Heritage Landscapes vol.28

In November 1986, within the walls of Palazzo Lascaris in Turin, Primo Levi first called his 20-year correspondence with German and German speaking readers an “epistolary network.” It was from here, many years later, that the LeviNet project was born.

Primo Levi's exchange of letters with his German and German speaking readers began in 1959 with his translator Heinz Riedt, eventually expanding to 500 letters and over 50 interlocutors. LeviNet is the digital project – funded by the European Research Council coordinated by Martina Mengoni of the University of Ferrara, in collaboration with the International Primo Levi Studies Center – that recreates and makes available virtually this network of connections and letters.

The letters come from the archives of Levi and various correspondents. Those of some forty readers appear, those of intellectuals and former deportees such as Austrians Herman Langbein and Jean Améry, former fellow prisoner Emil Davidovic (Rabbi Mendi of Se questo è un uomo), writers such as Albrecht Goes and Hans Jurgen Fröhlich, journalist and politician Hety Schmitt-Maass, and even Wehrmacht officer Ferdinand Meyer.

The site links the correspondences and allows you to explore them one by one, to view them by sender or through a map of Europe. This is a unique project, where readers who contacted Levi were confronted with the immensity of what had happened. From January 24 to May 5, 2025, at Palazzo Madama in Turin, the letters will be on display in the exhibition Giro di Posta, curated by Domenico Scarpa and in collaboration with LeviNet. Thus showing the story of a dialogue capable of overcoming four languages, borders, roles, fears, doubts.

In 2024, Molteni&C celebrated its 90th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, it has launched a series of exclusive events around the world. A journey into the brand's memory, but done with a sort of cinematic vision, revealing the stories and collaborations with its most prestigious designers. The celebrations reached their climax with the publication of the book “MOLTENI MONDO: An Italian Design Story,” allowing us to enter the stories through a fresh look, full of narrative and almost documentary instinct, celebrating the heritage of this incredible design company.

One of the latest stories published by the Lavazza Archives begins with Luigi Lavazza's trip to Brazil, sighting land Rio de Janeiro. Among photographs, letters, and maps, it explores Lavazza's relationship with the homelands of his coffee, his relationship with the environment, with the workers, and how this has changed over time. They talk about “Kigali and Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills,” “Colombia, where it is always spring,” “Guatemala paradise, coffee and volcanoes.”

A new immersive, fluid search engine that hosts public domain content. It contains over 100,000 archival works, including scans and prints, from the MET, the New York Public Library, and other sources. It was developed by Cosmos, and aims to be a digital place to take inspiration from. It is ideal for creatives, or just enthusiasts who want to take a walk through ancient maps, floral illustrations, polygons, and gemstones in the 1800s.

Credits: LeviNet; Molteni&C; Lavazza; Public.Work, Cosmos

The latest episode of Archival Stories, the now famous collection of short stories in which Promemoria Group gives voice to brands and objects and icons that have made history. This time we talk about boats. But not just any boats, but Riva's legendary Aquarama. A boat that has made history in design and experience at sea, and that in 2022 turned 60 years old.
But its origin is the story of an August in Montecarlo in 1962, of a bet, of Gianni Agnelli and Carlo Riva, and of living a “cinerama at sea.”