Tobia Scarpa: Italian design and culinary art

Tobia Scarpa: Italian design and culinary art

edited by Cintya Concari & Roberto Marcatti, in collaboration with the Mercatino del Gusto Association

Tobia Scarpa, one of the most important living architects of the twentieth century, uses this exhibition and the accompanying publication to explore his approach to the design of living spaces and everything that most deeply permeates our daily lives through objects, environments and colours that harmonise with food culture.

A narrative that brings together the two most important assets of the Italian system – food culture and design culture – which represent two essential values that must be safeguarded and promoted, alongside high-quality tourism promotion.

This is why, as key participants with a design exhibition dedicated to Tobia Scarpa – showcasing significant moments in Italian design culture – at the ‘Mercatino del Gusto’ event in Maglie, which for 23 years has been celebrating both Italian food and its culture, we are entrusted with the role of ambassadors for ‘Made in Italy’. The importance of this synergy, which was trialled in the summer of 2022, was confirmed by the rising numbers of national and international visitors, who generated significant economic activity in the local area.

An event, therefore, that showcases Italy’s heritage and products of excellence in the fields of food, design and manufacturing. The items on display are, in fact, an expression of – and a tribute to – the craftsmanship and manufacturing processes of leading Italian companies in the sector, renowned worldwide, starting with names such as Atelier Italiano, Cassina, Flos, Leucos, Merotto Milani, Molteni, San Lorenzo, Tacchini, Testi Group, UniFor and Venini.

On display will be artefacts designed for the world of dining, which capture the ritual of conviviality through their accessories, in harmony with the Mediterranean food culture that unites social customs and behaviours which interact on an equal footing with design, art, the economy, the landscape and nature.

An exhibition showcasing objects that form part of our daily routine of eating, whose distinctive feature – a hallmark of architect Tobia Scarpa’s creativity – is that those who use these objects in their everyday lives experience a sense of extraordinary simplicity, a simplicity that is, however, powerfully effective.

A production and an exhibition entirely dedicated to Italian spirit and, as such, belonging to a ‘humanistic tradition’ – a production brimming with imagination, whose extraordinary quality lies in the continuity between the past and the present, as if, right from the outset of Tobia Scarpa’s creative vision, everything we find today were already present in a perfect synergy between past, present and future.

This event and its theme are highly topical today; through its overall concept and the selection of objects on display, the exhibition reinforces the idea that the architect/designer must act as a ‘restorer’ and must shake things up to ensure that the added value of the objects designed and produced lies in their durability rather than their obsolescence.

And so in Maglie – a place where the ‘Mercatino del Gusto’ event uses the story of food to express culture, cultural exchange and openness to the world – the synergy with architect Tobia Scarpa’s creativity, dedicated to the world of the table, can only bring Italian knowledge and heritage to all visitors.

Cintya Concari and Roberto Marcatti
Editors