SuperDesign charts the Italian Radicals’ bold experimentation in modern design from its birth in the mid-1960s through its continued influence on design today.
Launched by art, architecture, and design students in Italy, Radical Design started as a youthful rally against the establishment and a rejection of design norms. It grew to become a movement that brought together some of the most dynamic and avant-garde thinkers and makers across the country. With essays by Maria Cristina Didero, Evan Snyderman, Deyan Sudjic, and Catharine Rossi.
Through enigmatic, confrontational, and clever furniture and objects—such as the iconic lip-shaped Bocca sofa, or the Cactus coatrack in green foam—as well as more public innovations including discotheque interiors and subversive performances, the Radicals projected design’s new era as equal parts Pop Art, play, Surrealism, and futurism. Told through exclusive interviews, unreleased photographs, original drawings and artwork unearthed from personal archives, and newly commissioned photography of rarely seen works, SuperDesign explores this fervent period of design that played out against the era’s social and political turmoil.
Featured designers include Archizoom Associati, Lapo Binazzi (UFO), Pietro Derossi (Gruppo Strum), Piero Gilardi, Ugo La Pietra, Gaetano Pesce, Gianni Pettena, Studio65, and Superstudio.