“Design and new technologies for a sustainable future”
The main event in the series of initiatives organized in the U.S. for Italian Design Day 2022 was held in New York on March 23.
The event, organized by the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C., with ICE, the Italian Trade Agency in New York, took place at the New York Institute of Technology and was opened by the Italian Ambassador to the U.S., Mariangela Zappia and the Director of the ICE Agency in New York, coordinator of the USA network, Antonino Laspina, who were welcomed by the President of the New York Institute of Technology, Hank Foley, and by the Dean, School of Architecture and Design, New York Institute of Technology, Maria R. Perbellini.
Even as a hybrid event, the 2022 edition has a special dynamic quality due to the involvement of major figures in Italian design in the U.S., many of whom were connected by important Manhattan showrooms.
Italian Design Day is a defining moment in the Italian MFA’s strategy of integrated promotion aimed at strengthening design as a distinctive element of the “Italy Brand” and as a source of opportunities for Italian companies to enter international markets and to strengthen their presence.
Italian Design Day 2022 was alsoan important opportunity to promote the 60 edition of the Salone del Mobile in Milan, one of the most globally important events in the furniture and design sector, scheduled to take place June 7-12, 2022, as well as Rome’s candidacy for Expo 2030.
The theme selected for the 2022 event – Re-Generation: Design and new technologies for a sustainable future – highlights Italian design’s ability to renew itself under the banner of circularity and sustainability, strategic pillars of the Italian economic recovery after the pandemic.
“Although taking place in the tragic context of the Russian brutal, unjustified invasion of Ukraine, the Italian Design Day allows us to highlight the key role that design and creativity play in the business and cultural relations between Italy and the U.S. and in our cooperation on new technologies and research”, said the Italian Ambassador to the U.S., Mariangela Zappia.
“Design is a field in which Italian excellence is recognized globally”, she added, highlighting its value as a “strategic tool to rethink the world of tomorrow, based on creativity, inclusiveness, sustainability and innovation”.
In her remarks, Ambassador Zappia also mentioned the upcoming (next June) 60th edition of the Salone del mobile, “the global benchmark event for the furnishing and design sector”, and Rome’s candidacy to host Expo 2030”, based on the same values of inclusion, sustainability and innovation.
“Italian Design Day 2022 is an important event in the ‘Italian System’ engaging great protagonists of the ‘Italian Design System’ in Italy and the United States,” said Antonino Laspina, Director of the ICE Agency in New York and Coordinator of the USA network.
This year’s theme of sustainability is best expressed by the platform of companies, architects and big names in Italian design that we have involved, representing both the Italian leadership in the green transition and the reliability of Made in Italy’s supply chain.
Design Day 2022, Laspina also said, “is a strong signal to American business and design communities of the Italian design industry’s shared commitment to sustainability as a primary imperative and a best practice in contemporary industrial manufacturing. Italian design is not only on the cutting edge in style and quality, but it is also a unique platform of sustainable and reliable supply for the demand of the U.S. market” Antonino Laspina concludes.
Event panelists:
- Mariangela Zappia, Italian Ambassador to the U.S.
- Antonino Laspina, Director of the ICE Agency in New York, coordinator of the USA network
- Hank Foley, President of The New York Institute of Technology
- Maria R. Perbellini, Dean, School of Architecture and Design New York Institute of Technology
- Maria Porro, Salone Del Mobile 2022
- Arch. Paola Navone, Design Ambassador
- Daniele Busca, Vp Creative Brand Director Scavolini
- Andres Escobar, Designer Principal Lemay+Escobar New York
- Simona Gazzaniga, Head of Marketing Poliform Usa
- Rocco Giannetti, Managing Director Gensler New York
- Video Message Jacqueline Terrebonne, Editor in Chief Galerie Magazine
- Stefania Spatti, Moderator – Class Cnbc
