Italian Design Workshop in Italy Week 1

The first week has been jam packed with intensive studio time and trips around Florence and Italy. Expanding the ideas of the participants as they adventure through their first week living abroad is just the beginning of what Go Inspired offers.

So, beginning the week at Museo Ferragamo the participants are treated to a fully comprehensive docent tour of the museum and any and all questions are answered between the docent and Katia. Everyone left the museum with visions of their project incubating in their minds! This years exhibition is Equilibrium and so viewing the balance of life and design will play into their final projects. To see a different perspective on a designer museum, Museo Gucci was next in the list. Gaining knowledge from various designers and architects and what Florence has to offer kicks off this project of Equilibrium!

Ferrari, ah the gorgeous lines of pure Italian design, but it is the leather seats that connect us back to Go Inspired! An afternoon trip to S.P. A. Z. I. O. 360  and Palona Frau showroom is a sensory filling adventure, from marble, terra cotta, wood species, to the buttery soft leather chairs.  The guided visit walked us through the world of Italian design with an emphasis on the materials used to create great works.

Friday, the group each turned into their best Indiana Jones as we climbed aboard a Land Rover and made our way up to the mine sites of Carrara! The mountain paths are not for the faint at heart, but the prize was amazing!!! The vast sea of marble cut out from the mountain was awe inspiring, breathe taking, amazing! The view from the peak let you see out the the sea and understand why Carrara is perfect, with mining and distribution so compact. The guide was amazing to give us time for photography as well as to answer the endless questions this group of designers had! We descended down a road used in Quantum of Solace and became part of the history of movie making in Hollywood and Italy! After an amazing drive through the caves we arrived in to see where the great Italian sculptures picked their marble. A walk through the town of Carrara for Marble Weeks and this group was ready for a relaxing train home to Firenze! Ciao for now!