Fitness, design and art converge at Technogym’s ‘Design to Move’ exhibition

It has been four decades since Nerio Alessandri founded Technogym in his parent’s garage at the age of 22—a humble beginning indeed. Yet, over the last 40 years, Alessandri’s Italy-based fitness company has reached unprecedented heights. Today, Technogym boasts an undisputable international reputation, stemming to a great degree from their close partnership with the Olympic Games. They have acted as official suppliers of equipment for eight games, beginning with Sydney in 2000, and most recently, for the 2020 edition in Tokyo.

Since its inception, the now-globally recognised Technogym has been committed to exploring the important relationship between sport and design through its products. “Movement is the cause of all forms of life,” Alessandri states in an official release. Equally central to his brand is design, the key to creating not only ‘functional’ products but ‘aspirational’ ones too.

In fact, the very name of the company highlights this ethos: ‘Techno’ speaks to Alessandri’s passion for design and technology, and ‘Gym’ to his deep-seated interest in physical exercise and fitness in general. Alessandri’s brand has developed into what an official statement describes as “a comprehensive ecosystem of wellness lifestyle and a protagonist of Italian design,” speaking to the holistic proportions of the brand’s approach. Thus, to celebrate both its significant achievements and its milestone 40th anniversary this year, Technogym’s Design to Move exhibition highlights the Durini district as part of Milan Design Week 2024.

Design to Move, as an exhibition that traverses contemporary art and design, seeks to explore, promote and celebrate some of Technogym’s fundamental interests, chiefly, the intrinsic connections between design and wellness, extending to style and functionality. It achieves this by placing its most popular and recognisable fitness product, the Home Bench, at the fore. The bench becomes a ‘blank canvas’ for the specially selected exhibiting artists who have been tasked with interpreting not only the Home Bench according to their artistic style, but the concept of wellness in general.

The acclaimed Italian designer and architect Giulio Cappellini is the organiser of Design to Move, with Bruna Roccasalva acting as the head curator. Alongside Alessandri, the pair conceived and visually planned the special Design Week project. They also hand-picked the 40 international artists who are to exhibit at the show, with key names including Patricia Urquiola, Antonio Citterio, Nendo, Walter De Silva, Mario Antonioli and Elena Salmistrar. Owing to the diverse creative and cultural lenses through which each artist operates, every bench emerges as a unique creation within the same framework, displaying a different combination of materials, decorative elements and colour.

Another celebratory element of the exhibition involves ‘The National Day of Made in Italy,’ an event established earlier this year by the Italian Government commemorating the anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s birth (April 15^th), and becomes an opportunity to celebrate the vast entrepreneurial and artistic endeavours by creatives across the nation. The inauguration of Technogym’s Design to Move thus aligned in both fervour and spirit. 

This is also not the first time Technogym has been involved with the multitude of events put on during Milan Design Week; nor the first time they have collaborated with high-profile creative individuals. Milan Design Week in 2019 saw the release of their Personal Line collection, a collaborative effort with Milan-based architect and designer, Antonio Citterio. Citterio is a two-time winner of the prestigious Compasso d’Oro Award, granted to him in both 1987 and 1994, for his outstanding achievements in industrial design. The collection, consisting of five new cardio and functional gym products designed by Citterio for Technogym, was launched as a ‘true icon of wellness.’ It offered “the best of a combination of Technogym’s years of experience in design, and extraordinary craftsmanship of form,” an official statement from 2019 pronounced. Arguably, Design to Move acts as an extension of this.

Although the current design exhibition is temporary, Technogym’s Design to Move will continue to live on after Milan Design Week ends later in April. 15 of the unique Home Benches will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in September 2024, and the remaining 25 will become available for general purchase on Technogym’s website. Technogym has pledged that all proceeds—both from the auction and online shop—will be donated to UNICEF after sales finish.

‘Design to Move’ is on view from April 16 – 21, 2024, at Technogym Milano, Via Durini, 1.

Stay tuned with STIR’s coverage of Milan Design Week 2024 which showcases the best of exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands and events to look out for. Explore EuroCucina and all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5vie Design Week, Isola Design Week, Brera Design District and Porta Venezia Design District.