With the result that the traditional craft approach is seen as being alternatively the light and shade of a more contemporary aptitude in this field. After a panoramic introduction to the role of these different poles, historical and critical analyses of developments between the Renaissance and the 20th century help us to understand the subtle but strong and close ties between “high craftsmanship” and “high technology”.
Amidst the intertwinings of passion and design that have often blessed the Italian love of making things, a universal humanistic vision has always placed the human condition at the centre of innovation, between silent revolutions and radical projects. The development of Italian design is deeply rooted in the relationship between craft culture and architecture. It was in the interiors of the early 20th century that the modern history of design had its beginnings and it was there that artisans still practiced virtually all of the arts.
With the evolution of technique and the democratic ideal, the figure of the artisan has changed, often coinciding with that of the entrepreneur or the designer and this bent for the crafts is still very much a factor today in contemporary design. And here, between authorial research and artistic practices, the relationship between art and design has found, through the crafts, new places of expression.
