The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Angelino Alfano launched in Qatar the second edition of the “Italian Design Day in the World”, celebrated by Italian Embassies in over 100 capitals and dedicated this year to the relationship between design and sustainability.
Minister Alfano took part in the “Ten Words About Design” conference by Architect Designer Dario Curatolo, which was organized by the Embassy in the evocative setting of the Msheireb Center. This is an urban project which took life from the express desire of H.H. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser to promote an architectural language capable of combining innovation, sustainability and architectural tradition. The objective of the “Msheireb Downtown Doha” project is to transform the city’s old commercial district into a modern hub by adhering to the highest standards of green building and respecting the cultural roots of Qatar. The interior furnishings of the new housing units will be almost entirely composed of Italian design products.
The Minister’s speech at the Italian Design Day in Doha reflects the fruitful and articulated collaboration between Italy and Qatar, and between Italian and Qatari companies, in the fields of architecture, design and sustainable urban planning. The demand for Italian design is very strong in the Country: in the last two years there has been a 6% increase in the export of Made In Italy design products and a quarter of Italian total exports is due to this sector.
“Italy is a Country of the G7, but is not “the” economic superpower in the world. Italy is a member of NATO, but is not “the” military superpower. Where we are indeed a superpower, second to no one, is in culture and beauty, also thanks also to our design”, said Minister Alfano.
During the conference, the Architect Curatolo took the audience through a conceptual path inspired by ten key words that symbolize the characteristics of the excellence and uniqueness of Italian design by sharing the experience of his personal creative process. After his intervention, the Design Professor Marco Bruno of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Doha and the Architect Giampiero Peia presented concrete examples of sustainable design products. Respectively, they showed a censer from Qatari cultural tradition realized with clay according to techniques learned during workshops in Piemonte and the first hydroponic greenhouse with an innovative hexagonal shape.
Worldwide Italian Design Day
Italian Design Day is an initiative by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and is part of their integrated promotion programme: ”Vivere all’Italiana”, conceived to make Italy and its cultural excellence known through arts, cinema, archaeology, design, food and internationalization of museums and universities as well as cultural tourism.
Italian Design Day is made possible by the team set up by the Foreign Ministry, in association with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, the Triennale di Milano, the Italian Trade Agency (ICE), the Milan Salone del Mobile, the Association of Industrial Design (ADI), the Fondazione Compasso d’Oro and the Altagamma Foundation. The project involves all public and private players who represent high-quality Italian design, including the world of business, through Confindustria, and the training sector, for a total of fifty stakeholders including associations, federations, universities and design academies.
Following its successful debut in 2017, which involved about 20,000 professionals of the industry in the numerous activities organised, this is the second edition of the event. This year the main theme, in line with the XXII edition of the Triennale di Milano: “Broken Nature-design takes on human survival”, will focus on the connection between design and sustainability as expressed by 100 “Italian design ambassadors” – architects, designers, academics, business people, critics, communicators – who will make presentations of the best of our industrial design.
Architect Designer Dario Curatolo, the Italian design “ambassador” in Doha
The architect designer Curatolo has been the curator of Padiglione Italia at Hong Kong Design Week 2017, product designer and architect, Art Director of Padiglione Italia at Biennale di Architettura di Venezia in 2012.
He is member of the ADI council and of Triennale Design Museum scientific Committee.
