Organized by Global Design Distribution, the exhibition of Italian design aesthetics lab Driade in China: Design Describe Driade was held in Shanghai in the prestigious location of Sunke Villa. Accessible to the public and professionals from February 26th to April 17th, the monographic exhibition Design Describe Driade is a presentation of Driade's philosophy and projects and an account of how this brand has influenced the world of international design over the last 50 years.
The birth of Driade coincided with a golden age of Italian design. It belongs to Antonia Astori, Enzo Mari, Alessandro Mendini, Nanda Vigo, Achille Castiglioni and etc, all of them stars in the history of design. From the beginning, Driade’s development has been closely intertwined with the history of Italian design and its great designers.
Founded in 1968 in Italy, Driade is an aesthetic lab in continuous search for beauty in living space. The vast Driade catalogue includes almost everything involved in modern life. Trying to provide every individual in the present time with a diversified lifestyle, Driade creates products that are unique, eclectic, eccentric but at the same time elegant, timeless and, above all, joyful. In the 1980s, numerous top designers joined and defined Driade’s international brand image. From a season in which design determined a new trend in terms of mindset, function and image, Driade was one of the greatest representatives being the first to invent a common language that is understood at any latitude because written in different codes.
The exhibition of Design Describe Driade is a concentrated presentation of Driade’s persistent pursuit of individual lifestyle and design practices over the past 50 half century. It included more then 50 works created by 20 international designers for Driade at different times. These designers are Fabio Novembre、Bořek Šípek, Sejima Kazuyo, Toyo Ito and etc. The exhibition also included six museum pieces that are rarely displayed in China. The 6 pieces were the early collaboration between Driade and Philippe Starck, the design genius and the closest partner of Driade.
The distinctive personalities of the great designers and the cultural context of their time have given Driade its uniqueness, while Driade’s continued passion for exploring the lifestyle has helped to drive the history of modern design. Walking through Sunke Villa, the ancient building that combines Spanish, Italian Renaissance and other styles, the tangible design forms and the intangible space atmosphere harmonious altogether plays. It provides a breakthrough point to understand the complex and multifaceted design practices of Driade. Among the mutual context of eclecticism between architecture and furniture design, the audiences can visit and understand how can design break the invisible boundary of regional culture to strike a chord.
