Italian Design Day comes to Cyprus

The Italian Government, in collaboration with the famous design and art museum “La Triennale di Milano”, is launching the “Italian Design Day”, a major event showcasing the excellence of Italian design all over the world with events held in 100 cities on the same day, Thursday 2nd March 2017.

In Cyprus, the Embassy of Italy, in collaboration with the Department of Architecture of the University of Nicosia, invites all lovers of Italian design to attend an event celebrating Italian design and the connections between Italy and Cyprus in that field. It will take place on Thursday 2nd March 2017 at 6 PM at the Amphitheatre of the Architecture and Research Centre (ARC) of the University of Nicosia (see invitation).

Our special guest from Italy, selected by “La Triennale” as “Ambassador of Italian Design” to Cyprus, is Architect and Designer Tommaso Fantoni, founder in Milan of TOMOarchitects and descendant of the famous Italian designer Osvaldo Borsani. His presentation “Italian Design, from Atelier to Factory, from Local to National then Global” will illustrate the origins and development of the furniture production in the District of Brianza (Milan hinterland) through the fascinating story of his grandfather’s family business, which grew from an artisanal atelier to an organized factory and, finally, to a widely recognized international brand with a strong distribution network and collaborations with prestigious architects and designers like Foster, Rogers, Boffil, Ambasz.

The talk will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Cypriot architects and designers which have ties to Italy, offering also a chance for interaction with students and the general public. We also asked for the participation of prominent importers and retailers of Italian designer products – from furniture, to home-deco, to automobiles and scooters – because they greatly contribute to the notoriety of Italian Design in Cyprus. The evening will conclude with an Italian aperitivo.