DOPPIA FIRMA

On the occasion of the 2022 edition of Salone del Mobile, the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is pleased to present the sixth edition of Double Signature. Dialogues between design thinking and high craftsmanship, a project of Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte developed with Living, the interiors, design and lifestyle magazine of Corriere della Sera.

Doppia Firma is a project that enhances the union between design innovation and the tradition of the great European masters of art. The aim is to showcase a unique collection, composed of original works or small collections, the result of the creative exchange between a designer/artist and an artisan, or manufacture of excellence: works that arise from the mutual fertilization between design culture and a know-how that is an authentic expression of the territory.

For the new 2022 edition, the promoting partners carefully searched throughout Europe for a series of works created precisely in the spirit of Double Signature, which has long been able to impose itself as a method and as a reference, becoming a highly appreciated format at the international level, inspiring several similar initiatives, in which the role of the designer and the master of art interact, integrate and relate with equal authorial dignity (hence the principle precisely of "double signature").

The significant selection was also made possible by the valuable contribution of the Michelangelo Foundation's international network of leading European institutions that promote art crafts. The dialogue between creativity and high manufacturing, between design culture, talent and know-how of excellence is declined in this edition in a particularly broad and multifaceted way. The spirit of research and experimentation characterizes several of the projects present, often also born from the collaboration between designers and important schools of applied arts.

Also for 2022, the materials and techniques on which the designers' planning and the exceptional craftsmanship of the artisans met are numerous: glass, ceramics, porcelain, marble, wood, wicker, textiles, to arrive at new interpretations of functional or decorative objects. The objects, true narrative icons, are displayed in an itinerary that winds its way through the magnificent halls of Palazzo Litta, a scenic Baroque casket in the heart of the city and the prestigious headquarters of the Regional Secretariat of the Ministry of Culture. The initiative is part of the collaboration between Palazzo Litta and Fondazione Cologni for the realization of a rich program of shared cultural and exhibition initiatives on the common theme of high artistic craftsmanship.

Thanks to the partners' expertise, 22 extraordinary creative partnerships were promoted.

22. Zanellato/Bortotto with Incalmi, Italy

Ferruccio Laviani, a well-known designer and art director, was asked by the partners of Doppia Firma to want to design and create a special site-specific piece made specifically for the exhibition in Palazzo Litta. The result is a work that happily combines design and craftsmanship, thanks to the collaboration with Villari, a company of excellence in the production of art porcelain. "For the Doppia Firma project, the inspiration came immediately while visiting the halls of Palazzo Litta where, in addition to the incredible spaces rich in history and decoration, the family's arms tower just about everywhere.

This bordering on obsessive repetition of the gold and black checkerboard was the guiding element of my early sketches, which changed from time to time from lamp to bowl and finally into a vase. I liked to reread the checkerboard motif in a graphic and contemporary way (almost an 8-bit video game) to which I added the element of value given by the porcelain workmanship used in a sequence of layers that give shape in a three-dimensional way to the object while concealing the various flower containers, the latter in gilded metal, to draw a sort of contemporary tulip bowl." (F. Laviani)

Collaborations
Alessandra Salaris, established interior stylist, signs the layout of the exhibition at Palazzo Litta.
Laila Pozzo, a Milanese photographer specializing in portraits and environments related to excellent craftsmanship, documents the works.
Video production is by photographer and videomaker Emanuele Zamponi.
Italian Converter is a technical partner in the installation of Doppia Firma in Palazzo Litta. Since 1994, the company has been producing innovative fabrics for fashion and furniture. Thanks to its great know-how, research and use of the best cutting-edge technologies, with a constant focus on sustainability, the company is a true Italian excellence in the luxury sector.