The new Meridiani flagship store hosts ‘Rotante Massimo, III’ by Arnaldo Pomodoro

The dialogue between design and artistic expression has always been alive in the collective imagination of many. The ambitious Italian Design Brands (IDB) S.p.A launched ‘IDB FOR ARTS’ to establish a profound link between art and design. The harmonious synergy between creativity, tangible projects, and craftsmanship, aims to allow cultural experiences of the highest level within the showrooms of the group's brands. IDB is an Italian industrial group involved in high-quality design, which Italian brand Meridiani has belonged to, since 2016. IDB has started to promote initiatives for the valorisation of national and international cultural and artistic heritage.

Starting July, the Meridiani flagship store recently inaugurated in Via Manzoni, Milan, Italy, has been chosen as the first stop of this journey to host the prestigious work of sculptural art (dated 1968) titled 'Rotante Massimo, III,' a sphere with a diameter of 80 cm created by Arnaldo Pomodoro. The world-renowned Italian artist and sculptor is famous for his spheres made of bronze—a material he prefers for his artworks. Giving life to creations that break and open up in front of the viewer, Pomodoro generates a disrupting yet intimate contrast between smoothness and complexity.

"With the launch of this project, we want to confirm our commitment to promoting initiatives that enhance cultural and artistic heritage. The close link between the world of art and design has driven us to develop ideas with a long-term perspective. I am proud that the first piece selected is by a significant Italian artist like Arnaldo Pomodoro, with whom we share a passion for Milan, the capital of design, and the search for shapes and geometries with a desire to experiment with materials to give life to objects of great significance," shares Andrea Sasso, chairman and CEO of IDB.

The 'IDB FOR ARTS' project therefore becomes an opportunity for a consolidation and recognition of this intimate relationship with the artistic element. The choice of the Meridiani store as the first exhibition venue also intends to be a statement holding feelings for the city of Milan.

Although the journey does not end here, the second stop will be the new Meridiani mono-brand store which will soon be inaugurated in New York, USA. On the occasion of its opening (scheduled for the end of October this year), the 'Rotante Massimo, III' by Pomodoro will be placed in the new store in New York, thus confirming Meridiani's link with art, deeply interwoven with the brand's DNA—which has always proposed a lifestyle in which artistic expressions are essential to the project of living spaces.