Olivetti Identities. Spaces and Languages 1933-1983

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The typewriter classics are the best-known expression of Olivetti's industrial legacy, whose visual identity was both innovative and complex, tangible and intangible. These identities are the focus of an interdisciplinary research project carried out by ECAL and the Università degli Studi di Ferrara in collaboration with the Association for the Historical Archives of Olivetti in Ivrea. 36 authors are involved in the publication. «Olivetti Identities. Spaces and Languages 1933–1983" presents the results of this research with the aim of analyzing the Olivetti phenomenon as a whole, paying particular attention to the context of corporate development and the approaches of designers such as Xanti Schawinsky, Renato Zveteremich, Ettore Sottsass, Hans von Klier, Egidio Bonfante, Walter Ballmer and others. to lay. This ranges from the establishment of the Olivetti advertising office in 1933 to the opening of the permanent Olivetti pavilion at the Hanover Fair in 1983, intended as the last step in a particularly efficient corporate identity strategy. The book is divided into four sections dealing with showroom design, exhibition design of trade fairs and expos, analysis of languages that have shaped corporate vocabulary as well as visual communication and interaction design, as well as activities in the cultural environment and advertising measures. A final section summarizes the testimonies of designers Santiago Miranda and George Sowden, as well as former Olivetti employees in sales and training. Two photo essays with partly unpublished documents that are kept in Olivetti's historical archive complete the content. With contributions from: Alessandra Acocella, Chiara Barbieri, Renata Bazzani Zveteremich, Marco Giorgio Bevilacqua, Paolo Bolpagni, Alessandro Brodini, Alessandro Chili, Graziella Leyla Ciagà, Alessandro Colizzi, Galileo Dallolio, Elena Dellapiana, Amparo Fernández Otero, Ali Filippini, Caterina Cristina Fiorentino , Davide Fornari, Lucia Giorgetti, Josefina González Cubero, Stefania Landi, Lorenzo Mingardi, Santiago Miranda, Elisabetta Mori, Pier Paolo Peruccio, Paolo Rebaudengo, Raimonda Riccini, Dario Scodeller, Azalea Seratoni, Daniela Smalzi, George Sowden, Elena Tinacci, Caterina Toschi , Elisabetta Trincherini, Marcella Turchetti, Davide Turrini, Denise Ulivieri, Carlo Vinti, Stefano Zagnoni