For the sixth edition of Italian Design Day, the Consulate of Italy in Detroit has launched a four-year campaign to promote the event with internationally renowned architect and designer Roberto Palomba and the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan, starting this year with a project called LoveITDetroit.
The installation, curated by Palomba Serafini Associati and open for the entire month of September from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Bedrock owned and operated 1001 Woodward Ave. (just north of Campus Martius Park), will involve top brands in the Italian scene, bringing together the sectors that most characterize globally embraced Italian creativity such as fashion, food, furniture, automotive, and more.
“There is no doubt that our country is among the most loved in the world for its celebrated traditional aspects: art and architecture; Made in Italy and design; our culinary excellence and our wines; the music; nature and landscapes,” says Paola Allegra Baistrocchi, the consul of Italy in Detroit.
“But we have to also remember that Italy is the eighth economic power in the world and the fifth country in the world for manufacturing; the first country in Europe for company investments in R&D, one of the world’s largest players in renewable energy, the first circular economy in Europe, (and) one of the main actors in the world’s luxury industry…”
A highly experiential, collaborative, and multi-sensory architectural exhibition, the even is organized by the Italian Consulate in Detroit in collaboration with the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan. This will be the first time that the Consulate will partake in Detroit Month of Design.
The LoveITDetroit initiative consists in a series of promotional activities to be structured in the form of a “Festival dedicated to Italian creativity” lasting one month, with a permanent installation of Made in Italy products, a parallel presence in the metaverse, and a series of events — in the physical world and in the ether — that make this local event into a global platform from which to connect from anywhere in the world.
“Detroit is the only UNESCO city of Design in the US, and so it was logic to use design as a way to connect and to do it here,” says Baistrocchi. “We are in an incredibly vibrant city in which you can find anything cultural at any time: from great street graffiti to the Detroit Institute of Art — one of the best museums in the country; you can find amazing jazz cafes and underground rap battles or go to the Detroit Opera House or the Detroit Symphony.”
In addition to the permanent installation, there will also be pop up events with a focus on the various aspects of Made in Italy Design: aerospace, mobility, fashion, furniture, and graphic and digital arts.
Some of the events VIP guests include Simonetta di Pippo, former UN director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs; Gen. Roberto Vittori, astronaut; architect Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT Senseable Lab and designer of the Italian EXPO pavilions; Ruben Abbattista co-founder and vice president of the Circolo del Design of Turin and former head of communication of the City of Turin); Silvio Angori, CEO of Pininfarina; and architect Luisa Bocchietto, former president of ADI and of the World Design Organization.
“I am starting a movement. Yes, it is about Italy in Detroit, but it is also to let people know that Detroit is an overlooked city and there is so much good coming from it,” says Baistrocchi. “Design is going to be the consulate’s medium to build more bridges in highly experiential, collaborative, passion-fueled, multidimensional, and multi-sensory ways. For the love of Italy, for the love of Detroit, and for the love of Design.”
For more information on programming and special events, visit loveitdetroit.com.
