White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 4ideas and research to the end product,as well as marketing. In the towns ofBrianza the main activities are not onlyin the furniture sector but also similarsectors, such as lighting and fabrics forfurnishing, which are part of thebroader category of “householdfurnishings”.A recent study (Bertola et al., 2002)reveals the presence of a strikingnumber of firms, institutions andfacilities in the Milanese metropolitanarea:• Over 80 of the 140 firms (almost60%) in the overall Italian designerfurniture sector; as market leaders(Cassina, B&Bitalia, Artemide, Flou,FontanaArte, to name but a few), theyaccount for almost 80% of overall salesvolume.• More than 60% of designstudios registered with the ADI(around 1,000) mainly involved indesigning furniture, household objects,accessories and textiles, and in productcommunications (advertising andgraphics).• The Consiglio Nazionale delDesign (“National Design Council”).• The main publishing housesproducing specialist reviews onfurniture and interior design (Domus,Casabella, Abitare, Interni, Ottagono, etc.).• Celebrated Italian andinternational schools, universities andresearch centres (Domus and theCentro Studi Domus, Istituto Europeodi Design and the IED ResearchCentre, the Nuova Accademia di BellaArti and since 1993, the Faculty ofIndustrial Design at the MilanPolitecnico, etc.) – we will explore theirprogrammes in greater depth in thesection on education.• The ADI, the Associazione deiprogettisti in Architettura d'Interni(AIPI – Association of Interior DesignArchitects) and the Associazione deiProgettisti di Comunicazione Visiva(AIAP – Association of VisualCommunications Designers), whichgroups together all operators in thesector of communications, traditionalgraphics and multimedia.Milan is also the largest Italian tradefair centre and the fact the city is due tohost the 2015 Expo will surelyconsolidate this role. Milan has a hugenumber of exhibition spaces (16 ofvarying size and importance) whichaccommodate a great variety ofproduction sectors (from fashion totourism). As far as events in thefurniture and design sector areconcerned, the biggest event is theSalone Internazionale del Mobile(International Furniture Show) held notonly in the traditional trade fair centrebut also in exhibition spaces in the city(company showrooms in the historiccentre, cultural institutions and evenprofessional studios). The Salone isaccompanied by a host ofcomplementary cultural eventshighlighting its communicationalpower.Lastly, in the Milanese design system,renowned for furniture, advertisinggraphics and fashion, there is no lackof those institutions required to meetthe needs of the historic memory andto act as a source of new ideas: privateand public archives and museums, suchWHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 105