Farnesina Design Collection

The “Farnesina Design Collection” is a project spearheaded by Minister Franco Frattini to promote Italian design on an international scale as an expression of contemporary Italian creativity and an excellent point of synthesis between art and industrial production. The Collection is the centrepiece of a series of initiatives that include exhibitions, conferences and conventions aimed at supporting and enhancing Italian design, creativity and entrepreneurial capacity.

The Collection’s scientific committee

The Collection’s scientific committee is chaired by Senator Sergio Pininfarina and its task is to outline its main objectives and orientation. Its curators, Angelo Capasso and Renza Fornaroli, select the designers and works to be included in the Collection and organize its agenda of promotional events. 

Dialogue between cultural promotion and the world of industry and artisans

The first section of the Collection is being showcased on the premises of the Italian foreign ministry in Rome, whose architecture is especially appropriate to housing the 19 installation curated individually by the designers and firms participating in the project. This initial nucleus is destined to expand to include the most important products of Italian industrial design, and to encourage dialogue between cultural promotion and the world of industrial and artisan excellence.

The “Farnesina Design Collection” is slated to produce a series of international media and promotional events foregrounding Italian design, making use of Italy’s diplomatic network of embassies, consulates and cultural institutes. The first two international exhibitions of the Collection were held at “Casa Italia” during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the “Casa Azzurri” during the 2010 World Cup Soccer Championship in Johannesburg.