Talking About 2023. Back to Modernity: present
A FLUID CONCEPT: COMPLEXITY AND TURNOVER.
Marco Sammicheli in conversation with Emilia Terragni
The second talk dedicated to modernity took place in London. Emilia Terragni, editorial director of Phaidon Press, and Marco Sammicheli, director of the Triennale di Milano museum of art and design, had an exchange of views to review the 100-year history of the prestigious English publishing house and the Italian institution, both founded in 1923. Modernity was addressed by referring to two specific identity characteristics that determine the actions and policies of these two institutions: on the one hand, the drive to be forerunners, anticipators and innovators; and on the other hand, the responsibility to maintain a profile and cultural programme that will stand the test of time.
Responding to the contemporary with projects and challenges is an attitude that has always characterised the history of the English publishing house and that of the Italian institution. Through archive images, recent productions and new activities, the two protagonists have recounted an idea of modernity that lives in space and is carried forward in time, a creative attitude that has led them to involve some of the most interesting figures in architecture, design and art in recent history.
BIOGRAPHY
Marco Sammicheli is curator of the design, fashion, crafts sector at the Triennale di Milano museum of art and design and Director of Museo del Design Italiano. After graduating in Communication Science from the University of Siena and specialising in History of Design at the Bauhaus in Weimar, he earned a doctorate in design and technology for the development of cultural heritage at Politecnico di Milano. He curated shows and essays on catalogues for museums in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Columnist for “Wallpaper*” and for Il Sole 24 Ore. He wrote monographs on designers and publications on Milan as an urban platform for creative industries.
BIOGRAPHY
Emilia Terragni is Associate Publisher for Architecture, Design and Food titles at Phaidon Press – the world’s premier publisher of books on the visual arts. She worked previously as a Curator at the Barragan Foundation and Vitra Design Museum and studied art history at the University Ca’ Foscari in Venice.
At Phaidon, she founded the design list and then went on to create and develop the culinary list, publishing books that combine lifestyle, food, and hospitality, while being beautiful objects in their own right.
