Press
“Outdoor design dal 1870”, by Franco Mello and Pier Paolo Peruccio Electa Ferrino celebrates its 140th anniversary with a book
(08.06.2010)Edited by Franco Mello and Pier Paolo Peruccio for Electa, this is the first volume of a book collection dedicated to life and project planning history of main Italian brands.
For Ferrino that means a look at 140 years in the history of an extraordinary company working alongside great mountain professionals and outdoor sportsmen and women.
Ferrino was founded in Turin in 1870, as a family-run factory producing waterproof canvases and covers, working along the traditional lines of the majority of small and medium-sized business in Italy. Within a brief period of time, the company became aware of the developing interest for mountain pursuits in late 19th-century society and from then on, Ferrino gradually began extending its market to equipping climbers, hikers, and families on holiday. This occurred in a period of time covering some three centuries and five generations and in 1971, the Ferrino family was joined by partners from the Rabajoli family. Ferrino’s products have successfully gone beyond the contaminations of fashion and have continued to accompany a wide range of different users as well as taking up the banner of responsible tourism. Ferrino is the name on the car hoods in use at the start of the 20th century and on the tents used as field hospitals during wars; Ferrino made the ideal shelters used on the Himalayas and suitable equipment for use at altitudes of 8000 metres; Ferrino is the name on the tents supplied to the Civil Protection service and a reassuring family tent from Ferrino is the ideal for camping holidays but also for hippies and motorcyclists on the road.
The book, published by Electa with texts by Pier Paolo Peruccio, consists of 128 pages, in Italian and English (format 17 x 20 cm), divided into five chapters – 1. An Exemplary Story; 2. The Adventure Factory: from camping to outdoors; 3. Design for Emergencies; 4. The Laboratory of Excellence; 5. Climbers and Explorers – with 150 coloured and black & white illustrations from Ferrino’s archives. The graphic design by Franco Mello includes a special, refined cover made by overlapping finest-quality Fedrigoni card by hand.
A design item, a book with lots of texts and pictures, which contains the history, tradition and distinguishing features of a traditional company that continues, however, to look to the future.
“Outdoor design dal 1870” will be sold by Electa, in bookshops and at larger museums.
Franco Mello
Works in design, packaging, graphic design, publishing and art. He has won national and international design and graphic design awards and also created books for children.
In 1972, together with Guido Drocco, he created the polyurethane foam Cactus for the company Gufram and, on his own, he created many other pieces that did not enter production. In 2004, he created the DOG DESIGN collection. Invited to many important events, he has edited books on art and designed catalogues and posters for numerous artists from Arte Povera to the Transavangarde, including Piero Manzoni, Giulio Paolini, Giuseppe Peone, Alberto Burri, Yves Klein, Bridget Riley and Pinot Gallizio. He teaches “Industrial Design for Visual Communication” at the Polytechnic of Turin.
Pier Paolo Peruccio
Architect, PhD, and researcher at the Polytechnic of Turin, where he teaches “History of Design and Visual Communication”.
He researches visual communication and design history within a business context and has worked with many national and international archives such as the Rockefeller Archive Center in Tarrytown (N.Y) and the Archivio Storico Olivetti in Ivrea.
His published works include articles on Olivetti design and graphics, the book “La ricostruzione domestica” (2005), and numerous articles in periodicals, such as “Op.Cit.”, “Giudizio Universale”, “Le Culture della Tecnica”, “Elle Decor”, “Il Giornale dell’Architettura” and “The Art Newspaper”. He has also written entries for the Dizionario dell’Architettura del XX Secolo of the Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani (2004) and edited the Italian edition of the book In The Bubble by John Thackara (2008). He also edits the design section of the “Giornale dell’Architettura”.
For more information, please contact:
STUDIO ERRANI –Ferrino Press Office
Tel. Fax +39 011/882699 – Tel. +39 02/87393888 E-mail: info@isabellaerrani.com
Download file: CS LIBRO_1.zip