Gucci and design

The Duomo stop of the Milan metro, designed by Franco Albini and Bob Noorda; the gigantic Monte Amiata residential complex in the Gallaratese district of Milan, designed in 1967 by Carlo Aymonino and Aldo Rossi; the San Giovanni Bono church; the crowd in front of the Bar Basso during the Salone del Mobile photographed directly by Maurizio Stocchetto; the Teatro Continuo by Alberto Burri in the middle of Parco Sempione; the “Museum of the Moon” set up inside the Cozzi Olympic swimming pool between Porta Venezia and Central Station: these are some of the places chosen by Paola Antonelli among the most significant ones to represent the city's link with design, architecture, graphics, brought to the pages of Gucci Prospettive 2: Ancora Milano, thanks to the photographs of several talented authors.

Milan subway stop, designed by Franco Albini and Bob Noorda (retouched photo) – Photo © Aldo Ballo / Archivio Franco Albini

The new Gucci by Sabato De Sarno confirms indeed its interest in the construction of a visual identity exploring artistic, aesthetic and cultural references. Curated by Paola Antonelli - architect, design curator, Milanese on loan to New York - the book thus leafs through many different dimensions and aspects of Milanese design.


“Museum of the Moon”, Piscina Cozzi, Milano, 2019 – Photo © Andrea Cherchi

Unexpected impressions and combinations of cherished buildings, spaces, objects, and the people that created them conjure a portrait of a city that is deeply devoted to design. “We were inspired by the idea of frictions and attritions, contrasting flashes of brutalism with visions of commercial, entrepreneurial and industrial refinement, exploring the clichés of bourgeois elegance without discounting the more complex and radical nuances that make it quintessentially Milanese” explains Antonelli.


Gatto Verde Reportage, Milano, 16.11.2023 – Photo © Emanuele Finardi, Francesco Saverio Tani / Gatto Verde 

After the pictorial, photographic and poetic references, Antonelli and De Sarno together look at the city as a crib of design systems, whose stratification gives life to the Milanese identity. The physical spaces and objects, then, dialogue with those who inhabit and use them, in a continuous and in turn layered exchange.