Life has often given me the gift of being in the right place at the right time, and so it has been enriched by basic encounters and moments, legendary friends and unforgettable events.
Such was the case with meeting Aldo and MariRosa Ballo in 1966. As a very young handyman assistant, I was already in the editorial staff of Ottagono, my first job in the design and architecture magazine wanted by the eight leading Italian contemporary furniture companies (Arflex, Artemide, Bernini, Boffi, Cassina, FLOS, DePadova and Tecno), directed by architects Giuliana Gramigna and Sergio Mazza with the art direction of Bob Noorda. All great figures who were designing the new Milan, the new Italy, the new aesthetic, the new design through their insights and works. The exhibition “ballo&ballo, photography and design in Milan” open until November 3 at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan pays tribute to the photographic work of Aldo Ballo and his wife MariRosa Toscani, sister of the more famous Oliviero, and to the essential, intelligent, ultra-modern style with which their photography approached the design of those years and made iconic objects, furniture and lamps that bore the signature of the Masters of the time, most of whom collaborated with the eight supporting companies of Ottagono. I was at the editorial staff's disposal, but Aldo also sometimes “used” me as an improvised model for his photos, for hands-only or whole. I recently and casually saw myself again sitting on the small chair of one of the eight. It is a detail from the specimen sheet that Aldo gave me for selection aimed at publication and I don't know how it remained in my hand. It dates back to 1966, the beginning of my long journey in fashion and design.
The exhibition at the Castello obviously tells much more and does so not only with selected photographs of the Ballo exemplary in their perfection, but also with a technological and interactive visual approach that makes the exhibition in the ancient underground rooms that tell us about the past but show us the present and the future even more magical.
Castello Sforzesco, Milan - ballo&ballo, photography and design in Milan 1956 - 2005