Garbo and cenacoli of Italian design in the 1960s: A second-order approach to innovation | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Technoetic Arts
  4. Volume 19, Issue 1
  5. Article
Global Conversation
  • ISSN: 1477-965X
  • E-ISSN: 1758-9533

Abstract

After the Second World War, Italy experienced an economic miracle accompanied by the emergence of a material culture highly dense with meaning. This article adopts a second-order approach, which focuses on two concepts that emphasize the component of invention contained within the innovation process. indicates the peculiarly Italian way of solving a constrained optimization problem in the design of everyday objects. Meanwhile, the concept of – whose etymological roots indicate conviviality and good living – made possible the study of the peculiar social networks of the Milanese cultural landscape during the 1960s, which enabled important cross-fertilizations between industry, culture and art. To demonstrate the connections between invention and and , the examples of Olivetti (key player in then-nascent personal computer technology) and Bialetti (producer of the Moka coffee machine) are used as case studies of innovative solutions to constrained problems. Following an outline of elements promoting the success of each, the article identifies historically determined mechanisms, which enable us to imagine and (potentially) establish the evolutionary conditions for new pathways of invention.

© 2021 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00053_1
2021-06-01
2024-04-18
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Amato, V.. ( 2013;), ‘ Renato Bialetti: “Così Onassis si finse mio cliente”. ’, La Stampa, 6 August, https://www.lastampa.it/2013/08/06/verbania/renato-bialetti-cos-onassis-si-finse-mio-cliente-zBkZV0isebudGjfWua979I/pagina.html. Accessed 27 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Arnheim, R.. ( 1971), Entropy and Art: An Essay on Disorder and Order, Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Barone, V.. ( 2019;), ‘ L’anima pura della fisica. ’, in P. Dirac,, and V. Barone. (eds), La bellezza come metodo: Saggi e riflessioni su fisica e matematica, Milano:: Cortina;, pp. 9–37.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bateson, G.. ( 2000), Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology, Chicago, IL:: University of Chicago Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Berselli, E.. ( 2008;), ‘ Il teatrino del consumo. ’, in G. Croce. (ed.), Tutto il meglio di Carosello: 1957–1977, Torino:: Einaudi;, pp. v–xii.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bologna, S.. ( 2016;), ‘ Il lungo autunno: Il conflitto sociale degli anni Settanta. ’, L’approdo mancato, Casa della Cultura di Milano, 7 June, http://www.casadellacultura.it/casa-della-cultura-incontri-video.php?id=1734&t=stream1. Accessed 27 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Calvino, I.. ( 1980), Una pietra sopra, Torino:: Einaudi;.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Crainz, G.. ( 2005), Storia del miracolo italiano, Roma:: Donzelli;.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Croce, G.. ( 2008), Tutto il meglio di Carosello: 1957–1977, Torino:: Einaudi;.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Feynman, R. P.. ( 2005), Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman, New York:: Basic Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Glanville, R.. ( 1993;), ‘ Pask: A slight primer. ’, System Research, 10:3, pp. 213–18, https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.3850100326. Accessed 27 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Godin, B.. ( 2006;), ‘ The linear model of innovation: The historical construction of an analytical framework. ’, Science, Technology, & Human Values, 31:6, pp. 639–67, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0162243906291865. Accessed 27 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Maturana, H. R., and Varela, F. J.. ( 1980), Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living, Dordrecht:: Reidel;.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Mead, M.. ( 1964), Continuities in Cultural Evolution, New Haven, CT:: Yale University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Mendini, A.. ( 2014), Elogio della caffettiera, Milano:: Henry Beyle;.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Merton, R. K., and Barber, E. G.. ( 2004), The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity. A Study in Historical Semantics and the Sociology of Science, Princeton, NJ:: Princeton University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Perotto, P. G.. ( 2015), P101: Quando l’Italia inventò il personal computer, Roma and Ivrea:: Edizioni di Comunità;.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Prigogine, I.. ( 1977;), ‘ Time, structure and fluctuations. ’, Nobel Lecture, 8 December, https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/prigogine-lecture.pdf. Accessed 27 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Prigogine, I., and Stengers, I.. ( 1984), Order Out of Chaos, New York:: Bantam;.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Spencer-Brown, G.. ( 1972), Laws of Form, New York:: The Julian Press Inc;.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Toniolo, G.. ( 2013), L’Italia e l’economia mondiale: Dall’Unità a oggi, Venezia:: Marsilio;.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Von Foerster, H.. ( 1972;), ‘ Perception of the future and the future of perception. ’, Instructional Science, 1:1, pp. 31–43, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00053969. Accessed 27 October 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Von Foerster, H.. ( 2002), Understanding Understanding: Essays on Cybernetics and Cognition, New York:: Springer;.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Wiener, N.. ( 1994), Invention: The Care and Feeding of Ideas, Cambridge, MA:: MIT Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Tonoli, Matteo, and Carradore, Roberto. ( 2021;), ‘ Garbo and cenacoli of Italian design in the 1960s: A second-order approach to innovation. ’, Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research, 19:1&2, pp. 79–86, https://doi.org/10.1386/tear_00053_1
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00053_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Bialetti; cultural evolution; economic miracle; innovation; invention; Olivetti; second-order cybernetics; serendipity

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error