The Histories of DesignThe Fifties and the Early Sixties in Italy, from the economic boom to the masters of design With Vanni Pasca
other events of the Le Storie del Design cycle

for young people aged between 18 and 25 (not yet turned 25); for groups of 15 people or more; La Galleria Nazionale, Museo Ebraico di Roma ticket holders; upon presentation of ID card or badge: Accademia Costume & Moda, Accademia Fotografica, Biblioteche di Roma, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Enel (for badge holder and accompanying person), FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano, Feltrinelli, Gruppo FS, IN/ARCH – Istituto Nazionale di Architettura, Sapienza Università di Roma, LAZIOcrea, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Amici di Palazzo Strozzi, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Scuola Internazionale di Comics, Teatro Olimpico, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro di Roma, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Youthcard; upon presenting at the ticket office a Trenitalia ticket to Rome purchased between 27 November 2024 and 21 April 2025
valid for one year from the date of purchase
minors under 18 years of age; upon presentation of disability card or accompanying letter from hosting association/institution for: people with disabilities and accompanying person, people on the autistic spectrum and accompanying person, deaf people, people with cognitive disabilities and complex communication needs and their caregivers, people with serious illnesses and their caregivers, guests of first aid and anti-violence centres and accompanying operators, residents of therapeutic communities and accompanying operators; EU Disability Card holders and accompanying person; MiC employees; myMAXXI cardholders; registered journalists with a valid ID card; European Union tour guides and tour guides, licensed (ref. Circular n.20/2016 DG-Museums); 1 teacher for every 10 students; AMACI members; CIMAM – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art members; ICOM members; journalists (who can prove their business activity); European Union students and university researchers in art history and architecture, public fine arts academies (AFAM registered) students and Temple University Rome Campus students from Tuesday to Friday (excluding holidays); IED – Istituto Europeo di Design professors, NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti professors, RUFA – Rome University of Fine Arts professors; upon presentation of ID card or badge: Collezione Peggy Guggenheim a Venezia, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Sotheby’s Preferred, MEP – Maison Européenne de la Photographie; on your birthday presenting an identity document
for groups of 12 people in the same tour; myMAXXI membership card-holders; registered journalists with valid ID
under 14 years of age
disabled people + possible accompanying person; minors under 3 years of age (ticket not required)
MAXXI’s Collection of Art and Architecture represents the founding element of the museum and defines its identity. Since October 2015, it has been on display with different arrangements of works.
18 Feb 2025 06.00 pm
stories of artLecture on bluewith Marcella Beccaria
19 Feb 2025 04.30 pm
MAXXIperTUTTIDalla materia al simbolotactile lab
19 Feb 2025 06.00 pm
talkPESATOby Enzo Cucchi
19 Feb 2025 06.30 pm
books at MAXXIIl coccodrillo di Palermoby Roberto Andò
20 Feb 2025 06.00 pm
lectureElizabeth Diller
Curated by Domitilla Dardi
MAXXI Auditorium – single ticket €5.00 – carnet five seminars €20.00 – free for myMAXXI cardholders
Purchase of a ticket entitles the holder to reduced price museum entrance within a week of issue.
Five seminars introducing the protagonists, the ideas and the projects that have transformed Italian design in recent years
In this series of seminars the protagonists of diverse seasons of design or historians and experts in the subject explore the issues paying particular attention to the Italian situation within the broader international debate made up of collaborations and joint ventures, through diverse materials and types of design: from furnishing to car design, from technological products to food design, from graphics to brand identity.
In the first seminar Vanni Pasca will be looking at the 1950s, a period that saw Italy undergoing profound transformation.
New trains were born, scooters and the first city cars were seen on the streets, refrigerators, televisions, bathrooms and “American-style” kitchens entered the home. The traditional Italian home was now organized into zones (the night zone, the day zone and utilities). Typewriters and sewing machines became electric, plastics led to new families of light, innovative and colourful objects.
The designers, in reality the architects who from the 1930s had been looking to Europe and America, were called on to give form and meaning to the new way of life. And their response was to be recognised in the early Seventies in a landmark exhibition at MoMA in New York: “Italy: the new Domestic Landscape”.
Vanni Pasca, a design and design history enthusiast lectures at ISIA in Florence and the Accademia Abadir in Catania (of which he is also the academic director) and teaches “Design today between globalization and new technologies” at the Polytechnic in Milan.
The Histories of Design Project has been produced thanks to the support of MINI, MAXXI Public Programs Partner