Recycled materials and social utility: Recupero at Triennale Design Museum

Friday 25 October 2013

Yonel Hidalgo

Opening next Tuesday at Milan's Triennale Design Museum, Recupero presents a selection of projects from Artwo, an association that promotes limited edition objects designed by contemporary artists and designers and produced by inmates from Casa Circondariale di Rebibbia, one of the biggest prisons in Italy.

Sara Ferrari

The artists and designers were invited to work on the functional reuse of common objects or semi-finished products, based on social utility. Collaborating with non-profit companies, Artwo started a training program and a production workshop with the inmates of Rebibbia, who designers met with to share their artistic and making skills.

Carlo De Meo

Silvana Annicchiarico, director of the Triennale Design Museum, says that the goal is to "turn detention into a moment of re-education and recovery of civil awareness, instead of the mere enforcement of a sentence: if design applied to jails could accomplish this simple task, this alone would already be a very positive outcome."

Paolo Ulian

Recupero runs 29 October – 15 December 2013 at the Triennale di Milano, and is curated by Valia Barriello.

Alessandro Mendini

For more on socially-motivated design, Homebuildlife subscribers can read our report, The New Makers: Socially Engaged Design.

Stefano Canto