Established by Triennale Milano in 2007, the Museo del Design Italiano is dedicated to the promotion, conservation and documentation of the history of Italian design.
At present the Museum presents a selection from the Permanent Collection of Triennale Milan, consisting of over 1,600 pieces belonging to our institution.
The exhibition highlights the central role that Triennale has had since its foundation in the definition, development and showcase of Italian design.
Products, graphic and photographic materials of the International Exhibitions, collected in our archives and often unreleased, are on display to tell our almost 100 year history.
The selection is organised chronologically and it covers one of the most important periods for Italian design: from the immediate post-war years and the subsequent economic boom to the early 1980s, when the appearance of new vibrant movements such as Memphis triggered a new era in design production, in Italy and worldwide.
Throughout these decades of intense experimentation, in which new materials, new techniques and new aesthetic codes revolutionised behaviour at home and in society, innovation was driven not only by designers but also by the entrepreneurs and CRAFTSMEN whit whom the designers worked constantly, making Italian design a phenomenon of international importance.
Today, the Museo del Design Italiano is engaged in an intense process of enrichment and enhancement of the Archives and the Collection through a productive dialogue with designers, artists, archives, heirs, collectors, and gallery owners, as demonstrated by the recent donations and loans obtained through the collaboration with AIAP (associazione Italiana design della comunicazione visiva), AIAP CDPG (Centro di Documentazione sul Progetto Grafico), Fondazione Massimo e Sonia Cirulli, Salone del Mobile Milano, Studio Ettore Sottsass.
The Museo del Design Italiano is directed by Marco Sammicheli and its scientific committee is composed of Paola Antonelli, Andrea Branzi, Antonio Citterio, Michele De Lucchi, Piero Lissoni, Claudio Luti, Fabio Novembre and Patricia Urquiola.
The Museo del Design Italiano has been possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture. (press Museo del Design Italiano)

below a selection:

Dante Giacosa, nuova 500 D, 1960 - Fiat

Gae Aulenti, Tavolo con ruote (1980) - FontanaArte

An example of intuitive design where an idea becomes a prototype and then a product, whitout going through elaboration and drawings.A wooden tabletop on wheels used to transport sheets of glass in the FontanaArte factory is the inspiration for this coffee table, which introduces elements used in other contexts into the home by means of a ready-made process.

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Arco (1962) - Flos 

A marble base, a stainless-steel rod fitted with three telescopic arches, and a bowl-shaped aluminium shade with perforations for cooling.The hole in the base allows the insertion of a broom handle to easily lift and move the lamp.Thanks to “Arco”, the dining table in the home is no longer tied to a predetermined position by the ceiling light.

Studio 65, Bocca (1968) - Gufram

Sofa in the shape of giant lips, in cold-processed polyurethane covered with stretch fabric, inspired by the lips/sofa designed by Salvador Dalì in the work “Mae West’s Face which May Be Used as a Surrealist Apartment”.
It represents an ironic critique of the ephemeral image society.
The prototype was built for the Milan branch of American Contourella beauty centers.

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