Italia Geniale
The Laleggera chair designed by Riccardo Blumer for Alias is the protagonist, together with other icons of Italian design, of "Italia Geniale", the travelling exhibition inaugurated in Los Angeles on the occasion of the Amerigo Vespucci world tour.
Alias, a well-established Italian design brand, is delighted to participate in 'Italia geniale. Design enables - Beauty, originality, creativity of universally appreciated industrial design", the exhibition organised by the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy and the Ministry of Defence in collaboration with ADI and the ADI Design Museum, which opened on 6 July on the occasion of the Amerigo Vespucci's arrival in Los Angeles. Set up for the first time at the Dubai Expo in 2021 and then at Palazzo Piacentini, home of MIMIT, in 2022, Italia Geniale has become a travelling exhibition that, starting in 2023, will visit Italian diplomatic representations - in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - as an ambassador of Made in Italy.
In this new stage, inaugurated within the 'Villaggio Italia' - a mini travelling expo with Nave Vespucci - there are images, materials and iconic products of Sistema Italia that speak of imagination, work, wellbeing and relationships between people. The exhibition focuses on enhancing the heritage of Italy's brands and patents, touching on material culture and technical culture, to interweave with the history of design. Curated by Carlo Martino and Francesco Zurlo, the exhibition has a visual identity designed by the SM5 studio, which also took care of the layout, and was realised thanks to a great collaboration with companies, institutions, historical archives, museums, designers and private collectors.
"Italia Geniale" emphasises how our country's design and creativity improve people's lives all over the world by enabling them to better realise themselves thanks to everyday objects that have become iconic and are ambassadors of Made in Italy everywhere. For the curators, design is a means of empowering and legitimising people's capabilities: this is the starting point of the research, also expressed in the exhibition's subtitle: Design enables. Five thematic areas are proposed in the exhibition: imaginable, workable, relatable, liveable and moveable. Among the design icons on display is Laleggera by Alias, the ultimate expression of technology applied to design. Compasso d'Oro ADI 1998, this chair, designed by Riccardo Blumer, can be interpreted as a reinterpretation of the modernist motto "fidelity to materials".
Without openly proclaiming the technique with which it is made or attempting to camouflage it, the Laleggera chair suggests comfort by combining the old and the new, without forcing the user to consciously notice it. An icon of Made in Italy that demonstrates that the quality of design goes beyond the design and its form, and involves materials, production technologies, technical solutions in a profound and complex way. "Italia Geniale" will follow the "Italy Village" that accompanies the Amerigo Vespucci on eight stages: Tokyo, Darwin, Singapore, Mumbai, Abu-Dhabi, Doha, Jeddah and ending in Durres at the beginning of 2025. An itinerant, multi-year world tour to promote Italian excellence and Made in Italy.
