This is the exhibition of a great manufacturer of “household goods”: Alessi. When deciding on how to organise the exhibition, we felt it was important to go beyond a company-related historical and descriptive approach to propose a series of more generic themes. We believe, indeed, that the problems being experienced at Alessi are a reflection of the many pressing requests for a change that are currently taking place in the design industry across the world.

As such, beginning with a critical analysis of the history and development of internal strategies at Alessi, the exhibition then concentrates on more topical issues that are being tackled and dealt with in the wider world: the simplification of production processes, the cultural relationship between East and West, the use of rejects and semi-finished products, low consumption, new techniques, and so forth. And, of course, the transformation of aesthetic and functional sensibilities brought about by the rapid changes in day-to-day life. As a result, the exhibition identifies ten or so “key themes” whose theoretical basis is considered to be valid for both Alessi and other companies, as well as for schools at an educational level. Each of these project “themes” was entrusted to a different designer, who sought to develop new objects for future production. At the heart of the exhibition, therefore, is a series of “new product” presentations with prototypes and projects subject to critical and theoretical discussion.

The exhibition includes some historical and descriptive contents too which, based on a theoretical level, outline the strategies that have contributed to the evolution of Alessi and gradually led us up to the present and our current level of development. From the time of the pioneers, to the ‘Bel design’ through to the maestros and modern-day eclecticism, the historical path Alessi has taken represents a guideline and basis for the future thoughts on continuity. Alessandro Mendini