Poltronova, an internationally renowned interior design company, opened the doors of its production and research facility to the trade press to discover the secrets of a sixty-five yearlong success.
The Poltronova Study Centre for Design, located in the Oltrarno district of Florence, presented itself without veils to the press to show what happens beyond the product, in a ferment of research, comparisons and creativity.
Ettore Sottsass, the company’s first art director, thought that a studio should live on a free circulation of opinions and friendly people, rather than hierarchies.
In perfect continuity with the vision of the architect and designer, Roberta Meloni, CEO and founder of the new Poltronova Study Centre for Design, therefore opened the doors of the new premises, whose path served to unveil the place of production and the newly established historical archive – declared of public interest and notified by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage since 2013.
Hidden from the eyes of passers-by, the building that housed the looms, cartoons and designs of the Antico Setificio Fiorentino (now in the adjoining civic building) weaves another story, less ancient but equally witness to important cultural revolutions. Of those days and that ‘exaggerated generation’, some project transparencies, photographs, catalogues, correspondence were presented, a past that is still tenaciously present, introduced by art historian and head of the historical archive Elisabetta Trincherini.
The “subversive” and visionary character of iconic pieces such as the Safari sofa by Archizoom or the Sofo seating system by Superstudio was discussed in detail by Donatello D’Angelo, art director of the Poltronova Research Centre, creator of highly original visual campaigns, brand identity and exhibition systems.
Thanks to the archive, it was possible to create a series, The Monographs of Poltronova, a sign of vitality also in the publishing sense, an ambitious and necessary project to trace the multiple evolutions of the Poltronova reality.
For more information visit www.poltronova.it.
Photo by Fabio Bortot
