By Jonathon Anderson
Editor’s Note:
Jonathan is one of five furniture design graduate students from SCAD who are participating in the first-ever study abroad program between Italy and the United States, sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, April 22-May 15. He will be sharing his experience with us each week he is there. This is the third part in the series.
My time in Milan is quickly coming to an end. The third week of this trip has yet again been a very insightful learning experience. This week has been full of visits to major design firms and manufactures.
Tuesday morning was one of the most memorable experiences of the trip thus far. I was given a private tour of the Archille Castiglioni Museum by Castigliglioni’s daughter. Archille Castiglioni is one of the masters in Italian design.
Castiglioni has been one of the icons in the design world and worked in his studio creating masterpieces for several decades. Five years ago the design world was in sorrow due to the death of Castiglinoi.
Since then, his studio was turned into a public museum that is curated by his daughters. In the studio, a young designer could get lost in for hours viewing prototypes, models, drawings and all the inspiration that Castiglinoi collected over the years.
It was a highlight of my own design career. Not many people can say they have sat in the studio of a design icon.
Friday will bring a similar experience with a visit to Mendini’s studio where he still practices today. Mendini is one of the last living Italian masters in the design field.
As I began to process the information that I have gathered over the past three weeks, I have a new outlook on how a design-driven market produces countless talented designers. In the United States our economy-driven market could possibly be the one factor that is stifling the young design talent in America.
The knowledge I gained at SCAD is of the same high level of design education that institutions in Italy provide. I believe that it is now the job of young designers to begin to utilize these ideologies and transform the current state of the design market within the United States.
This task that has not been accomplished by an American designer in the last 40 years. I know that the education SCAD students receive could one day lead to the next American master of design.
On Tuesday morning I leave Milan and head to Rome for four days. My trip to Rome will show me another facet of Italian design.
