Federica Sala

Art Advisory

ECHOES, 50 YEARS OF iMAESTRI - CASSINA

An exhibition celebrating an exceptional collection

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Cassina iMaestri Collection and MDW 23, the company presents ‘Echoes: 50 Years of iMaestri,’ curated by art director Patricia Urquiola with Federica Sala. The exhibition is showcased inside the historic Milanese building in the Cordusio area.

 The exhibition offers a contemporary perspective on the research conducted over the past 50 years that led Cassina to industrially develop furnishings designed by the great architects of the Modern Movement. ‘Echoes’ highlights the company’s forward-thinking approach to initiating a unique concept of modern temporality. The two-level tour begins in the basement, once a bank vault, now open to the public for the first time. It invites visitors to explore the heart of the company’s archive. The masters’ designs, still relevant today, represent a significant legacy for Cassina. The essence of each master is heightened by the display of prototypes never before exhibited, reproductions, and archival finds.

This is complemented by a series of photographs by contemporary authors and videos edited from the archives.

Archive

Sacred Signs. The hundred years of the Beato Angelico School | ADI Design Museum

The exhibition unveils a potential dialogue between the Church and contemporary art by displaying a curated collection of liturgical objects, designed for worship, crafted by the Beato Angelico School. The showcased pieces include works by Mimmo Paladino, Andrea Mastrovito, and Gio Ponti.

100 + 1 Alberto Rosselli | Saporiti Italia

Organized on the 101st anniversary of Rosselli’s birth, the exhibition traces the work of one of the great masters of Italian design. It alternates between iconic pieces and original documents, showcasing a reinterpretation by ten international architectural studios of 100 Jumbo armchairs. These chairs take center stage in an auction conducted by Cambi for cultural purposes.

1:22 | Dilmos Milano

Monica Taverniti’s furniture collection rekindles Architecture’s long-standing obsession with the concept of measurement, resulting in a collection capable of reconciling technology and craftsmanship in the same artifact.

Misschiefs | Misschiefs

Fabbrica Bini hosts the Swedish feminist exhibition, creating a multilayered experience that intersects art and design. In an international convergence of synergies, the Milanese event reinforces its mission as a platform supporting women artists who disrupt the status quo and go against the mainstream.

Galateo. A journey into conviviality | Buccellati

Buccellati makes its debut at MDW 22 with an exhibition that reinterprets the Galateo in a contemporary context. The installation project by Stefano Boeri Interiors invites Dimorestudio, Ashley Hicks, Chahan Minassian, and Patricia Urquiola to interpret four historical tableware collections along with the new porcelain developed in collaboration with Ginori 1735.

1+1+1 / 2022 | Assab One

The exhibition format dedicated to the relationship between architecture, art, and design, returns for its sixth edition. The event invites creators Zilla Leutenegger, Studio Ossidiana, Cino Zucchi, and Chiara Zucchi to share the space at Assab One, engaging with each other and the audience through three large participatory installations.

DDD Dieci Donne Designer (Ten Women Designers) | Fondazione Pio Manzù
2022

The traveling exhibition travels up the peninsula touching historic places, churches and exhibition spaces between Ragusa Ibla, Potenza, Varenna, Rimini and Busto Arsizio. An exercise in creative decentralization made possible by Sara Ricciardi’s exhibition design. On display is a selection of everyday objects by ten largely off-the-radar Italian designers.

"Chest'è" | Federico Pepe
2021

On the occasion of the third edition of Edit Napoli, within the Edit Cult program that animates the historic center of the Campania capital, Federico Pepe presents an exhibition, curated by Federica Sala, that is a total dialogue with the city of Naples and the spaces of the Gaetano Filangeri Civic Museum.

Homework | Claudia Zalla
2021

The visual project, as well as an intimate and domestic diary, collects 50 shots taken during the forced isolation of 2020. Begun as a form of storytelling on Instagram, the project was later declined into a publication, eventually becoming an exhibition in the spaces of Marsèll Paradise.

A Flame For Research | Mingardo
2021

An unprecedented collection of candelabras, conceived ad hoc by a series of national and international designers, is displayed in a cognitive exhibition and auctioned by Christie’s. The proceeds are entirely donated to the Mario Negri Institute, implementing scientific research against cancer.

Unnatural Practice | Marcin Rusak Studio
2021

The exhibition at Ordet presents for the first time the deep sense of Marcin Rusak’s ongoing research and development phases that characterize the designer’s collections and tests. In his work, elements such as flowers, leaves and plants are observed, analysed, reconstructed and transformed into raw material to be subsequently re-designed.

1+1+1 / 2021 | Assab One
2021

The fifth edition of the format conceived by Elena Quarestani, continues under the banner of dialogue between three authors: architecten jan de vylder inge vinck/inge vinck jan de vylder architecten, Claudia Losi and Caretto/Spagna. Three interventions speak of care and attention and another, non-invasive way of inhabiting the world.

Giulio Castelli. Entrepreneurial culture in the design system | ADI Design Museum
2021

On the occasion of the opening of the ADI Design Museum, the association is dedicating, on the centenary of its birth, a tribute exhibition to entrepreneur Giulio Castelli, among the founding fathers of the association itself and its first president. The exhibition, located in the area dedicated to the Compassi d’Oro alla Carriera, traces the salient stages of his entrepreneurial life.

Tacit Dialogues | Berlin Glassworks
2021

An artistic research project exploring the traditional craft of glassblowing and translating implicit, bodily knowledge into digital data, experiences, and objects. The first results of the research are displayed in an exhibition in feldfünf with artists Verena Bachl, Elaine Bonavia, Babe and Wiezorek, Philipp Weber & WINT Design Lab.

Viavài | VIA Visiting Installation Art
2021

Conceived as a widespread exhibition in the heart of Milan, the cultural revival and recovery project conceived by entrepreneur Lorenzo Lombardi and photographer Valentina Angeloni presents a four-way conversation between Nathalie Du Pasquier, Gianluca Malgeri with Arina Endo, Lorenzo Vitturi, and Regine Schumann.

1+1+1 / 2020 | Assab One
2020

No longer three monographic exhibitions in parallel, but a single exhibition in which Loris Cecchini, Michele De Lucchi with AMDL Circle and Pentagram, in the further expanded version of Pentagram & Friends, present their own work in relation to that of others, under the banner of interaction and above all collaboration.

New ideas of hospitality | mari&cò
2020

Through a series of dinners, mari&cò rethinks distance as an opportunity to be able to restore meaning to emptiness. The seats at the table, which cannot be used due to social distancing, are occupied by the works of Francesca Ascione, Hillsideout, Federica Gambigliani Zoccoli, Anna Paparozzi, Raffaella Valsecchi, and Lella Zambrini.

Cassina Perspective in Art | Cassina
2018, 2019

The project, which comes to life in Cassina’s Milan showroom and catalogs, brings art, design, and architecture into dialogue, involving galleries such as Apalazzo, Depart and Renata Fabbri and artists such as Gioele Amaro, Gaetano Pesce, Agostino Iacurci, …

A Castiglioni | Triennale di Milano
2018

To mark the centenary of his birth, the Milan Triennale dedicates a major monographic exhibition, curated by Patricia Urquiola in collaboration with Federica Sala, to Achille Castiglioni (1918-2002), one of the most important masters of Italian design.

Life In Vogue, Love Letters to Milan | Condé Nast
2018, 2019, 2020

Over three editions, the last of which is in a digital format, Life in Vogue presents a dialogue between design and fashion by having a selection of designers, with unmistakable style, to interpret the spaces of the historic editorial office of Vogue Italia.

Artist's house | Airbnb
2017, 2018, 2019

Airbnb launches the new “Casa d’artista” (“Artist’s House”) project to revalue Italian villages through site-specific interventions by artists such as Francesco Simeti, Edoardo Piermattei, Olimpia Zagnoli and Lorenzo Vitturi.

Ladies&Gentlemen | 5 Vie
2016, 2017

For two consecutive editions, the exhibition Ladies & Gentlemen, curated by PS and gallery Secondome, reopens a historic Milanese house in downtown (14 Via Cesare Correnti) for an unexpected dialogue between old rooms and new Italian craftsmanship.

Milan Design Week | 5 Vie
2015, 2016, 2017

Curating the annual exhibition of the newly formed 5VIE district to tell the state of the art of contemporary design: Max Lamb and Raw Edges at Garage Sanremo and Sabine Marcelis, Philipp Weber, Sigve Knutson, Matteo Cibic at Foyer Gorani.

Miart | Fieramilano
2013, 2014, 2015

The newly established Object section of the fair, initiated by Vincenzo De Bellis, includes a selection of galleries active in promoting modern and contemporary design objects conceived in limited editions and enjoyed as works of art.

Instant Design | Triennale di Milano
2011

Curated by Federica Sala and Michela Pelizzari (PS), Instant Design is divided into two different chapters, Edible Thoughts and Fruible Acts. Two different exhibitions, each aimed at investigating the ephemeral aspect and the very act of fruition of design.

Enel Contemporanea | H +
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

Under the artistic direction of Francesco Bonami, Enel Contemporanea marks Enel’s entry into the world of contemporary art with a series of works created by artists such as: Bik van der Pol, Carsten Holler, Mike and Doug Starn, Toshiko Horiuchi.

Fabrica: Les Yeux Ouverts | Centre Pompidou
2006

The Parisian institution Centre Pompidou is dedicating an exhibition to Benetton’s creativity research center. The exhibition, curated by Marie-Laure Jousset with Federica Sala as her assistant,, will next be taken on tour to the Shanghai Art Museum, the Milan Triennale and Shiodome Italia in Tokyo.

RLD, Rèpublique Libre du Design | Centre Culturel Français de Milan
2006

A group show, curated by Federica Sala, about experimentation in design: vinyl by François Azambourg for Domestic, Arik Levy, Electronic Shadow, Olivier Peyricot, and ENSCI Les Ateliers students.

Ora Ito Museum | Centre Culturel Français de Milan
2005

Monographic exhibition dedicated to the futuristic talent and communication skills of Ora Ito, often referred to as the enfant terrible of French design for his ability to make fun of the system while being within it.

Habiter la lumière | Centre Culturel Français de Milan
2004

The French cultural outpost in Milan entrusts Federica Sala with the curatorship of a group exhibition, among designers and manufacturers, on the theme of light in French design on the occasion of the Salone del Mobile.

Ettore Sottsass: 20 ans de design pour Olivetti | Centre Pompidou
2003

The Paris institution dedicates an exhibition to the designer’s 20 years of work for Olivetti on the occasion of the donation made by Ettore Sottsass Jr. to the museum’s collection. Curated by Marie-Laure Jousset with Ivan Mietton and Federica Sala.

Philippe Starck | Centre Pompidou
2002

Curated by Marie-Laure Jousset and staged at Galerie Sud, the monographic exhibition on French designer Philippe Starck presents a dematerialized account of objects through the use of the latest video and morphing technologies.

EIC | The Good Life Italia
2022 - ongoing

From July 2022, Federica Sala is the Editorial Director of The Good Life Italia, the first hybrid business & lifestyle magazine, while from the 2023 she’s been titled Editor in Chief. Every two months it offers more than 200 pages of high-quality content to tell and interpret our times, from an unprecedented point of view.

Sacred Signs. The Hundred Years of the Beato Angelico School
2022

Curatorial text for the catalog of the exhibition at the ADI Design Museum.

Ancestrale Quotidiano (Daily Ancestral) | Oxilia Gallery
2022

Curatorial text on the occasion of the monographic exhibition of artist Flaminia Veronesi.

Progettare Soluzioni (Designing Solutions) | Vimar
2022

Curatorial text for the Alta Tension (High Voltage) catalog edited by DDW for the exhibition of the same name at the ADI Design Museum.

Disegnare l’Intangibile (Drawing the Intangible) | Grace Princa
2022

Curatorial text for the designer’s exhibition at MDW.

Close to the Edge | Mario Trimarchi
2022

Curatorial text for the designer’s exhibition at MDW.

La mostra non esiste (The exhibition does not exist) | Le Dictateur n.6
2022

Curatorial text “The exhibition does not exist” published in Le Dictateur No. 6, Le Dictateur editions.

Senso Espresso, Cimbali | Antiga Edizioni
2021

Curatorial text for the preface of the book “Senso Espresso” published for Cimbali.

Today for tomorrow, Tunnel 29 | MAO Museum Slovenia Edizioni
2021

Curatorial text for the exhibition catalog “Tunnel 29,” published by Mao Museum Slovenia.

MINIMAL / BAROQUE, Gianluca Pacchioni | Rizzoli International
2021

The book, published by Rizzoli International, is an intimate journey into the creative universe of the sculptor and art designer Gianluca Pacchioni. The result of a ten-year collaboration with the photographer Lorenzo Pennati, it recounts the journey of his art through precious interior objects, works of art and site-specific installations.

Michele De Lucchi, Handmade by Bitossi | Bitossi
2021

Curatorial text for the book “Handmade” by Bitossi published by Bitossi on the occasion of the museum’s opening in Montelupo Fiorentino.

Enfin, Fine Zine | Camp Design Gallery
2021

Curatorial text for the book “Fine Zine” published by Camp Design Gallery.

Giulio Castelli. Entrepreneurial culture in the design system | Electa

A tribute to the entrepreneur who helped found the Italian design system and give recognition to the design profession. The exhibition and the catalog summarize his entrepreneurial vision.
Graphic design: Giuseppe Basile, Luca Ladiana

Journal Intime, Homework | Claudia Zalla
2021

Curatorial text for the book “Homework” published by photographer Claudia Zalla.