How can design and architecture contribute to a better life? This was the starting question of 'Inequalities', an event organised in Madrid on the occasion of Italian Design Day 2025 featuring Italian architect Mario Cucinella. The initiative, promoted by the Italian Embassy in Spain, was held in the library of the Ateneo de Madrid, a private cultural institution with almost 200 years of history.
During the meeting, Cucinella - who, among other things, recently designed the Italian pavilion at the next Universal Expo in Osaka, 'The Ideal City' - talked with Pilar Marcos, director of the Spanish magazine 'Diseño Interior'. It was a useful opportunity to retrace salient passages of his trajectory through examples of his projects: from the new hospital in Cremona to a children's centre in Gaza, several cases were brought to the public's attention to focus on his priorities. "Empathy and creativity are the two words that together truly represent the way to approach architecture, the former balances the latter," said Cucinella at one point during his exhibition. At another point, the theme addressed was the relationship between technology and architecture. "As much as we use a lot of technology, there is still a need for a lot of humanity, because if not, we do nothing with technology," he argued.
The meeting was introduced by the Italian ambassador to Spain, Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi. "Mario Cucinella is a true star of architecture worldwide," he said, emphasising his particular sensitivity towards the "responsibility of architects to ensure that everyone, and not just a privileged few, can have the right to a better future in very complicated times". He also recalled that Italian Design Day is an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and aims to "enhance Italian 'know-how'" in a "leading sector of 'made in Italy'".
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