2014: Antonio Arico
The inaugural Milan-Melbourne Masterclass welcomed Milanese Industrial Designer and Studio Arico founder, Antonio Arico to Melbourne. The Masterclass was attended by RMIT students and young Melbourne designers, resulting in an exhibition and publication based on the idea of ‘Soprammobili’, AKA mementos or objects of sentimentality.
From this initial visit the seeds were sown for Mr Arico to return to RMIT in 2015 for a semester of teaching with the Industrial Design program. The ‘Soprammobili’ brief was extended to the Industrial Design Ceramics Studio and Mr Arico undertook an Atelier with Industrial Design Lecturer, Dr Judith Glover designing and producing two tableware collections with the students.
Mr Arico was so enamoured with the skill and dedication of the students that he invited two - Richard Greenacre and Mechelle Shooter - to intern at his Milan studio in 2016 with great success. Mr Greenacre also returned to Milan in 2017 to help Mr Arico deliver a project for Milan Design Week.
The inaugural Milan-Melbourne Masterclass demonstrated its potential for continuing collaborations and projects between designers in Milan and Melbourne.
