Heritage Landscapes vol.33

If Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg had existed in the sixteenth century, they would surely have taken the likeness of Christophe Plantin and his son-in-law Jan Moretus, a revolutionary duo of printers, the first on an industrial scale, who decided to set up their printing shop in Antwerp.

Since 1877, these same establishments have been purchased by the municipality, giving rise to the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, which has recently made available online a vast archive containing over 14,000 historical woodcuts, offering a unique opportunity to explore the art of printing in the 16th century.

Letters, plants, animals, religious scenes and maps, images that have become a testimony of the period when printing and woodcut were essential tools for the spread of culture; masterly carved drawings in wood, searchable through extremely precise and specific filters.

The archive is a treasure for scholars, art history enthusiasts, publishers, and anyone interested in ancient graphics. Woodcuts are freely downloadable, offering a rare opportunity to access materials of great historical and cultural value.

In 2025, Arduino celebrates its 20th anniversary, an idea that has revolutionized the world of electronics. Founded in 2005 by Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, Gianluca Martino and David Mellis, the project was born in a bar in Ivrea (from which it took its name) with the aim of making technology accessible to all. Despite being without a traditional business plan, Arduino has democratized electronics, putting in the hands of millions of people tools to innovate, educate and create; a story all made in Italy based on the simplicity of sharing.

Il Labirinto della Masone celebrates its tenth anniversary with the exhibition Da Serafini a Luigi. The egg, the skeleton and the rainbow, open to visitors until July 2025. The exhibition explores the work of Luigi Serafini with a site-specific arrangement. For the occasion, an app has been launched that allows a virtual tour of the complex, designed for visitors, in particular those with visual and motor difficulties. The app offers an immersive and interactive experience, organizing content like a mini-podcast. An anniversary that looks to the future, between art and technology.

From 1 April to 15 June 2025, the ADI Design Museum in Milan hosts the exhibition "Best of Both Worlds: ITALY. Art and Design in Italy 1915 - 2025". Curated by Stefano Casciani, the exhibition explores more than a century of interactions between visual arts and Italian design, highlighting how these disciplines have shaped the aesthetics of everyday life.
Casciani emphasizes the importance of this relationship in revolutionizing the image of the object, transforming it from a simple functional tool to the protagonist of visual culture, revealing the design thinking that lies behind it.

Credits: City of Antwerp, Think, Wired, Mauro Davoli, ADI Design Museum.

Last December, at the Gallerie d'Italia in Milan, Livia Peraldo Matton, Editor-in-Chief of Elle Decor Italia, took part in Deep Dive into Design, a special session by Legend24, in conversation with Paolo Brambilla.
An opportunity to tell design stories that know how to keep the past without stopping looking ahead. Like those of Molteni&C and Tacchini, two Italian companies that have transformed their heritage into a continuous source of inspiration and creativity.
In this video, the journalist retraces the history of Molteni&C: from its artisanal roots to its growth as a large international group, without ever losing its family heart, now reached by the third generation. A journey made of vision, passion and ability to reinvent oneself while remaining faithful to one’s own identity.

To learn more, watch an excerpt from the event.