ADI Design Museum dedicates an exhibition to Alberto Rosselli, an Italian design master and ADI founder
“100+1 Alberto Rosselli per Saporiti Italia” is an exhibition dedicated to one of the great masters of Italian design 101 years after his birth. Among the founders of ADI and the Compasso d’Oro award, Rosselli was art director of Saporiti Italia from 1966 to 1976. The exhibition shows the work of one of the great masters of contemporary design, architect and designer Alberto Rosselli, particularly through his enduring relationship with Saporiti Italia, the company founded in 1948 by Sergio Saporiti in Besnate (Varese).
Alberto Rosselli was one of the founders of ADI with Gillo Dorfles, Ignazio Gardella, Vico Magistretti, Bruno Munari, Angelo Mangiarotti, Marcello Nizzoli, Antonio Pellizzari, Enrico Peressutti, Giulio Castelli, Albe Steiner, Gio Ponti, the institution born in 1956, and one of the creators of the Compasso d’Oro award in 1954.
Curated by Federica Sala, the exhibition focuses on the concept of modernity that permeated Rosselli’s work. Thanks to his encounter with Sergio Saporiti, Rosselli designed and developed pieces of furniture using materials and technologies that were revolutionary at that time. Plastics and composite materials allowed Saporiti Italia to create objects with original shapes and functions, which are still contemporary.
The exhibition path
The exhibition starts with the 15-meter-long installation of the Dune modular sofa, which can be used to watch the historical materials on the work of Rosselli and Saporiti on LED walls.
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Next to it, a long case displays the entire collection of the Stile Industria magazine, founded and edited by Alberto Rosselli, a tribute to graphic design with magazine covers created by famous graphic designers such as Giulio Confalonieri, Max Huber, Enzo Mari, Bruno Munari, Ilio Negri, Bob Noorda, Michele Provinciali, Albe Steiner, Pino Tovaglia, Heinz Waibl and others.
In addition to historic pieces and archival materials, the exhibition showcases 100 Jumbo armchairs reinterpreted in a hundred colors by international architecture and design firms including Massimiliano & Doriana Fuksas, Martí Guixé, Toshiyuki Kita, Mauro Lipparini, Park Associati, Portman Architects, SITE James Wines, storagemilano, S20M Antonio Ventimiglia, Carlos Zapata. Martí Guixé’s exhibition design includes a large central case housing these 100 models and an original white Moby Dick chaise longue from 1968.
Saporiti Italia in vintage films
Also on display are objects including the Play and P110 armchairs, the Confidential sofa, the P800 bookcase as well as many original drawings, vintage images and films. In fact, the sets of the 007 film The Spy Who Loved Me and the Space 1999 TV series featured Alberto Rosselli’s pieces.
Lastly, the exhibition displays the Casa Mobile housing module, created for the historic exhibition curated by Emilio Ambasz in 1972 at MoMA “Italy: the New Domestic Landscape” through films, drawings and archival images.
The 100 armchairs and the Moby Dick chaise longue are sold in an auction organized by Cambi Casa d’Aste until November 7 2022.
100+1 Alberto Rosselli per Saporiti Italia
until October 30, 2022
ADI Design Museum, Milan
Curated by Federica Sala
Exhibition design by Martí Guixé
