Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985, The Dennis Freedman Collection

Inspired by turbulent global events in the 1960s, young Italian architects and designers aspired to develop solutions to issues rather than contribute to the “system,” unleashing an era of radicalization that would alter the course of avant-garde architectural thought and design. Coined by Germano Celant, the term “Radical” described a specific strain of practice featuring conceptual, often one-of-a-kind, handmade art and design objects that abandoned practicality and defied consumerism.

Fifty years after MoMA’s defining 1972 survey, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, this is the first major US museum exhibition to assess this now-iconic movement from a historical perspective. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the exhibition presents nearly 45 pieces of furniture, lighting design, and architectural models from the Dennis Freedman Collection, most of which are now in the collection of the MFAH. Rare prototypes, one-of-a-kind, and limited edition works by architects, designers, and collectives such as Archizoom Associati, Lapo Binazzi, Ugo La Pietra, Alessandro Mendini, Gianni Pettena, Ettore Sottsass, Studio Alchimia, Superstudio and others will be on view.

Please check the Yale School of Architecture website for up-to-date information on gallery hours and planning your visit.

The Yale School of Architecture’s exhibition program is supported in part by the Fred Koetter Exhibitions Fund, the James Wilder Green Dean’s Resource Fund, the Kibel Foundation Fund, the Nitkin Family Dean’s Discretionary Fund in Architecture, the Pickard Chilton Dean’s Resource Fund, the Paul Rudolph Lectureship Fund, the Dean Robert A.M. Stern Fund, and the School of Architecture Exhibitions Fund.