EMBASSY OF ITALY IN SINGAPORE, WITH THE SUPPORT OF ITALIAN TRADE AGENCY, PRESENTS 'SUPERSTAR' ARCHITECT MICHELE DE LUCCHI IN SINGAPORE: THE EQUATION

• A Lecture on New Design Attitudes and New Philosophies of Intervention with Nature, Inspired by the Earth Stations Project
• In Conjunction with Italian Design Day, as part of Singapore Design Week 2024

Every year in March, Italian Design Day is celebrated worldwide, showcasing Italy's rich legacy in design, fashion and architecture. By synchronising this event with Singapore Design Week 2024, the Embassy of Italy, with the support of the Italian Trade Agency, aims to create a vibrant platform that connects Italy's design excellence with Singapore's dynamic design scene.

Singapore Design Week is a renowned celebration of global design innovation, and the Embassy is dedicated to infusing the festivities with Italian flair, fostering a deeper appreciation for Italian design among the local audience, with whom Italy shares a mutual passion for creativity and excellence. The activities are designed to spark discussions on design trends and creative processes, enriching the overall experience of Singapore Design Week.

Lecture by Architect Michele De Lucchi: The Equation In Collaboration with DesignZ at SUTD

An inspirational reflection that evolves from the Earth Stations research project, Architect Michele will discuss the definition of a new attitude and a new philosophy of intervention on nature, that has taken shape into an "equation". In this lecture, Architect Michele will delve into the roles and responsibilities of architects and designers: Who are we designers? What can we answer when asked to build something new? Why should we take up more space of the little left on the planet?

He analyses the paradigm of the relationship between the need to work on environmental installations and the human factor of change and the fine balance between man and nature, and then the question of the measure of the responsibility and social role of the architect in undertaking meaningful projects.

The Equation will be held on 30 September 2024 from 5.30pm to 7.00pm at LT5, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

Fireside Chat with Architect Michel De Lucchi with Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) at NAFA

Architect Michele De Lucchi will present his second talk on Designing Furniture Today: How Young Designers Can Stand Out and How Brands Can Maximise Outcomes. Jointly organised with SFIC, the talk will be styled as a fireside chat. Architect Michele hopes to have a more casual and candid discussion with the furniture industry players and students of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). The session seeks to inspire the industry players to design sustainable products that will hold their own in a global market and share tips with students to be sustainable, practical and aspirational designers.

Designing Furniture Today will be held on 1 October 2024 from 10am to 12.30pm at Creative Media Studio (Campus 1), Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).

Talk and Networking Session with Architect Michele De Lucchi Past and Future Works at Embassy of Italy in Singapore

Architect Michele De Lucchi revisits his career through 7 decades and life/career stages, explaining the concept and philosophy behind his works. Architect Michele will take this opportunity to reflect on the past to share his views on the future and his upcoming projects, giving attendees a unique lifetime perspective and evolution of the architect.

"The Embassy of Italy in Singapore is very pleased to welcome Architect Michele De Lucchi to Singapore as part of Design Week Singapore 2024. We hope that his work and perspectives will give Singaporeans a better understanding and perspective of Italian design thinking and to better appreciate the need for collaborations across countries as designers of the future and designers for a global world," says Ambassador Dante Brandi, Ambassador of Italy to Singapore.

For more information regarding Architect Michele De Lucchi's events, refer to Appendix A.

For biographies, refer to Appendix B.

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About Embassy of Italy in Singapore

The Embassy is an articulated system that carries out the work of representing Italy in Singapore and Brunei, ensuring services for citizens, businesses and institutions. For more information, visit www.ambsingapore.esteri.it/en.

About Italian Trade Agency (ITA)

The Italian Trade Agency (ITA) is the governmental agency that supports the development of their companies abroad and promotes the attraction of foreign investment in Italy. With a motivated and modern organisation and a widespread network of overseas offices, ITA provides information, assistance, consulting, promotion and training to Italian small and medium-sized businesses. Using the most modern multi-channel promotion and communication tools, it acts to assert the excellence of Made in Italy in the world. ITA offices are the ideal gateway for enterprises to establish business relationships with Italian partners, from sourcing Italian products, to investment opportunities in Italy. For more information, visit www.ice.it/en.

About Singapore Design Week

Singapore Design Week (SDW) returns this year from 26 September to 6 October in an 11-day celebration of Singapore's distinctive brand of design and creativity. Organised by DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), the festival will traverse the city-state with a rich and thought-provoking programme curated around this year's theme "People of Design". SDW 2024 will celebrate the everyday visionaries that shape our society through design, united by a collective aspiration to enhance how we experience life. For more information, visit www.sdw.designsingapore.org.

About DesignZ

DesignZ is the next generation Design Centre set up to further reinforce Design as a core offering of SUTD through 4 main areas: Research, Innovation, Services & Education (RISE). The main objective is to establish an integrated partnership with the public and private sectors by offering advocacy and leadership in Design through RISE, focusing on sustainability ans circularity approaches to solve challenges and bring about transformations of recognizable value to the industry and society at large.

Within SUTD, DesignZ will offer design education and research to equip students with design fundamentals, strategies and solutions through Design focused programmes in Design & Artificial Intelligence (DAI), Master of Innovation by Design (MIbD) and SUTD-ZJU Collaboration (SUTD-ZJU). DesignZ aims to build design talents with key mindsets and all-rounded capabilities in disciplines of engineering, architecture, industry design, innovation, business, entrepreneurship and management, and will contribute to foster expedited communication across fields, building leaders and innovators of global product-service-systems that can work effectively and efficiently across the full value chain. For more information, visit www.designz.sutd.edu.sg.

About Singapore Furniture Industries Council

The Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) is established since 1981 as the official representative body of Singapore's furniture and furnishings industry. It has a membership of over 360 companies, spanning across five key industry clusters: furniture manufacturers, interior fit-out specialists, retailers, designers, as well as materials, components and services providers. SFIC's priority initiatives include internationalisation, design development, business innovation, digitalisation and sustainability to enable members to stay future ready and competitive, while upgrading enterprise and human capital capabilities within the industry. For more information, visit www.singaporefurniture.com.

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Issued on behalf of Embassy of Italy in Singapore by Affluence PR Pte Ltd.

APPENDIX A

EVENT DETAILS

SPOKESPERSONS BIOGRAPHIES

Architect Michele De Lucchi, 72

Michele de Lucchi is an Italian architect and designer. Born in 1951 in Ferrara, Architect Michele graduated in architecture from Florence. De Lucchi has designed lamps and furniture for well-known Italian and European companies, such as Artemide, Olivetti, Alias, Unifor, Hermès and Alessi.

While he was Director of Design for Olivetti he developed experimental projects for Compaq Computers, Philips, Siemens and Vitra. During this period, he developed a number of theories on the evolution of workplaces.

He has designed and restored buildings in Japan, Germany, in Switzerland, and Italy. While working on these buildings, he collaborated on the development of corporate image, introducing technical and aesthetic innovation into the workplace. His professional work has always run in tandem with a personal exploration of design, technology and craftsmanship.

He has also been involved with numerous art and design exhibitions, creating building plans for museums including the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and Neues Museum in Berlin. His works are also displayed and exhibited at various design museums across Europe, United States and Japan.

In 2000 he was appointed Officer of Italian Republic by President Ciampi, for services to design and architecture. In 2001 he was nominated Professor at the Design and Art Faculty, University of Venice. In 2006 he received an Honorary Doctorate from Kingston University, for his contribution to "living quality". In 2008 he was nominated Professor at the Design Faculty of the Politecnico of Milan and Member of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome.

Michele de Lucchi is known for many objects of industrial design, the most famous are:

• The First Chair for Memphis (design) (1983)
• The Tolomeo lamp for Artemide (1986) in collaboration with Giancarlo Fassina
• The Castore LED lamp for Artemide (2003)
• The fluorescent lamp Noto for Artemide (2008)
• The table Vegan for Riva 1920 (2009) in collaboration with Davide Angeli
• The library Existence for De Castelli (2010)

Ambassador Dante Brandi, 53

Ambassador of Italy to Singapore

Born in Civitavecchia (Rome) on 13 November 1971, he graduated in Political Science at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and served in the Italian Army as a Lieutenant. Ambassador Dante Brandi was appointed Ambassador of Italy to Singapore from 1 September 2023.

He was at the Press Service of the Farnesina (September 2021). Prior to this, he was Head of the Communication Coordination Unit of the newly established Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy (1 January 2022). Dante was in charge of the institutional communication of the Ministry and its diplomatic network, public diplomacy strategies, external communication and use of social media, as well as disinformation and strategic communication.

Appointed Consul General of Italy in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) in March 2018, he developed the Italian presence in the most dynamic part of the country and assisted the Italian community during the COVID emergency. He held the position of head of the economic-commercial office of the Italian Embassy in London and Deputy Executive Director for Italy at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development between 2013 and 2018, during the years of Italian economic expansion in the United Kingdom, but also of the economic and financial consequences of Brexit and of the repositioning of the EBRD following the sanctioning interruption of operations in Russia.

From August 2012 to August 2013, at the Directorate General for Political and Security Affairs, he directed the office in charge for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), where he coordinated - among other things - the re-election campaign of the Italian candidate for the position of Secretary General of the Organisation.

Adviser for international activities at The Italian Export Credit Agency (SACE) between 2010 and 2012, he supported the agency on critical issues on export credit, project financing and sovereign credit recovery operations in various markets, during the financial crisis.

From January 2007 to July 2010, he served as Chief of Staff at the Italian Embassy in Washington DC, while he carried out his first assignment abroad at the Italian Embassy in Sofia from 2002 to 2007, during the years of Bulgaria's accession to NATO and the European Union.

Dante Brandi joined the Italian foreign service in December 2000 and held his first positions at the Directorate General for Development Cooperation and the Directorate General for Sub-Saharan African Countries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. He was awarded the Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. He is married and has four children.