ABSTRACT

While the contribution of Italian neo-avant-garde design to architectural discourse is often closely connected with the political upheaval of the late 1960s, many of the practices achieved parallel successes within the culture of high design. This dual aspect is rarely addressed in writing about the neo-avant-garde, although it is acknowledged in more commercial forums. Take for example the Quaderna tables designed by the collaborative Superstudio and since 1970 manufactured as part of the Misera series by Zanotta. An editorial featuring the tables in the Italian design magazine Abitare plays upon the coincidence between May 1998, the issue’s publication date, and the social unrest of May 1968 (Figure 9.1). The accompanying text describes the Quaderna as evidence of the revolutionary spirit that once kindled “an electrifying moment when the negation of everything became the new everything.” 1 The year “1968” as a placeholder signifying political revolt and as a marketing ploy enhancing the cultural value of design puts into paradoxical play a set of oppositions. Italian neo-avant-garde design practices aimed much of their creative efforts at critiquing or at least having fun with the presumed conformity underlying the social mores of a consumer-driven society. When referenced in various publications appearing decades later these same products still carry with them the aura of rebellion and anti-conformity through a strategy of persuasion aimed at a post-materialist consumer market. The mere mention of “1968” adds an immaterial quality to the physical item. This is hardly an abuse, for ambiguous readings and even an ambivalent relation to consumer culture were at work in design practices from this period. In other words, the inversion of intentions was internal to the critical project of neo-avant-gardism. Aldo Ballo, Photograph accompanying editorial, published in Abitare 373 (May 1998): 154 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203142721/3f14115e-4a5e-4ae9-80de-b7806af87db7/content/fig9_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>