The culture of Design In the early Eighties when our publishing house, Edizioni Lybra Immagine, started its activity, we focused our attention on a broad range of themes that can be summarised in the expression design culture, meant as a process that originates from the birth of an idea through its implementation. A process that requires in-depth investigation and documentation. A publishing approach that, ever since, has distinguished our production of books and magazines. Currently the publishing activity of Edizioni Lybra Immagine is centred upon four main areas of interest. Museography and Exhibition design Yet the field that, in recent years, has won Edizioni Lybra Immagine the reputation as an innovative, competent presence concerns exhibition design, the project focused on exhibiting. In this respect, our publishing activity has investigated a vast territory still unexplored today. A sector that fully pertains to the design culture analysis. In fact both the conceptual development and the accomplishment of an exhibition design for art shows or trade fairs, necessarily to be conceived for temporary events as well as permanent shows such as those staged in museums or exhibit spaces, need a specific, wide-ranging design approach. The book Exhibiting Exhibition design in Italy from the Twenties through the Eighties by Sergio Polano represents the first, still unparalleled, volume illustrating the twentieth-century Italian experience in the field of exhibition design. The activity has continued with the book Designing shows Ten exhibition design lessons; whereas Renzo Piano’s exhibition design work has been thoroughly investigated in the books Renzo Piano Building Workshop Exhibit Design and Columbus '92: the city, the harbour, the exhibition. Trade fair exhibition design projects are illustrated by the volume Exhibiting technology Smau 1964-1994 A global project for communicating innovation. From the communication viewpoint, we remind the book Trade fair marketing Innovative communication strategies for successful enterprises by Sergio Volpi . An overview of the most recent Italian experiences in the field of exhibition design is offered by the book New Italian Exhibition Design. Special attention has been dedicated to museums and art shows by the volumes The idea of museum Archetypes of museum communication in ancient times by Maria Clara Ruggieri Tricoli and Maria Désirée Vacirca; Science Museums The transformation of historic spaces into exhibit spaces The modernity of the museum experience in the ‘50s by Luca Basso Peressut; Recount of a museum Cultural domains and birth of the Painting Gallery of Varallo Sesia by Enrica Ballarè; The paths of a show by Gianni Reina and Sandro Spini. Also in this case, the production of books has been supported by a dedicated review: Exporre, a quarterly review on the culture of exhibition design which has investigated and analysed in-depth the wide-ranging field of exhibition design since 1989. Architecture Addressing the culture of design, we necessarily had to turn our attention to a sector specifically dedicated to architectural projects. Among the books published in this sector are: Learning to live Home, architecture and the quality of space in the research of Studio Salvati & Tresoldi by Federico Bucci ; Land, site, architecture Modern language and environmental structure in the projects and research of Giovanni Maciocco; Palazzo Bricherasio Restoration and functional rehabilitation of a Turin palace; Restoration and beyond Architecture between conservation and reuse. Projects and accomplishments of Andrea Bruno; Goa: memory and image Architecture and cities of Portuguese India by Giovanni Ferracuti; The sites of water and land by Giovanni Maciocco about the new international park of Bocche di Bonifacio and the archipelago of La Maddalena. Edizioni Lybra Immagine also addresses the architectural project through a review, A&A Aluminium & Architecture, a quarterly architectural magazine that promotes and brings to the attention of the public the use of aluminium and light alloys in architecture through outstanding examples. Industrial Design and Decorative Arts A startling example of our activity, the first sector to have been thoroughly investigated. Today, after more than fifteen years, the book An industry for Design The research, the designers and the image of B&B Italy is still the reference point, not only in the production of our publishing house but throughout the Italian literature covering this sector. A volume that in 1999 has been reissued in a broader, up-dated version. Next to this book, we have published other monographs such as Conceived, produced, lighted, 50 lamps by Bruno Gecchelin along with the review Design & Industry, a quarterly magazine on industrial design culture which for nearly ten years has contributed to the diffusion of the Italian industrial design culture all over the world. Also the theory of design for industrial production has been investigated: we wish to bring to your attention the essays The virtuous hedonist Business creativity and the project of consumption by Giovanni Cutolo and In defence of designThe issue of imitations in industrial production, by Ettore Rotelli and Patrizia Scarzella, important stages in the recent debate on Italian design. A special attention is dedicated to decorative and applied arts. In this field we have published a collection which includes the following books: Zar State Historical Museum's furniture replicas made by ColomboStile; Tracing back the origins of design Thonet and Kohn: technique and poetry of Vienna bent wood furniture; Carlo Bugatti Decoration as substance; From Art Decò to Streamline American design furniture and objects between the two wars; ‘900 Decorative and applied arts of the twentieth-century; Secret Dynasties The sculpture by Marcello Pietrantoni. When talking about decorative and applied arts, we cannot leave out fashion, which also belongs to this sector. We wish to remind the book Moschino X years of Kaos! which illustrates Franco Moschino’s achievements in fashion and beyond fashion and the volume by Nir Lagziel A cloth for art. With a view to contributing to spread the themes linked to the culture of design, the majority of our books and all the reviews offer an English translation. Throughout its activity, Lybra Immagine has collaborated with Bodies, Universities, Research Centres, Professional offices for the definition, development and accomplishment of works dealing with specific themes. |