Jeffrey Schnapp

Modernitalia provides a map of the Italian twentieth century in the form of twelve essays by the celebrated cultural historian Jeffrey T. Schnapp. Shuttling back and forth between literature, architecture, design, and the visual arts, the volume explores the metaphysics of speed, futurist and dada typography, real and imaginary forms of architecture, shifting regimes of mass spectacle, the iconography of labour, exhibitions as modes of public mobilization and persuasion, and the emergence of industrial models of literary culture and communication.The figures featured in the book include Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Mario Morasso, Julius Evola, Piero Portaluppi, Giuseppe Terragni, Alessandro Blasetti, Massimo Bontempelli, Giorgio de Chirico, Bruno Munari, Curzio Malaparte, and Henry Furst. Alongside these human protagonists appear granite blocks that drive the design of modern monuments, military searchlights that animate civilian shows, worker armies viewed as machines, sunglasses that tiptoe along the boundary of the private and public, newsreels as twentieth-century interpretations of Trajan’s column, and book covers and bindings that act as authorial self-portraits. The volume captures the Italian path to cultural modernity in all of its brilliance and multiplicity.

The world is full of people who can inspire us, but their legacies are really defined by whether or not they are true visionaries. Beyond their ideas or words, this is determined by their projects and the tangible consequences of their actions on our way of living and thinking in the contemporary world. After the previous project on Silicon Valley, this book on new visionaries aims to establish who can be defined as such. The book therefore presents a selection of new talents who have distinguished themselves in different fields (design, research, eco-sustainability, architecture, thinkers, food, NFTs, etc.), and who promise to carry on the legacies of past visionaries, entering our imagination as visionaries of the future. These include: Yves Behar, founder of Fuseproject and venture design pioneer; Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, a young researcher who has won multiple awards for her contributions to design, science, and synthetic biology; David Gruber, a marine biologist who has been collaborating with Harvard MicroRobotics since 2015 to develop various robotic devices.

In 1921, Giorgio Parodi founded Moto Guzzi with the mechanic Carlo Guzzi. The purpose of the company was to design innovative motorcycles in the Mandello del Lario headquarters on Lake Como, where the factory still stands today. Moto Guzzi bikes immediately stood out for their high performance and technical sophistication. Their greatness was proven by competition wins, and these sporting triumphs were accompanied by commercial success that made Moto Guzzi the most important motorcycle manufacturer in Italy. These victories did not happen by chance, but were the result of continuous innovation. The company soon decided to withdraw from competitions because of its manifest superiority and instead focused on production. It has since continued to churn out iconic innovations and models, like the California, which was chosen by the LAPD for their patrols. Moto Guzzi is no longer just a motorcycle but, like Harley-Davidson, it has become a style, a philosophy and a sign of belonging to the Guzzi tribe that unites movie stars like Ewan McGregor with acclaimed designers like Tom Dixon, musicians like Billy Joel, and astronauts such as Paolo Nespoli.

This book is a celebration of design in both subject and execution. Modelled after Fortunato Depero s iconic bolted book published in 1927, it will be sold in a limited, numbered edition also bound by two metal bolts. Like the Futurist tome that inspired it, this book pays homage to the Machine Age, which at the time signalled a new era in speed, technology, and transportation. A visual feast for the senses, this volume is composed of various papers, colours, typefaces, and type-settings, actively engaging the reader and highly appealing to design enthusiasts and fans of scooter culture. This graphically rich retrospective describes key moments throughout Piaggio s history and the various models that have been introduced over the years, including the seductively stylish Vespa, which remains a cult classic. From working design sketches to exploded views of a scooter s inner mechanical workings to vintage advertisements and photographs, this book captures the essence of a brand that continues to be relevant and exciting today. The epitome of freedom, style, and cool, Piaggio scooters continue to redefine transportation, and this book pays tribute through its revolutionary design.

A visionary report on the revitalization of the liberal arts tradition in the electronically inflected, design-driven, multimedia language of the twenty-first century.Digital_Humanities is a compact, game-changing report on the state of contemporary knowledge production. Answering the question "What is digital humanities?," it provides an in-depth examination of an emerging field. This collaboratively authored and visually compelling volume explores methodologies and techniques unfamiliar to traditional modes of humanistic inquiry-including geospatial analysis, data mining, corpus linguistics, visualization, and simulation-to show their relevance for contemporary culture. Written by five leading practitioner-theorists whose varied backgrounds embody the intellectual and creative diversity of the field, Digital_Humanities is a vision statement for the future, an invitation to engage, and a critical tool for understanding the shape of new scholarship.

Modernitalia provides a map of the Italian twentieth century in the form of twelve essays by the celebrated cultural historian Jeffrey T. Schnapp. Shuttling back and forth between literature, architecture, design, and the visual arts, the volume explores the metaphysics of speed, futurist and dada typography, real and imaginary forms of architecture, shifting regimes of mass spectacle, the iconography of labour, exhibitions as modes of public mobilization and persuasion, and the emergence of industrial models of literary culture and communication. The figures featured in the book include Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Mario Morasso, Julius Evola, Piero Portaluppi, Giuseppe Terragni, Alessandro Blasetti, Massimo Bontempelli, Giorgio de Chirico, Bruno Munari, Curzio Malaparte, and Henry Furst. Alongside these human protagonists appear granite blocks that drive the design of modern monuments, military searchlights that animate civilian shows, worker armies viewed as machines, sunglasses that tiptoe along the boundary of the private and public, newsreels as twentieth-century interpretations of Trajan’s column, and book covers and bindings that act as authorial self-portraits. The volume captures the Italian path to cultural modernity in all of its brilliance and multiplicity.