Authors / Martinelli Venezia
Edition / Forward Edizioni
Year / 2024
An illustrated journey into the beauty and functionality of metal profiles, showcasing the full expressive power of the aesthetics of technique.
A 1:1 scale compendium of metal profiles, printed in shades of gray, with geometric shapes that come to life, transforming into narrative forms, engaging the reader and user: it will be easy to spot, flipping through the 208 pages of the Little Visual Handbook, a random order of metal profiles, human faces, animal bodies, and complex objects that are part of our emotional baggage.
It is no coincidence that the project was born in Milan, during the Covid era, but later developed in Palermo, where Carolina Martinelli and Vittorio Venezia are building projects for the revitalization of the artisanal and technical knowledge of the Calderai – metalworkers – who live on the street of the same name. For Martinelli and Venezia, designing a book represents a “different” space for experimentation, a way to embrace a more emotional and immediate language, just as suggested by the “random order” of the title: tubes, profiles, beams, bars, nails, “omega,” “C,” “IPE,” “INT,” “HEA,” all follow one after the other, intersecting their formal characteristics.
The Handbook is the result of a close collaboration between the authors and the publishing house Forward Edizioni, which allowed for meticulous attention to detail and a direct involvement in the production process, with the artisanal care that characterizes a project printed in a first edition of one thousand copies.
The volume is enriched by an introduction by Marco Sammicheli, director of the Museum of Italian Design at Triennale Milano.
The book was made possible thanks to the contribution of Officine Calderai, a micro-museum of metalworking founded by the Martinelli Venezia studio on the eponymous street in the historic center of Palermo, Via Calderai, FBS Profilati Italiani, a company from Settimo Milanese that combines tradition and modern production techniques in the design of high-quality decorative profiles and aluminum shutters, whose art direction has been entrusted since 2019 to designer Giò Tirotto.