Kjetil Fallan SHAPING SENSE ITALIAN POST-WAR FUNCTIONALISTIC DESIGN Thesis in fulfilment of the degree of cand. philol. (MA) Department of History / Centre for Technology and Society Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim 2001 To my parents “We have never discussed it, but I think the main reason why we are reluctant to get married is all those dreadful presents you get and can not dispose of just like that. Every christmas, we get a little foretaste of that hell. Cathrine’s parents have gotten wind of our “interest in design”, so that is why the garish wrapping paper nor- mally contains something even more garish; rubbish from Alessi.” -Torgrim Eggen in Pynt Preface This project has been fatiguing in addition to being extremely interesting. I would never have finished it without the help and support from many persons: I wish to thank my supervisor Per Østby for taking on such a unorthodox project. His enthusiasm has been very important to me, and his experience crucial to my work. Øst- by and my co-supervisor Stig Kvaal have guided a sometimes frustrated candidate through the non-determined, multidirectional flux of writing history. Centre for Technology and Society has been my haunt the last two years. I am very thankful for the good working environment the centre has provided me with. I have shared office, problems and laughter with Jon N. Eikrem and Finn Arne Jørgensen. Jørgensen also deserves many thanks for his proofreading and formatting. I also wish to thank the staff at the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense and the Settore Bib- lioteca, Documentazione, Archivio of the Triennale di Milano for being so helpful and service-minded. The same must be said also about Paolo Rosselli. Many thanks also to Kristin Ellefsen and Jostein Syvertsen, who helped me with image- processing. On February 28th 2001, I had the pleasure of attending the conference “Innovation the Italian way - Design as a driving force in the Italian economy” in Oslo. The contri- butions made by Augusto Morello, president of International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) and Triennale di Milano, and Geir Grung, Norway’s ambas- sador to Italy, were of great inspiration to my attempt to place Italian post-war design in a wider historical and social perspective. THANK YOU ALL! Trondheim, May 2001 Kjetil Fallan Table of contents 1 Shapes of things . 11 1.1 Industrial design - origins and early development . 12 1.2 The antecentents of functionalism . 16 1.3 Early Italian functionalism . 17 1.4 Aims and delimitations . 20 1.5 Method and theory. 22 1.6 Structure of the thesis . 25 1.7 Sources. 26 1.8 Terminology. 27 2 Creating the message . 29 2.1 The Bird Phoenix - The re-emergence of the Triennali . 30 2.2 VIII Triennale 1947 - Socialistic functionalist visions. 32 2.3 Quartiere Triennale Ottava - Modern housing for the masses. 34 2.4 The exhibition - Cheap and rational products for the masses. 36 2.5 New times - and a setback for functionalist design . 37 2.6 IX Triennale 1951 - The return of borghese values . 40 2.7 The exhibition - Heterogenous expressions of theory and practice. 42 2.8 Conclusion. 45 3 Missionaries. 47 3.1 The Italian political system and industry . 48 3.2 Industry and design. 49 3.3 Consumption growth. 50 3.4 Alberto Rosselli - The modernist entrepreneur. 52 3.5 Stile Industria - The voice of modern style . 54 3.6 Compasso d’Oro - A prize for good industrial design. 56 3.7 Award regulations - An expression of functionalist ideals . 60 3.8 I Compasso d’Oro 1954 - Everyday products for the everyday people. 61 3.9 Conclusion . 62 4 The awakening. 65 4.1 The birth of a new Triennale . 66 4.2 X Triennale 1954. 67 4.3 The exhibition . 69 4.4 The industrial design exhibition. 71 4.5 Congresso dell’Industrial Design. 75 4.6 Conclusion. 81 5 A glimpse of paradise . 83 5.1 II Compasso d’Oro 1955 . 84 5.2 III Compasso d’Oro 1956 . 86 5.3 A design museum? . 88 5.4 Associazione per il Disegno Industriale . 90 5.5 XI Triennale 1957 . 93 5.5.1 The exhibition. 94 5.5.2 The rebel yell . 97 5.5.3 Question marks. 99 5.6 IV Compasso d’Oro 1957 . 101 5.7 Conclusion. 103 6 Heretics . 105 6.1 Growing wealth and loss of common direction. 106 6.2 Two examples: Olivetti Diaspron 82 and Piaggio Vespa GS/GL. 107 6.2.1 Olivetti Diaspron 82 - New shapes. 107 6.2.2 Piaggio Vespa GS/GL - Linea italiano yields to formalismo. 109 6.3 Compasso d’Oro 1958 - Re-organization . 111 6.4 Compasso d’Oro 1959 - Functionalism’s last victory. 112 6.5 Gran Premi Compasso d’Oro 1959 - The design controversy. 114 6.5.1 The debate at ADI. 116 6.5.2 The debate in Stile Industria. 119 6.6 General criticism of new tendencies in Italian design . 124 6.7 Conclusion. 129 7 Shaping things, shaping society, shaping sense. 131 7.1 Phase I - The breakthrough. 132 7.2 Phase II - The golden years. 133 7.3 Phase III - Disintegration. 135 7.4 The forming and transforming of design . 136 7.5 Epilogue. 138 Bibliography . 143 1 Shapes of things Table lamp 0836 Des: P. Chiesa, Prod: Fontana Arte (1933) Today, Italian design is looked upon with great respect from all over the world. Well known designers like Aldo Rossi, Enzo Mari, Ettore Sottsass, Alessandro Mendini, Richard Sapper, Antonio Citterio and Makio Hasuike have become stars on the inter- national design scene. Companies like Artemide, B&B Italia, Alfa Romeo, Olivari and Tecno owe their success to extraordinary design. The situation of today is no natural outcome of a peculiar Italian talent, but can be seen as the result of various initiatives and events that took place in the years between 1945 and 1965. During these years, a group of ambitious designers took advantage of the international development of the Modern Movement and its material equivalent, functionalistic design. Through negotiations with the political, economic, industrial and cultural settings, they created a peculiar Italian functionalistic design. These problems and development seems to have laid the foundation for the status Italian design enjoys today. A central element of the Italian design scene is the Triennale di Milano, established in 1923.1 Over the years it has become one of the world’s most important exhibitions of industrial design and architecture. Every edition, thousands of industrialists, design- ers, architects and common people visit the exhibitions to get an impression of the lat- est developments. The Triennale soon became the main arena for professionals and public to follow the movements in design and architecture. Therefore, the develop- 1. The first editions were held in Monza every second year, and hence called Biennali. The shift to three-year intervals, Triennali, came in 1930, and the exhibition moved to Milan in 1933 for the V edition. 11 ment and changes of the events and messages at the Triennale illustrate the dramatic shifts both in Italian design and society in the period 1945 to 1965 While the theme of the VIII Triennale in 1947 was “The reconstruction as a social problem”, the theme of the XIII Triennale in 1964 was “Spare time”. Seventeen years and five editions separated the two mentioned above. This remarkable difference in message and meaning between these two Triennali indicates that important changes must have taken place in the intervening years. Not only had Italian society, economy, industry, politics, markets and culture changed dramatically, Italian design had also gone through an immense development which would have important consequences for Italian society in the years to come. In 1945, Italy was “down and out”. Fascist Italy had lost the war, and left the country severely damaged both mentally and materially. A new, democratic state had to be created, and the industry had to be re-built and re-directed from military production to civil purposes. In other words: A new nation had to be built. Twenty years later, the results were visible. The average Italian drove a FIAT 500 and watched TV in his own living room while relaxing in modern furniture. Italian companies manufactured prod- ucts which were exported and copied. Designers and importers from all over the world came to see and learn about the Linea Italiana. This dramatic development of Italian functionalism in the period 1945 to 1965, consti- tutes the topic for my study. Therefore I will start with a brief look at the origins and early developments of industrial design and functionalism. The term industrial design is of a rather recent origin, but the phenomenon has a longer history. 1.1 Industrial design - origins and early development The industrial revolution is normally dated to the latter part of the eighteenth century. The British society in this period was characterized by great changes in economic and social relations and production methods.2 But half a century would pass before indus- trial production spread to other countries and was used.