Electa Monograph
People, personalities and projects behind a 100-year history.
The Electa publishing house, a historic expert specialising in publications and cultural events in the graphic arts sector since its foundation in 1945, in 2005 decided to dedicate a monographic volume to Rossi di Albizzate. The author was Decio Giulio Riccardo Carugati, a well-known journalist and writer who collaborated with various newspapers and held courses at various universities, including the Milan Polytechnic and the Brera-Milan Academy of Fine Arts.
Scientific Director of the Industry and Design series since 2004, Carugati was immediately prolific and produced his first five monographs in 2005. Initially, Rossi di Albizzate was the only company selected in the furniture sector, later joined by Poltrona Frau, Zanotta, Castelli and others.
As the author stated in a 2014 interview, "monographs, in addition to business stories, are stories of social and customs changes", "interweaving corporate history with world history creates a sort of tale within a tale".
This is exactly what happens in the Rossi di Albizzate monograph, in which, starting from the very first experiences of Giuseppe Rossi and his brother Felice in 1923, the fundamental steps of the company's development are relived, aligning it with the contemporary geopolitical and social context. As Carugati says, "a monograph is the definition of a project that communicates to the outside world its own identity and its own events, which are first and foremost human (...) because a company, like a project, is made up of men".
Through the narration of Rossi's heirs, Luigi and Piero, and the immense company heritage that was being reorganised and would give rise to the Rossi Company Museum in Albizzate, the profile of the founder Giuseppe Rossi is perfectly outlined. His ideas, inventions, patents and interpretation of the changing context. The spirit of historical collaborations is outlined, from the first projects signed by the architects Ammannati and Vitelli, through the pencil of the Compasso d'Oro alla Carriera Carlo Bartoli and then of architect Salocchi, on to a multitude of well-established signatures. All enriched by pictures, advertisements and original sketches.
The subtitle of the work is explanatory of Carugati's reading of the company and indeed of the nature of the company itself: Rossi di Albizzate - a name, a place, a project.
The Rossi di Albizzate monograph remains a milestone for the company. As Carugati says: "memory is a fundamental element for any construction and the events that build the history of a brand are the necessary basis for the company's evolution".