For the Italian Design Day 2022, the Molteni Group presents the first monograph dedicated to Luca Meda on Wednesday 23 March at the ADI Design Museum in Milan

Wednesday 23 March 2022, at 18.00 at the ADI Design Museum in Milan, the Molteni Group presents the book Luca Meda. Architecture, Design, drawings.

It is the first monograph dedicated to the designer and architect who with his works contributed to make the history of industrial design and Italian architecture, starting from the 1960s.

The volume, edited by Nicola Braghieri, Sabina Carboni, Serena Maffioletti with critical essays by Giampiero Bosoni, Rosa Chiesa, Alberto Ferlenga, Beatrice Lampariello, Chiara Lecce, Mario Piazza and Dario Scodeller, and published by Silvana Editoriale (2021), combines an accurate biography and critical analysis of his works, with the precise collection of all the works of the iconic architect and designer.

A great achievement

The presentation of the volume not only represents the moment in which the monograph is made public, but also coincides with the completion of a meticulous work of research and analysis of the multitude of materials and testimonies related to the person, and artist , which Meda was. The life and works of the designer, also nicknamed 'corporate man' due to his great ability to mix design and business, have been retraced thanks to the sorting work that lasted 8 years and which in fact began in 2013.

The sources

The research path on Luca Meda's work was developed by the Projects Archive of the Iuav University of Venice, with the acquisition on loan of the personal archive, wanted by his wife Giulia Balossi Restelli and his daughters Chiara and Sofia. The precious historical archive of the Molteni Group has been added to this first source. The company, for which Luca Meda has traced the path of development of the large group, today of global significance, has in fact supported the publication of the book with participation. Both financially and by contributing to the procurement of materials.

Meda and the Molteni Group

Luca Meda has held the role of art director for the companies of the Molteni Group since 1968, the year he joined Molteni & amp; C. A position that allowed him to face the industrial design sector in an all-encompassing way, dealing not only with the furnishing project, but also with set-ups, images, catalogs, photography and graphics, outlining the face of companies such as Molteni & amp; C and Dada and making them what we know today.

Meda's first major challenge at Molteni was to lead the transition of Molteni &C from a production based on period furniture to one of modern and design furniture. Above all through the design of modular systems for the living and sleeping areas.

The tribute of Nicola Braghieri

Nicola Braghieri, who participated in the editing of the book “Luca Meda. Architecture, Design, drawings "tells how the work is a reflection on the fragility of the border that divides architecture and industrial design, the invention of memory.

And he adds: “The drawings, prototypes and artifacts are presented in the book to celebrate the persistence of a few and precise forms. These are the abstract forms of the modern figurative tradition, pure forms, almost symbols, matured in the Ulm years in the first season of architect. Essential forms, which, despite the changing of their daily use, their size or their materiality, constantly emerge, are transformed, are associated with the models of family memory and the repertoire of objects of affection. Simple artifacts and usual architectures become scenes of happy life, they do things and seem ready to be reabsorbed by the life that flows".