Prototype: from the Greek proto-typos, first example, first trace. Prototypes are important, vital, necessary; they trace out new directions and set their creator on an initiatic path through new forms and ingenious technical inventions, in a continuous bridge between ancient and new know-how.
The prototype embodies the gestation of the object; it constitutes the essence of authenticity and for the careful observer it preserves a unique creative fragrance.
The PROTOTYPES appunti di viaggio exhibition at the Sala delle Colonne in the Fabbrica del Vapore aims, through a description of each prototype, to offer stimuli, reflections and accounts of the designer’s modus operandi in a non-historical and non-chronological layout, both in relation to craftsmen and modellers and, above all, to the fortunate and unfortunate accidents of life.
Focussing attention on the prototype offers the opportunity to learn about creative and production processes, intuitions and practices that reveal how ability, happenstance and sometimes even mistakes can lead to extraordinary and curious results.
The prototypes presented with sketches, photographs and video interviews are the result of the application of great crafting skills and also of more recent techniques such as modelling and 3D printing.
PROTOTYPES involves designers, businesses, company museums and foundations with the objective of describing the human and creative process leading from idea to prototype and, in some cases, to the serial production of “legendary” objects.
The prototypes on display come directly from the workshops of designers, from the archives of the manufacturing companies and from the institutions that are working to conserve and promote the prototype, such as Fondazioni studio museo and Museimpresa.
PROTOTYPES appunti di viaggio
April 8/13
open all day
from 11 am to 10 pm
April 14/20
open all day
from 11 am to 4 pm
opening times
an exhibit curated by Roberta Brambilla and Pietro Nocita
April 8th to 20th 2014 (free entry)
Fabbrica del Vapore, Sala delle Colonne