Concept
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the first public radio broadcast, over 50 models from the private collection of Davide Vercelli, designer and curator of the exhibition, showcase the revolution in the world of radio broadcasting, from the first valve devices to the most modern equipment.
The exhibition path is guided by several major themes that have traversed society and have also been interpreted by the radio world, highlighting the contributions of designers such as the Castiglioni brothers, Zanuso and Sapper, Le Corbusier, Starck, Pantom and Loewy, and important companies like Braun, Ducati, and Brionvega.
Technological changes brought about by the invention of transistors, the resulting miniaturization of products, and the impact of technological innovation on design are highlighted, as well as changes related to materials with the advent of plastics in mass products, from Bakelite to the most modern technopolymers.
The exhibition also explores the role of the radio medium on the socio-cultural level: from an instrument of propaganda and national unity—a common necessity but interpreted differently by Italy and Germany—to the modernist radio resulting from the competition launched by Gio Ponti, up to the Space Age of the 1970s.
The exhibition is structured as a narrative of the different “lives” of the radio through a detailed analysis of socio-economic contexts, personal stories, and the inventions of designers who contributed to the aesthetic evolution and dissemination of radio from the 1930s to the present day: the radio as a symbol of modernity, a propaganda tool, a means of entertainment, and today, a multifunctional device.
