Wednesday 8 July, 6.30pm at ICI London, Casa Italia, 4-5 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6JP
Please bring ID to be admitted to Casa Italia
Il Magistretti inglese panel discussion
On the occasion of the exhibition Il Magistretti inglese, opening at the Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, on 9 July
Margherita Pellino (Fondazione Vico Magistretti), Lemonot (Sabrina Morreale & Lorenzo Perri), Sandra Denicke (RCA) and Paul Chamberlain (RCA) will discuss Magistretti’s dialogue with British culture, his years of teaching at the Royal College of Art, and the network of projects, encounters and influences that connected Milan and London throughout his career.
Bringing together archival research, curatorial perspectives and personal reflections, the conversation will offer an introduction to the themes of the exhibition and to a lesser-known chapter in the life and work of one of Italy’s most influential architects and designers.
A project developed through the collaboration between the Italian Cultural Institute in London, Fondazione Vico Magistretti, and Royal College of Art, with the support of Gruppo Censeo
Book your place HERE
Margherita Pellino (Milan, 1984) has been directing the Vico Magistretti Studio Museum Foundation since 2022, the place where the legacy of the Milanese architect and designer is preserved and narrated — and who, among other things, was also her grandfather. She began working on the Magistretti Studio Archive in 2007, helping to inventory it right after the Lombardy Archival Superintendency recognized the collection as being of “particular historical importance.” Today she manages and catalogues the archive, guides visitors through tours (a blend of family vocabulary and archival insight), curates and produces events, exhibitions, and publications, and builds collaborations with companies and institutions. For Margherita, safeguarding an archive is not simply about preserving objects, drawings, and documents: it means bringing to light the thinking behind a lamp, a chair, a building. Because every project by Magistretti is not only form, but also idea, concept, vision. This is how the Foundation becomes a living, open laboratory — not just a place of memory — a space where Italian design continues to speak to the present (and the future) with simplicity, which — as Vico used to say — “is the most complicated thing in the world.”
Lemonot is a duo that combines spatial and relational practices, based between London and Italy. Sabrina Morreale and Lorenzo Perri explore the multiform dynamics of public space, operating through architecture and performative arts – using them as tools to detect, celebrate and trigger the spontaneous theatre of everyday life. They create objects and short films, scenographies and performances, convivial architectures and party machines. They regularly collaborate with several cultural institutions – including BASE Milano, Scuola Piccola Zattere, Architecture at the Edge (West Ireland), Three Rivers Bexley (London), DPR Barcelona, LINA European Architecture Platform – and their projects have been exhibited and awarded internationally: among the others, at La Biennale di Venezia, at Concéntrico in Logroño, at the Milan, Bangkok and Vienna Design Week, at MEXTROPOLI in Mexico City, and at CAFx Copenhagen Architecture Film Festival. Both graduated from the Architectural Association in London, they taught across Europe, Latin America and Bangkok. Currently, Sabrina is Studio Master in the Foundation Course at the AA and together they lead Architectural Design Studio 7 at the Royal College of Art – practising conviviality as a gentle form of resistance and spatial activism.
Sandra Denicke is an architect and National Teaching Fellow. Her research addresses the complex relationship between architectural practice and education. Currently the Acting Dean of the School of Architecture, Sandra joined the RCA championing inclusivity in architectural education and advocating the development of alternative pathways to engage with spatial practice and the architectural profession. Her leadership has driven curriculum innovations which foster intercultural learner relationships across diverse disciplines, generating fresh insights to tackle global challenges. Sandra has over twenty years of experience working in Higher Education. Before joining the RCA, she worked as Deputy Head of Architecture (Acting Head in 2018-19) at London Metropolitan University and has taught design with a Live Project Studio since 2000.
Paul Chamberlain is Professor of Design and Co-chair of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. His research explores the role of the designed environment in supporting quality of life. Paul supports the leadership and strategic vision of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. He is a graduate of the RCA and was co-founder of FLUX Design (in Partnership with Peter Christian, Head of Executive Education RCA). Prior to his role at the RCA, Paul was co-founder and head of Lab4Living, a design-led interdisciplinary research unit based at Sheffield Hallam University. He has generated over £10m of research funding. He has published over 100 texts, and his design work has been exhibited internationally securing major awards. Paul was a panel member (Art & Design, History, Practice and Theory) for the UK’s Research Excellence Framework 2021 and is founding editor of the Design for Health Journal (Taylor and Francis).