Roots and design of a new way of living

Friday 27 September 2024 at 18:00 to Stables of Palazzo Costantino opens in Palermo Domestic, Mediterranean, the exhibition curated by Giuseppe Arezzi and promoted by ABADIR as part of the 12th edition of iDesign Palermo, dedicated this year to travel theme (Travelling through worlds – Design moving through time and space).

The exhibition Domestic, Mediterranean it is the culmination of Mediterraneo Operandi, a nine-month design journey carried out within the annual workshop of Design III driven by Giuseppe Arezzi.

From this question, the third-year students of the three-year undergraduate degree course started in Product Design and Visual Communication, wondering about the vernacular traditions of Mediterranean territories and investigating the factual state of manufacturing businesses still alive, between architecture and craftsmanship, searching for a contemporary design rooted in the landscapes, history, imageries and traditions of Southern Europe. 

The study of traditional materials and ancient production techniques, reinterpreted so that they can be projected into a tangible future, has given rise to to a series of new objects that present themselves as expression of a new Mediterranean culture and of modern living needsemotional projects, in which functionality absorbs memory, astonishment, regret, joy and trust in what is to come; a domesticity far removed from the rhetoric of local style, capable of reconciling artisanal tradition, contemporary languages and cutting-edge processing techniques.

The eight prototypes they were created thanks to collaboration with companies in Southern and Central Italy, sharing the ability to have reinterpreting traditional knowledge and crafts through a contemporary lens: 09:50, a Calatan workshop specialising in the production of terracotta majolica and Etna lava stone; Intreccio Vivo, artisan business in the heart of the Macerata hills, specialising in the weaving of natural raw materials, such as wicker, reed and bamboo; Lispi, a shadow workshop for wrought iron processing that creates designer furniture; Stop, a company from Grammichele that offers collections of objects and home furnishings; Sansone Pavimenti e Guastella Timber, businesses in the Ragusa area specialising respectively in concrete surfaces and timber and semi-finished products.

The exhibition can be visited free of charge until 6 October, with daily opening from 15:00 to 18:00.