scheduled from April 13 to June 2, an unmissable opportunity for all enthusiasts of visual communication and design.
The exhibition is inspired by the eponymous book, published in January by Ronzani Editore, and is patronized by the Historical Archive Olivetti and Tipoteca Italiana, curated by Sergio Polano and Alessandro Santero, with artistic direction by Giorgio Cedolin.
An extensive collection dedicated to the brilliant advertising communication of Olivetti, featuring iconic projects and memorable posters. Over 500 communication, graphic, and advertising items that tell the valuable legacy of Olivetti's work. A figure that has been synonymous with excellence in corporate communication and the design of timeless products.
An event that captures the interest of many because it reveals aspects that have been little explored by Olivetti analysis, mostly focused on the contribution that the entrepreneur has made to social, political, and economic issues.
The exhibition setup, curated by M•IA Studio by Cristina Barbiani and Elisabetta Facchinetti, offers the public a wide overview of Olivetti's work, presenting projects, designs, brochures, posters, company books, instructional booklets, and catalogs.
From the book 25 anni di Olivetti from 1933 – cover by Bruno Munari – the first Italian example of cutting-edge corporate graphics, to the booklet analyzing urban issues related to workers' housing. From the rare brochure Storia della scrittura to the volume in which Elio Vittorini talks about advertising humanism (1939). And also: from the portraits of workers with direct testimonies in Olivetti di Ivrea. Visita a una fabbrica (graphics by Albe Steiner) to the Piccola guida di ortografia entrusted to the then president of the Accademia della Crusca.
Stand out the photos taken by Mulas, Ballo, Zanuso, Roiter for the volume Olivetti 1908 – 1958. Also emerges a Lettera allo studente, an advertising brochure that offered installment purchase of a Lettera 22 with complimentary books or magazine subscriptions. Also from 1958 is the product catalog with a preface signed by Richard Neutra.
Also appearing are ll bambino, il gioco, il giocattolo, il catalogo Arte Cinetica. Arte programmata in which Umberto Eco, in 1962, theorized kinetic art as an open work; up to the first Olivetti agendas with graphic design by Enzo Mari and drawings by Jean-Michel Folon. And the book Uffici. From the traditional office to the open-plan office from 1974 edited by Ettore Sottsass.
Of course, the original first edition of Città dell’uomo is also included, the spiritual testament of the entrepreneur from Ivrea.
