Franco Albini and the Design of the Ephemeral (1936-1958)

Archival Sources as Traces of the Evolution of a Method

Abstract

This paper refers to two research studies, based on primary archival resources, developed through the study of the materials collected by the Fondazione Franco Albini, an institution that considers one of its primary goals to be the enhancement of its extensive archival heritage dedicated to the work of one of the most important Italian architects of the twentieth century. The first concerns the author’s work on the project for a “Virtual Museum” of Franco Albini’s exhibition designs. A research study that became the opportunity for an in-depth examination and discovery of previously unpublished works by Albini, in which the author brought together all the drawings up to a scale of 1:1, including project reports, photos and available documents, in an attempt to restore the memory of his exhibition designs, lost by virtue of their ephemeral nature. The second research study, still underway, unveils a folder from the archives titled “Furniture Prospects”, which casts light on a previously undisclosed story. Developed during the war years, it constitutes a precious collection of objects and furniture designed by Albini, confirming this as a decisive and prolific period in his career. These two sources reinforce the thesis that views the Thirties and Forties as a time of fertile experimentation, and a founding basis for his major architectural works and industrially-produced furniture of the postwar years.