From May 29, 2026 to February 16, 2027, the Fondazione Achille Castiglioni in Milan will host Achille and Bruno, free to play, an exhibition curated by Marco Marzini that investigates the creative dialogue between Achille Castiglioni and Bruno Munari, two pivotal figures of 20th-century Italian design who shared methodological affinities, design sensitivity and a common aptitude for experimentation. Through objects, games, photographs and archival materials, the exhibition traces the relationship between the two designers, highlighting a vision of design based on curiosity, observation of everyday life and a constant tension toward play understood as a tool for knowledge. The exhibition stems from in-depth research work conducted in the archives of the Foundation and Casa Castiglioni, bringing back to the center that dimension of lightness and imaginative freedom that runs through the entire oeuvre of Achille Castiglioni.
For Bruno Munari, play represented an educational and creative device capable of stimulating imagination, autonomy and free thought; for Castiglioni, on the other hand, it was a method of observing reality, a design practice through which to gather insights and transform common objects into new narrative and functional possibilities. The exhibition follows in the wake of the previous project Gioco e progetto, project is game, further developing its conceptual core: design as an authentic metaphor for play. A principle shared by both designers, who share an approach based on continuous experimentation, unexpected associations and insights to follow and deepen.
In the exhibition itinerary, Achille Castiglioni and Bruno Munari emerge almost as two tireless explorers of reality, capable of observing the world with an ironic and curious gaze that culminates in a creative process in which play turns into design and design constantly returns to play. The exhibition is divided into thematic nuclei dedicated to light, natural forms, words, everyday objects and folding structures. In the Lights and Shadows section, the public is invited to directly experience projections, reflections and optical interference through three Rocket Ferrania projectors designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni in 1960, now converted with LED sources. Bruno Munari’s Direct Projections and a photocopier dedicated to xerography transform this environment into an immersive and participatory space.
On the other hand, La forma naturale collects organic objects and industrial waste that belonged to the two designers: small fragments of reality capable of generating unexpected associations and reflections on the relationship between form, function and imagination. La forma delle parole delves into the theme of the graphic sign, typography and visual composition, while Queste non son tutte proposes an ironic reflection on the production of seating through a selection of chairs designed by the Castiglioni alongside a deliberately uncomfortable armchair designed to experiment with new postures and modes of use.
Alongside the themes of light, nature and speech, the itinerary also addresses the motif of the mask and facial expression, the poetic reinterpretation of everyday objects through unexpected juxtapositions and the theme of folding structures, conceived according to principles of formal essentiality and constructive intelligence. More than a simple exhibition on design, Achille and Bruno, free to play is therefore configured as a complex and light investigation at the same time, on creative thinking, on the importance of the gaze and on the ability of the project to be born, once again, from the free act of play.
[đź“· Courtesy of Nicoletta Murialdo PressOffice]
