Common Archive. La Notte Bianca del Progetto
As part of the first edition of Common Archive: La Notte Bianca del Progetto, numerous public and private historical archives preserving the city’s design heritage will exceptionally stay open into the evening. Among them, visitors will have the opportunity to explore the Historical Archives of the Politecnico di Milano.
Located on the Bovisa Durando Campus, the Historical Archives preserve and make accessible materials from around sixty archives belonging to major architects, designers, and engineers.
During the event, visitors will be able to experience “Passing Archives”, an exhibition project that currently brings together five archives: Albe and Lica Steiner, Pierluigi Ghianda, Carlo De Carli, GPA Monti, and Raffaella Crespi with Marcello Grisotti. The exhibition offers the chance to browse notebooks and sketches by graphic designers, designers, and architects, alongside projects linked to the emergence of Italian Industrial Design in the 1950s and 1970s. This journey through graphic and product design explores works created for Biennale and Triennale Exhibitions, trade fairs, and professional associations such as ADI, as well as for firms including La Rinascente, Bonacina, Kartell, Fontana Arte, and many more. Through the materials on display, the exhibition presents a rich cultural and visual narrative.
This event is curated by Area Campus Life, servizio Archivi Storici e Attività Museali.
Common Archive, La Notte Bianca del Progetto is an initiative by the “Osservatorio del Salone del Mobile, Milano”, in collaboration with the School of Design of the Politecnico di Milano, under the patronage of Regione Lombardia and Comune di Milano.
Curated by Susanna Legrenzi ("Osservatorio Salone del Mobile, Milano"),
Massimo Bianchini, Stefano Maffei, Francesco Zurlo (Politecnico di Milano)
Common Archive – La Notte Bianca del Progetto originates within the research pathway of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Observatory, and was incorporated into the Annual Report (Eco)Sistema Design Milano 2025. The exploration and mapping of the main resources (actors and places) of design cultural production in Milan, published in the 2025 Annual Report, was carried out in 2025 by a research group from the Department of Design composed of Francesco Zurlo, Stefano Maffei, Massimo Bianchini, Valentino Stella, Francesco Leoni, Filippo Parolini, and David Zhou, with the valuable contribution of Graziella Leyla Ciagà, Gianpiero Bosoni, and Francesco Guida.
Guided tours will be available by reservation. To register, please use the following link:
Time
18:30 - 22:00