FOUNDERS
MAURIZIO BARBERIS
Graduated in Architecture from IUAV in Venice with Giancarlo De Carlo, he has been active in the world of art and art design since the 1980s, producing personal exhibitions and installations for Palazzo Tagliaferro Andora, Plečnik Museum Ljubljana, MoratInstitut Freiburg-D and collaborations including the Nilufar and Dilmos galleries in Milan. He worked at the Milan Department of Culture with Philippe Daverio and taught color theory and form theory at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
As an author, he has taken part in two editions of the Milan Triennale. He has also collaborated with the Murano Glass Museum and the Fortuny Museum in Venice, organizing conferences and workshops and staging the exhibition for the 50th anniversary of Mariano Fortuny.
A photographer for major publications such as AD France and The World ofInteriors, he has published photography books (for Electa, Damiani Arte, Mondadori Arte, Rizzoli Italia, RizzoliNew York) and a volume on color theory.
PATRIZIA CATALANO
Architect and professional journalist, she was responsible for the design and architecture section of the weekly magazine IO Donna, the supplement of Corriere della Sera, and has written for major national and national and international newspapers (AD France, The World of Interiors, Marie Claire Italia, Il Corriere della Sera). Since 2005 she has been a consultant for the magazine INTERNI, where she coordinates the Interni Annual and the magazine’s international events (London, Madrid, Barcelona, Miami, New York, Dubai).
She has published several books on interiors including Casa Italiana for Rizzoli Italia and Rizzoli New York, Living Today for Mondadori Arte and Interior Italia for Electa.
In 2019 she founded HoperAperta, an independent cultural platform dedicated to the relationship between art design and architecture, with which she has realised a series of exhibitions during the past six editions of the Milan Design Week and collaborating with some important public and private institutions including the Cupra Research Centre in Barcelona (Volkswagen Group,) the Giovanni Segantini Foundation in Maloja (CH) the Fondazione Paolo Grassi in Martina Franca (I), the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Milan City, the Fashion and Design Department of the City of Milan, the Italian Pavilion of the Biennale Architecture in Venice (2021).
In 2023 at the Farnesina in Rome she moderated the opening press conference of the 7th edition of the Italian Design Day.
She was Ambassador of Italian Design for the Italian Design Day at the Embassy of Italy in Bern (CH).
In 2024 she has been nominated co-curator by the European Union for the first exhibition on European design presented in EXPO Osaka, Japan.
MARTINA BARBERIS CASAGRANDE
She graduated in aesthetic philosophy, with a master's degree in Made in Italy, brand management in design, fashion and luxury, deepening also applied arts. Among the first experiences in communication and event production, Karla Otto in London, the fashion brand Aspesi and the Ministry of Culture (Photography Section). She worked four years at the ADI (Industrial Design Association) and its Design Museum, as head of the Italian and then international press office, experience she decided to end to focus on sustainability related to design and architecture. She has finished a second master's degree, coordinated by Stefano Mancuso, related to environment, architecture and design, with a final research on landscape and architecture at the Zegna Foundation.
She collaborates with HoperAperta and various institutions in production, communication and management. Currently, she has been working as executive producer and curator’s assistant to the sustainable design exhibition promoted by the European Union at EXPO Osaka and for an event at La Biennale Architecture in Venice. She is co-curator of an exhibition promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs onagri-food waste materials and art-design items. She is furthering her design and arts & crafts studies, and deepening Indian culture.