Italian and Nordic Design Cultures: Identities in Transition 1925-2025

A cura di: Maddalena Dalla Mura e Anders V. Munch. Isbn: 978-88-5491-769-9. Quasar, 2026. Pagine: 188 - This volume explores the histories and cultures of Italian and Nordic design from 1925 to the present, questioning the idea that national or regional design identities are fixed or self-contained. Born from the 2023 seminar Design Cultures in Italy and the Nordic Countries, the book brings together comparative, national and transnational studies examining how design identities are produced, contested and reshaped. Italy and the Nordic countries offer a productive field for comparison. Both became international symbols of modern design in the mid-twentieth century, while developing under different industrial, social and cultural conditions. Their histories reveal moments of mutual influence a s well a s divergence: from the dialogue between Italian and Scandinavian design in the 1950s and 1960s, to radical and postmodern experimentation, changing industrial structures, environmental concerns and new forms of cultural positioning. The book is organised around three processes: "Translating" considers the circulation and mediation of ideas, objects and styles; “Transforming" investigates h o w traditions and identities change through materials, technologies, heritage and globalisation; "Transgressing" focuses on moments when designers and institutions challenge disciplinary, social and political boundaries. Across fields including furniture, jewellery, glass, graphic design, fashion and architecture, the volume presents design cultures as dynamic systems of interaction and negotiation, offering a fluid understanding of identity, culture and history. Sommario: Preface Maddalena Dalla Mura and Anders V. Munch Italian and Nordic Design Cultures: Identities in Transition 1925–2025 Translating Design Cultures Kjetil Fallan La Linea Nordica: Reading Nordic Design in the Italian Design Press in the 1950s and 1960s Alba Cappellieri and Beatrice Rossato “Good Design” in Italian and Nordic Silver Jewellery Joachim Allouche National Design Cultures of Production: A Comparative Study of the Danish and Italian Glass Design Cultures Astrid Skjerven A Foreign Provocation: Memphis Milano in Norway Transforming Design Cultures Anders V. Munch Nordic Lighting? Poul Henningsen, Christian Norberg-Schulz and the Myths of Scandinavian Twilight Toke Riis Ebbesen Marble, Monumentality and Modernity: Italian Connections in the Aarhus City Hall Rita Marcangelo Italian-Nordic Dialogues: The Expanding Territories of Contemporary Jewellery Niels Peter Skou Flowering Fields Forever: “Scandinavia” as Imagined Place in “New Scandinavian Design” Transgressing Design Cultures Maddalena Dalla Mura Graphic Design in the Middle of Communication, 1960s–80s: Gianni Sassi’s Dilettantism and the Public Utility Movement Denise Hagströmer Activity, Play and Self-Flagellation: The Nordic The Child’s Environment Exhibition at the Milan Triennale 1973 Elena Fava “Dressing Is Easy, for Elegance Is Dead”: Radical Design and Italian Fashion Annette Svaneklink Jakobsen Furniture Station as Design Cultural Heritage: Assembling a Community Space and a Museum Biographies.…