L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano E v e r w o n d e r e d what the design and architecture o f t o m o r r o w would look like? What role design would play i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e Anthropocene? These are the foundational questions at the heart of Tools for After, a major new exhibition curat- ed by Italian architect Maur- izio Corrado and conceived by A n g e l o G i o è , now on display at the Italian Cul- t u r a l I n s t i t u t e i n S a n Francisco. The opening of the exhibi- tion falls under the SF Design Week program, a city-wide festival that spotlights the intersection of ideas, design, business, and entrepreneur- ship. CEO Dawn Zidonis was in attendance and high- lighted the importance of this partnership, a testament to the power of international d i a l o g u e i n d e s i g n . " I t reminds us that innovation thrives when ideas cross bor- ders and we make room for exchange, inspiration, and a shared vision of the future," she said in her remarks. "We are thankful to the audience who keeps on championing design as a tool for resilience, progress, and cultural con- nections." I I C D i r e c t o r A l b e r t a Lai introduced the exhibit by f o c u s i n g o n t h e i m p a c t human activities have on the p l a n e t : " T h e c u r a t o r s responded to a call to use creativity and imagination a n d d e f i n e t h e f u t u r e o f humankind," she explained. "Maurizio Corrado dedicated his career especially to eco- l o g i c a l a n d s u s t a i n a b l e design, and he is the author of more than twenty essays in this subject, some also trans- lated in multiple languages." Corrado has taught at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan, at the School of Architecture and Design of the University of Camerino, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Verona, and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Foggia and has been a con- sultant in sustainability and ecology since the 1990s. He took the stage at the IIC to share how the project came to life. The Capitals of Ital- i a n C r e a t i v i t y i n t h e World launched as a new, integrated promotional ini- tiative spearheaded by the D i r e c t o r a t e G e n e r a l f o r Country Promotion (Min- istry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), with the objective of enhanc- ing the design capabilities of I t a l y ' s i n t e r n a t i o n a l n e t - work. This meant empower- i n g I t a l i a n o r g a n i z a t i o n s abroad to better define and execute activities that pro- m o t e I t a l y a n d i n t r o d u c e innovative formats for show- casing and narrating Italian creativity worldwide. Professor Corrado began by stating, "The foundational concept was the realization t h a t t h e f u t u r e i t s e l f h a s changed. We've adopted the t e r m ' A n t h r o p o c e n e ' t o describe the profound envi- ronmental transformation we, as humans, have both developed within and signif- icantly altered. This shift d a t e s b a c k t e n t h o u s a n d years, to the dawn of agricul- t u r e , a n d h a s c o n t i n u e d relentlessly ever since." He further elaborated, "The very i d e a o f t h e f u t u r e h a s evolved, particularly from t h e o u t d a t e d n o t i o n t h a t Earth possessed an infinite supply of resources to draw upon." He concluded with a sharp perspective: "When we consider the movement to 'Save the Planet,' our per- spective needs to be differ- ent: the planet doesn't care about us; it will thrive per- fectly well without humans, perhaps even better." Another concept Profes- sor Corrado presented was Deep Time. "Humans have existed for three hundred thousand years, and it's cru- cial to remember that our evolution wasn't limited to the mere five thousand years we typically focus on," he explained. "While we've his- torically only considered this b r i e f p e r i o d , o u r b o d i e s formed much earlier, and we w e r e p h y s i c a l l y t h e s a m e then as we are today." He continued, "The key differ- ence is that early humans walked up to fourteen kilo- m e t e r s a d a y . T h i n g s changed dramatically with the rise of sedentary soci- eties, the invention of hous- i n g , t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f cities, and the concept of culture as we now know it. Essentially, we are still who w e w e r e m e a n t t o b e , designed for movement and life outdoors. If we grasp this fundamental concept, we'll understand why our current lifestyles are causing our bodies to suffer." The exhibition – which also features selected pro- jects from design and archi- tecture students, offering a glimpse into the bold ideas emerging from the next gen- e r a t i o n o f d e s i g n e r s – i s divided into different parts; the first being Lyfe. Astrobi- ologists Stuart Bartlett and M i c h a e l W o n g h a v e p r o - posed a different definition for the concept of life, calling it lyfe, a term that suggests that many diverse forms of life can exist, each possess- ing different characteristics. This focus on living forms is manifested in the project with proposals featuring ani- m a l s , a n t h r o p o m o r p h i c shapes, and the presence of plant elements, essentially, "living" objects. Paleo refers to a "paleo- imaginary," a powerful influ- ence on our contemporary world: historians might call it Prehistory, environmen- talists see it as Wilderness, and philosophers often refer to it as Utopia. Essentially, it's a system of visions and i d e a s t h a t h e l p s u s m a k e sense of the present. This "Pleistocene paradigm" isn't confined to one area; rather, i t c u t s a c r o s s s c i e n t i f i c , philosophical, and religious thought. You'll find its fin- gerprints in modern design, a r t , a n d e v e n o u r d i e t a r y habits. At its core, it embod- ies one simple idea: we are fundamentally who we once were, built for movement and for life outdoors. In the Tools section, the focus is on the contemporary mind, which is often preoc- cupied with vivid images of c o l l a p s e , t h e e n d o f o u r species, and the destruction of our world, often conflat- ing this with the destruction of the planet itself. Tools for A f t e r , h o w e v e r , o p e r a t e s from a different premise: the i d e a o f s a v i n g e v e r y o n e . Throughout our existence, Homo sapiens has possessed a singular ability that has e n a b l e d u s t o n a v i g a t e c o u n t l e s s c o l l a p s e s a n d crises. It's the only capacity t h a t c a n r e s c u e u s o n c e more: imagination. Imagina- tion transforms reality, and imagining, in its essence, is designing. Finally, Maps refers to the concept of walking as a profound act of discovery, a way of understanding the Earth itself. Our evolution began with our feet, and this journey continues as we nav- igate the new landscapes of t h e A n t h r o p o c e n e . M o r e t h a n j u s t p h y s i c a l m o v e - ment, walking serves as a m e t a p h o r f o r t h e d i v e r s e p a t h s e v e r y e x p l o r a t i o n takes. Maps, in this context, become geographies of the imagination, places where experiments, visions, life practices, and innovative proposals converge. Think of them as a kaleidoscope of different routes that form interconnected networks of possibility, eventually lead- ing to the emergence of truly useful maps for orienting o u r s e l v e s i n t h e p r e s e n t moment. The exhibition continues through August 31st, 2025, open Monday to Friday from 10am-4pm by appointment. Reach out to contact.san- francisco@esteri.it for more information. SERENA PERFETTO Beyond today: Tools for After shapes the future starting from the Anthropocene Era Left: ULIVO is a small table designed by Geologika Collettiva (Photo: TFA Website); right: furNATURE, a coat hanger by sovrappensiero Studio (Photo: Dario De Sirianna) SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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