DESIGN TERRITORIALE, GENIUS LOCI

SELECTED

Ugo La Pietra presents the solo exhibition Design Territoriale, Genius Loci, which explores the master’s interest in submerged material culture – i.e. the type of artistic craftsmanship capable of supporting and representing the work of art, capable of becoming a research laboratory for design, while at the same time providing tools to connote architecture. The result of this activity has led to a heightened awareness of the extraordinary heritage that still distinguishes our territory, giving rise to the growing trend of "territorial design". That is to say, design that is born of the analysis of the "resources of the territory", not only material resources, but those that serve as vehicles of traditional values, artisanal techniques that been consolidated over time and constitute our artistic and cultural heritage. The works on display are a symbolic sample of the collections of objects conceived by Ugo La Pietra and other artists and designers, but built by craftsmen who, in doing so, continue to uphold their traditions in a new expression of their culture and territory.
Among the many historic areas of specialized production that remain vital today: the mosaics of Spilimbergo, Monreale and Ravenna, the stone of Lecce and Lavagna, the alabaster of Volterra, the marble of Carrara and Verona, the glass of Murano, Altare and Colle Val d'Elsa, the ceramics of Grottaglie, Caltagirone, Vietri sul Mare, Albissola, and Faenza, and the bronze casting of Verona.