The exhibition “Olivetti. Uomini, progetti e prodotti - Racconti e aneddoti del fare olivettiano”, curated by Maurizio Navone in collaboration with the Associazione Archivio Storico Olivetti (AASO) of Ivrea, is the latest project by ADI Design Museum. It pays tribute to the evolution of Olivetti’s design and innovation through the reinstallation of an excerpt from the retrospective “Design Process Olivetti 1908-1978”, held in 1979 at the Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the Italian company.

By employing the display module designed in 1978 by Czechoslovak designer Hans von Klier, the thematic exhibition delves into the cultural, human, and design mindset that defined Olivetti's corporate identity, highlighting its key evolutionary milestones in a multi-layered narrative. From Natale Capellaro and his mechanical inventions to the birth of the first personal computer, “Olivetti. Uomini, progetti e prodotti” also aims to establish a temporal and conceptual continuity of the company’s design philosophy. This is further emphasized through RESTART/MILANO, which reactivates four Olivettian objects: the Olivetti agenda designed by Enzo Mari, the redesign of Giorgio Soavi’s ashtray, the reinterpretation of the Spazio series lamp by BBPR, and a sideboard adapted around the multifunctionality of the Olivetti Synthesis Series 45.

Exploring the creations of the key figures who shaped the company’s identity between 1950 and 1978, and by celebrating the inseparable connection between humans and products that defines Olivetti’s style, the exhibition establishes a complex dialogue between the past and the present, integrating commentaries, interviews and extracts from the 1979 exhibition catalogue into a layered narrative.

Opening image: Exhibition Design Process Olivetti 1908-1973  - ADI design Museum 2025, design Maurizio Navone, Mirko Sconza, Eros Miazzi Simone Ballesio. Courtesy of ADI Design Museum.