Designers

Matteo Ragni

Villa Grismondi Finardi

"An Ode to Things"

There is a world in which objects speak. Not far away, but not close either. It appears every so often, when it is a good day and the light settles on things carefully and with attention. Then, the objects speak, all together. The old ones and new ones, the useful and less useful. Some that make us laugh and others that enchant instead. This exhibition came into being out of the attention for these special days. A temporary Wunderkammer, a brief and unexpected conversation between what already was and that which was added. Visitors/explorers are responsible for listening to this silent dialogue, for searching and discovering. And being astonished by this world where objects speak and one discovers the patience of reciting an ode to things.  

Biography

He received his degree in Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan, earning the merit of being one of most well-known Italian designers. With Giulio Iacchetti, he won the Compasso d’Oro ADI for the “Moscardino” fork on display in the Permanent Design Collection at the MOMA in New York, followed by another for the Montini manhole covers series. He won the Wallpaper Design Award ’08 for the Leti lamp manufactured by Danese. Meanwhile, he founded TobeUs, a brand of toy cars handcrafted in Italy. He was invited in 2015 to the edition of the Tianjin International Design Week as representative of Italian design with a one-man exhibition, whereas he was the Italian Ambassador for the Italian Design Day in 2017. In addition to his design activities, he lectures at several international universities, is an art director and architect.