Share this on

Design Museum Opens in Milan

Michele De Lucchi orchestrated the restoration of an existing museum site, in addition to designing the new facilities.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 12/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

Billed as the first museum dedicated to design in Italy, the Triennale Design Museum opened December 6 on the premises of the Triennale di Milano event complex in Milan's Parco Sempione. The Triennale di Milano, a cultural institute, focuses on architecture, urban planning, decorative art, design, arts and crafts, industrial production, fashion, and audiovisual communication.

Italian designer Michele De Lucchi head up the restoration of an existing museum building and designed the new facilities. Construction began in 2004 with a design library, historical archives, and documentation center, and continued with the construction of the new museum and the restoration of the existing museum site. The museum's architectural highlight is an entrance bridge over its grand staircase that allows access to the museum both independently and from the Triennale di Milano complex.

The museum opens with "The Obsessions of Italian Design," an exhibit designed by British artist and filmmaker Peter Greenaway and Italian architect Italo Rota. One-hundred Italian design objects are set against films by Greenaway and six prominent Italian filmmakers.

Silvana Annicchiarico, the curator of the permanent collection of Italian design at the Triennale di Milano and the leader of its design department, is the director of the new museum.

From top: Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni's iconic Mezzadro stool, part of the Triennale Design Museum's permanent collection and it's first exhibition, "The Obsessions of Italian Design," which pairs 100 design objects with seven films. A rendering of the exhibition design.

Images courtesy of Triennale Design Museum