{"id":102283,"date":"2024-10-25T08:10:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T07:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/?p=102283"},"modified":"2024-10-25T08:12:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T07:12:14","slug":"photographing-design-showcasing-products-at-pirelli-stands-in-the-1950s-and-1960s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/activities\/stories-from-world-of-pirelli\/photographing-design-showcasing-products-at-pirelli-stands-in-the-1950s-and-1960s\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing Design: Showcasing Products at Pirelli Stands in the 1950s and 1960s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe industrial product gains charm and prestige in the eyes of the public when it is enriched by the architect\u2019s imagination [\u2026]. But how can an architect confer this appeal upon a product? By means of a carefully studied setting, placing it in a certain way, in a certain set of spaces; in short, by inventing an aesthetic context for it.\u201d These were the words written by Armanda Guiducci in the pages of Pirelli <\/em>magazine<\/a> of 1960, in a critical analysis of the modern culture of well-being, which allows man to linger on the moment of enjoyment and in the \u201cmost refined pleasure of consuming\u201d. The words of the Neapolitan writer underscore the significance of the relationship between artists and the business world<\/strong>\u2014a meeting of visions that was crucial for conveying to the public not only a company\u2019s history and values, but also the story of its products<\/strong>. This collaboration could be enhanced by architects and designers, who created the stands, shops, and shop windows that could communicate a company\u2019s commercial power \u201cat a glance\u201d.
\nThe photographs preserved in our Historical Archive bear witness to the importance of international fairs <\/strong>for Pirelli. These fairs provided an ideal platform for unveiling cutting-edge products and capturing the public eye, and many great names from the last century helped shape the visual identity of the iconic \u201cLong P\u201d with their ever more spectacular settings.<\/p>\n

In contrast to early twentieth-century installations, which lacked a clear display model\u2014as we see in the picture of the 1929 Prager Autosalon, with its \u201csculptural\u201d pile of tyres\u2014trade fairs from the 1950s onwards became an ideal space for architectural experimentation. At the 1958 Turin Motor Show<\/strong><\/a>, the collaboration between Bob Noorda <\/strong>and Roberto Menghi <\/strong>brought to life a luminous space, showcasing not just the company\u2019s products, which were suspended from the ceiling by cables, but also the construction of the Pirelli Tower. The Dutch designer himself was photographed sitting on the pavilion\u2019s armchairs, as if having a final look at his work before the opening. The various attractions of the \u201cLong P\u201d stands, caught on camera, included demonstrations of tyre assembly and disassembly, inflatable airships in rubberised fabric, rotating installations, and special demonstration machines that allowed visitors to experience the springiness of the company\u2019s rubber suspensions.<\/p>\n

Pirelli also took part in fairs devoted to the world of two wheels, such as the International Cycle and Motorcycle Exhibition<\/strong>, featuring renowned artists like Pino Tovaglia, Marco Zanuso, Franca Helg, Franco Albini, and Massimo Vignelli<\/strong>. The last of these created the setting for the 1963 edition, which was photographed by Roberto Facchini: tyres placed on illuminated pedestals, screens with pictures of Pirelli\u2019s most significant racing victories, and, most notably, the \u201cDirectomat\u201d machine\u2014a small robot that dispensed \u201c120 answers to your sports questions\u201d printed on paper, sparking the curiosity of young and old alike. The Pirelli stands at EICMA went beyond just showcasing products, for they also showed the manufacturing processes, simulated their use on a circuit with mannequin-riders on bicycles with Pirelli tyres, and looked back over the history of the velocipede, showcasing some rare historical pieces. These ranged from the Draisine\u2014the 1855 \u201cdandy horse\u201d\u2014to the 1952 Bianchi bicycle that took Fausto Coppi to victory that year in both the Giro d\u2019Italia and the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

The diverse range of exhibitions<\/strong> that Pirelli took part in reflected the breadth of its product line<\/strong> during the mid-twentieth century: from the 1953 Triennale Firefighting Exhibition\u2014where the company showed its accident prevention items such as hoses, respirators, and masks\u2014to the 1956 International Packaging Exhibition in Padua, where a Fiat 600, wrapped in a Visqueen tubular sheet, was photographed at a stand made entirely of polyethylene, designed by Noorda. In 1957, at the International Children\u2019s Festival in Palermo, the \u201cPirelli Zoo\u201d came to life with Rempel toys, while at the 1st International Furniture Fair in Milan in 1961, a photograph captured the gluing process with a skilled worker applying Pirelli foam rubber to a seat. There were plenty of exhibitions abroad, such as the 1959 Feria Oficial e Internacional de Muestras in Barcelona<\/a>. Here, the Pirelli stand, which was devoted to electrical conductors, featured a dramatic design, with a central pool surrounded by towering vertical columns shaped like cables, together with illustrations depicting the process of energy transmission through the products made by the iconic \u201cLong P\u201d company.<\/p>\n

The photographs also capture the official visits <\/strong>of key political figures of the era. Prince Humbert of Savoy<\/a> and his wife, Maria Jos\u00e9 of Belgium, are immortalised in front of a model of the Bicocca factory at the 1933 Milan Fair, interacting with a drawing of the same subject in pencil and white lead displayed on the wall. Similarly, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy<\/a> was photographed the following year at the unveiling of the classical-style Pirelli Pavilion, designed by Piero Portaluppi. Transitioning from Monarchy to Republic, the Turin Motor Show saw Presidents Luigi Einaudi in 1951 and Giuseppe Saragat in 1965, the latter photographed alongside Leopoldo Pirelli and Juan Manuel Fangio, the star of a series of commercials for the Cinturato that year. Also King Baudouin of Belgium made an appearance at the Pirelli stand at the 1960 International Motor Show in Brussels, with the camera capturing him in a conversation with the company\u2019s technicians, \u201cshowing a keen interest in the details of the new BS3 invention\u201d, the undisputed star of the show.<\/p>\n

The importance of stands at trade fairs remains vital to Pirelli today as a means of expressing its identity. This can be seen in the space created for the 2024 edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed\u2014a stand devoted to electric mobility and the sustainable materials used in tyre production. This commitment is further reflected in The Sports Workshop<\/em>, the new exhibition by the Pirelli Foundation, which honours the company\u2019s longstanding bond with sports competitions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe industrial product gains charm and prestige in the eyes of the public when it is enriched by the architect\u2019s imagination [\u2026]. But how can an architect confer this appeal upon a product? By means of a carefully studied setting, placing it in a certain way, in a certain set of spaces; in short, by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":102021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities","category-stories-from-world-of-pirelli"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhotographing Design: Showcasing Products at Pirelli Stands in the 1950s and 1960s - Fondazione Pirelli<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/activities\/stories-from-world-of-pirelli\/photographing-design-showcasing-products-at-pirelli-stands-in-the-1950s-and-1960s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Photographing Design: Showcasing Products at Pirelli Stands in the 1950s and 1960s - Fondazione Pirelli\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe industrial product gains charm and prestige in the eyes of the public when it is enriched by the architect\u2019s imagination [\u2026]. 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