“The city of the future, the quality of life and new frontiers of living” are the significant themes of Italian Design Day 2019. The Day, promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and that put design at the core of its “Italian Lifestyle” promotion campaign, two years after its launch, has succeeded to become the established instrument to promote design as the expression of Brand Italy, a brand recognised and appreciated worldwide. During the last decades, the design industry has underpinned the Country’s development, becoming a strategic sector of the national production system and increasingly contributing to its exports. Aesthetic excellence has constituted a formidable competitive advantage for Italian companies on international markets and has translated into original, culturally bound and unique products in great demand. The 2019 edition aims to highlight the capacity of Italian design to improve the quality of life in urban centres. Italian Design Day 2019 will, therefore, present ideas, projects and solutions to stir an international debate on the cities of the future to be used as the point of reference also in view of Expo 2020 Dubai and of the 22nd International Exhibition of the Triennale di Milano. In addition, Design Day also inaugurates the format “100 Ambassadors of Italian design for 100 cities”, in which 100 professionals selected among designers, architects, urban planners, entrepreneurs and teachers, will present Italian design in 100 events held in the most important Countries in the world. The choice of testimonials and the type of events to be organised in the various Countries arises from the cooperation between the network of Embassies, Consulates and Cultural Institutes, which outline the opportunities and the needs of the various Countries, and the partners in Italy, especially the ADI. The 100 events will include the organisation of conferences and lectures, contests for young designers and training programmes, giving visibility to a Day that is becoming a fixed date on the international design calendar. The testimonials will select an iconic product of the Italian production know-how, giving rise to the first instant exhibition in the world of design. Moreover, the 100 products selected will be portrayed in a large printed mosaic that will become the emblem of Italian Design Day 2019. The success of the initiative is promoted by a working group established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Ministry of Economic Development, the ICE Agency, the Triennale di Milano, the Salone del Mobile di Milano, Federlegno-Arredo, the Fondazione Altagamma, the Fondazione Compasso d’Oro and the Association of Industrial Design (ADI). The latter in particular took care of the creation of a short film dedicated to the Italian Design Day 2019, produced together with Officine (IED and Anteo), and a volume with the graphic project by Dario Curatolo, which collects the testimonials of the design Ambassadors Italian participating in the event worldwide.
