The exhibition will provide an in-depth look at Franco Raggi, architect, designer, and intellectual, active on the Italian and international scene for half a century.
From February 7 to April 13, 2025, Triennale Milano hosts the exhibition Franco Raggi. Unstable Thoughts, curated by Marco Sammicheli and Francesca Pellicciari, with the exhibition design by the Piovenefabi studio. The exhibition will be set up in the Design Platform, a space within the Museum of Italian Design dedicated to key themes and figures of contemporary design”.
Franco Raggi, architect, designer, and intellectual
The exhibition will provide an in-depth look at Franco Raggi, an architect, designer, and intellectual, active on the Italian and international scene for half a century. He participated in the activities of the Radical Design groups and collaborated with Studio Alchimia. The visitors’ journey will unfold across some fundamental chapters of Raggi’s work in product design, exhibition design, interiors, drawing, and publishing related to the debate on the role of architecture in society.
Thus, a great narrative takes shape, within which a series of objects, projects, drawings, and films are housed, selected to describe the life and professional history of the architect, particularly through the many moments in which he interacted with Triennale Milano, starting from 1973, the year he participated in the 15th edition of the International Exposition”.
A experimentation dedicated to the display of design
The exhibition project, designed by the Piovenefabi studio, will represent an experiment dedicated to the display of design, a theme explored in all the exhibitions held at the Design Platform of Triennale. The setup will take the form of a caravan, through which visitors will access a large tent, inside which the different aspects of Franco Raggi’s career will be represented: his work as an architect and designer, illustrated by a panel construction containing a series of photographs dedicated to his work with space, including homes and interior architecture, as well as a section with some objects such as lamps, seating, and furniture pieces; his work in magazines, featuring covers from Casabella and MODO, as well as drawings, notebooks, and excerpts from his extensive written work; and finally, the section dedicated to drawings, showcasing many of his graphic experiments. Inside, the Red Tent from 1974 is also housed.
The exhibition will be complemented by a section containing images of installations, happenings, and exhibitions, including some held at Triennale. An unreleased film, created by Francesca Molteni, in which Franco Raggi tells his story in the first person, will also be shown.
On the occasion of the exhibition, a catalog will be published by Electa in both Italian and English, featuring texts by Stefano Boeri, Marco Sammicheli, and Francesca Pellicciari, with essays by Ambra Fabi and Giovanni Piovene, Emanuele Quinz, Barbara Radice, Léa-Catherine Szacka, and Davide Trabucco.
The Exhibition lighting partner D’Alesio and Santoro, the Technical partners Laterite and Terreal Italia, and the institutional partners Lavazza Group and Salone del Mobile.Milano support Triennale Milano for this exhibition”.
Franco Raggi, biography
Born in Milan in 1945, after graduating in architecture in 1969 from the Politecnico di Milano, Franco Raggi collaborated with the Nizzoli Associati studio, dedicated himself to writing and drawing, and worked with specialized magazines, particularly Casabella and Modo, which he directed from 1981 to 1983. He contributed to the organization of exhibitions for the Venice Biennale in 1975-76 and on several occasions for Triennale Milano in 1973 and 1985. For Triennale, in 1980, he curated the section La sistemazione del design – Inizio di un censimento, verso la raccolta (The Organization of Design – Beginning of a Census, Towards a Collection), in 1983, together with Francesco Trabucco, the exhibition Le case della Triennale (The Houses of the Triennale), and in 1988, as part of the 17th International Exposition Le città del mondo e il futuro delle Metropoli (The Cities of the World and the Future of Metropolises), he curated the section Design: I comportamenti negli spazi pubblici, semipubblici e privati (Design: Behaviors in Public, Semi-Public, and Private Spaces) with Denis Santachiara. Since 1977, alongside his work as an architect, he has also worked as a designer, collaborating with, among others, FontanaArte, Kartell, Poltronova, Barovier&Toso, Luceplan, Artemide, Danese, Firmamento Milano, and Zeus. His works are housed in the collections of Triennale Milano, the FRAC Museum in Orleans, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the MoMA in New York, and the Savona Ceramic Museum.
