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  • From the L: R. Roger Remington, Professor of Graphic Design from the Vignelli Center for Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Emanuele Amendola, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in DC and Professor Elisabetta d’Amanda, also from RIT
    The Vignelli legacy is one that lives within the structure of New York City, and consists of simple, elegant designs that laid the basis for modernism in the United States. Massimo Vignelli and his partner Elena Valle (Lella) Vignelli conceived an iconic world of items, logos, and spaces for their international clients. Important pieces from their archive were open to the public at the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C. on March 16, for a lecture and exhibit opening entitled L’eredita’ dei Vignelli. The event was hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute, the Embassy of Italy, and the Rochester Institute of Technology.
  • From the left: R. Roger Remington, Professor of Graphic Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology; Emanuele Amendola, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in DC and Professor Elisabetta d’Amanda also from the Rochester Institute of Technology
    Art & Culture
    Daniela Enriquez(March 19, 2018)
    The Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C. is currently hosting a photo exhibition on the design legacy of the Vignelli’s. The exhibition presents several of the most iconic designs of Massimo and Lella Vignelli, whose influence is worldwide. The opening was last Friday, and it included a lecture by Roger Remignton, Professor of Graphic Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a very good friend of both Vignellis, as well as a video by Letizia Airos of I-italy TV featuring an interview with Massimo Vignelli. Emanuele Amendola, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington D.C. and co-creator of the project – together with the Rochester Institute of Technology – gave an introduction on the importance and influence of the Vignellis.
  • Massimo and Lella Vignelli. Photo Credit Fred R. Conrad
    There’s an Italian hand behind the iconic designs of the New York and Washington subway maps and lettering, or the logos of companies like American Airlines and Bloomingdales: it is the hand of designers Massimo and Lella Vignelli. The Embassy of Italy in Washington, the Italian Cultural Institute and the Rochester Institute of Technology, celebrate the genius of the Vignellis in an exhibition opening on March 16 that will be on view until April 29, 2018. The opening event will include a lecture, among the others, by R. Roger Remington, Professor of Graphic Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a video-interview with Massimo Vignelli by the Editor in Chief of i-Italy, Letizia Airos introduced by Renato Miracco, Cultural Attaché of the Italian Embassy in Washington. We had the chance to talk with Emanuele Amendola, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in DC, who shared with us his enthusiasm about the exhibition and the influence of the Vignellis on modern design.
  • “Lella Vignelli, a Designer With a Spare, Elegant Style, Dies at 82” wrote The New York Times a couple of days ago. The digital magazine Quartz summarizes in a few words the story of the famous couple, Lella and Massimo Vignelli, and their difficult battle against the flow: “A legendary husband-and-wife design team fought to get her equal credit for 40 years.” To remember Lella, we decided to re-publish our article about Designed by: Lella Vignelli—a book of love that her husband Massimo edited in 2013, just few weeks before passing away. The book is a compendium of Lella’s contributions to design. Born out of a conversation with Massimo, our longtime friend, the article was entitled “The Realist and the Dreamer,” where “The Realist” was Lella—not his muse, but his wife and life-long professional partner. Massimo wanted the book to be an inspiration to all women, and circulated it free on the Internet. “For years,” Massimo wrote in his introduction, “the collaboration between female architects and designers and their partners has been under-appreciated …” And, he maintained, Lella had always been the hard rock behind his dreams: “consistent throughout her career; unfailingly intelligent; rigorous, not arbitrary; timeless, not trendy.”
  • Given all the objects designed by Massimo Vignelli that are located in New York and its museums, we decided to publish a not-so-well-known drawing he made in the early 1990s, when he decided to stop “being a fashion victim” and create his own clothing line. The drawing and accompanying text are taken from Designed by Lella, an electronic book he assembled a few months before dying to celebrate his lifelong partnership with his beloved wife. He made the book available in pdf format free of charge.
  • Library: Articles & Reviews
    Letizia Airos(May 12, 2014)
    Edited by Massimo and dedicated to his wife and life-long professional parter Lella, this book is an inspiration to all women. “For years, the collaboration between female architects and designers and their partners has been under- appreciated” “Lella has been consistent throughout her career: she is unfailingly intelligent; rigorous, not arbitrary; timeless, not trendy. She is an inspiration.”