Innovation - Piemonte Feel

The temptation often arises to set up an opposition between the beauty of traditional craftsmanship and the banality of industrially manufactured goods. It is this opposition which modern designers are seeking to cancel out.
Strategy, technological research and planning: these are the key words which have characterised the adventurous history of Piedmontese design, which has been renowned since the 60s thanks to important names such as Pininfarina, Bertone and Giugiaro. Without playing down the central importance of car design in all this, we should also note Piedmont’s innovation in the design other everyday objects, such as the legendary “Lettera22” and “Lexicon80” Olivetti typewriters, designed by Zizzoli, or the range of Alessi household goods (from the mythic 9090, the coffee-maker designed by Richard Sapper and exhibited in New York’s Moma to Achille Castiglioni’s butter knife), not to mention Lavazza’s innovative vacuum packs of fresh coffee or Armando Testa’s ingenious advertisement

Nowadays Turin offers a wealth of opportunities for young designers, who are trained in high quality training institutions which open up some particularly interesting professional opportunities. The range of further and higher education training opportunities open to those wishing to specialise in this sector has expanded considerably over the years. Institutions specialised in design range from specialised technical colleges, be they public or run by one of the large industrial groups, to the IED (Istituto Europeo di Design – European Design Institute) to the IAAD (Itituto Arte Applicata del Design – Applied Art Institute), to the degree and masters-level courses in industrial design run by the Turin Polytechnic.
The secret of many Piedmontese companies’ success is their passion for doing things well. Piedmont has given birth to eclectic designers and revolutionary new schemes, industrial talents which have invented successful new products. Such products are characteristic of Piedmont’s industries – Fiat in Turin, Olivetti in the Canavese and Fila in the Biellese.
Piedmont’s attitude towards transportation, industrial graphics and interior design can be summed up in a single word: passion. It is because of this passionate devotion to the field that Piedmont has been elected 2008 World Capital of Design. The future World Capital of Design has already brought forth many new inventions, but if it is to continue to occupy its central position in the international design arena, it still has a long way to go and a lot of new ideas to follow through.