Date: 2nd February 2017

Time: 12:00 pm

Venue: IDS, Building 8, GTU, 75 Kostava Street, Tbilisi

Event: Italian Design Day, dedicated to XXIst Triennale di Milano 

International Exhibition (XX1T), entitled “21st Century. Design After Design”

Format: Joint One-Day Conference/Poster Competition/Exhibition

Speakers:  H.E. Antonio Enrico Bartoli, Ambassador of Italian Republic in Tbilisi, and Prof. Nick Shavishvili, Dean of IDS

Poster © Vazha Pataridze

The Italian Design Day, attended by H.E. Antonio Enrico Bartoli, Ambassador of Italian Republic in Tbilisi, was conducted in conjunction to Triennale di Milano and to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Italian-Georgian diplomatic relations. Since the world’s most respected automotive style designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, the acclaimed “car designer of the century”, laid the foundation to the IDS, the school’s natural connection to the Italian design was obvious. Italians are undisputable leaders in many design directions especially in transport, furniture, lighting, interior, and other aspects of industrial design, so Italian design occupies important place in the IDS curriculum.

On his arrival at the IDS the Ambassador reviewed the IDS student competition posters dedicated to the event and personally selected the winner (pictured here). Then he spoke to the IDS students on of the importance of design to the Italians and its place in the modern national culture. Prof. Shavishvili delivered an illustrated lecture on the post-war story of the Italian design, and then a discussion was held on the role of the Triennale. It was agreed that Triennale di Milano is certainly the most important display of the state-of-the-art architectural and design culture of Italy for the outside world and, probably, the world’s best place for a professional discourse on philosophy, ideas, problems and issues related to design and architecture. After a pause of 20 years, the XXIst Triennale International Exhibition (XX1T), entitled “21st Century. Design After Design” was held in 2016. As a pioneer and forerunner in the promotion of the arts and research on design, the Trienale chose a theme that raised questions on the meaning of design and its role in a constantly changing world. The theme addressed key questions such as the new dramatic art of design; the impact of globalisation on design; the transformations brought about by the dawn of the 21st century and the crisis of 2008, and so on. The Italian Design Day was completed with the mutually expressed wishes to continue close contacts between the Italian Embassy and the IDS and plan more events for the nearest future.