Frans Vogelaar @ Studio Alchimia

From 1981 till 1982 Frans Vogelaar was a member of the architectural and design office “Studio Alchimia” in Milan, Italy.

Design & Architecture @ Studio Alchimia, Milan, Italy, 1981-1982

Studio
Alchimia

Studio Alchimia founded by Alessandro and Adriana Guerriero in Milan in 1976.
Studio Alchimia was the first example of a group of designers and producers who worked in dialogue and experimented in various fields: from creating design objects and architectural projects to performance art, theatre and fashion design, from producing experimental videos and sounds to seminars and books.

The post-radical avant-garde collective was one of the most dynamic of its time, specialising in the design and small-scale production of designer objects and furniture, as well as the production and dissemination of experimental ideas through exhibitions and installations.

Combining a practical approach with design theory, Studio Alchimia developed an environmental and psychological study of objects, defining a new theory of “romantic design”, which it called New Modern. This reflected in the name of the project, which refers to the alchemical process of transforming lead into gold. In the words of its founder, Alchimia is “the search for a unifying principle, the idea of a universe that contains all things, from the Greek to cast, to pour” to create “objects of function and emotion”.

Studio Alchimia developed the hypothesis of the coexistence of confused conception and production methods is valid, where craftsmanship, industry, information technology, current and outdated techniques and materials can mix.

1979
–
1991

Alessandro Mendini, Francesco Mendini, Paola Albani, Massimo Audiello, Giovanna Benzi, Donatella Biffi, Pier Carlo Bontempi, Stefano Casciani, Carla Ceccariglia, Tina Corti, Massimo Costa, Marina De Marchi, Johannes Dinnebier, Beatrice Felis, Giuliana Gaeta, Walter Garro, Gabriella Gatti, Javier Perez Gil, Bruno Gregori, Giorgio Gregori, Frank Gross, Adriana Guerriero, Alessandro Guerriero, Maria Christina Hamel, Reiner Haegele, Geremy King, Yumiko Kobayashi, Eva Kulakowska, Cristina Marino, Nadia Morelli, Francesca Morpurgo, Mauro Panzeri, Ornella Papaleo, Arturo Reboldi, Marisa Silvagna, Caterina Saban, Gerda Vossaert, Frans Vogelaar

Radical
Design

Radical Design, a design movement that peaked in Italy in the late 1960s and early 1970s, is one of the most important avant-garde movements in the history of design. With manifestos, unconventional design vocabulary, transdisciplinary working methods and utopian design ideas, the exponents of Radical Design protested against functionalism and established taste in design and architecture. They demonstrated that designers and architects should not be seen solely as service providers in a commercial context, but that they could also actively and critically engage with social and political issues.