THE GRAND TOUR PROJECT

Introduzione

“Pick out of every country what’s best in it.”
— Richard Lassels, TheVoyage of Italy, or a Compleat Journey through Italy (1670)

MADE Program is now working on building a broad and diversified arts education platform which, based in Siracusa, will incorporate a network of local training centers throughout Italy. The components of the network are institutions engaged in the promotion and transmission of skills and abilities from the world of art, design, and craft, which, over the centuries – and in some cases even millennia – have contributed to the formation of the social, economic, and cultural panorama of local and regional areas and, subsequently, all of Italy.

The network will offer a unique opportunity for students, especially those coming from abroad, to visit – as part of an integrated, organic program organized in concert with their home schools – various local centers, acquire the skills and abilities historically rooted in those localities, and enter into contact with cultures that are the products of unique and unrepeatable local histories.

Additional centers will be joining the Grand Tour Project, which is intended as an open and living network, and they will be featured in upcoming announcements.

Isn’t this the best kind of education offered by a journey such as the Grand Tour?

MURANO–VENEZIA / GLASSMAKING

The Abate Zanetti School of Glass of Murano is the heir to a prestigious Glass institution, the Drawing School for Glass Makers, founded in 1862 by the abbot Vincenzo Zanetti. The School of Glass remains today more than ever the meeting place of past and future in the art of glass whose objective is to bring together the multiple facets of the contemporary glass panorama, encompassing design, culture, and art. It combines research and experimentation with the stewardship of the centuries old glass-working tradition of the Island of Murano.

The School is located in Murano, in an early 20th century industrial archaeology building, transformed for its current purposes thanks to an innovative operation of architectural restoration. The building is endowed with ample spaces devoted to laboratories, classrooms, a conference room, a library with Wi-Fi workstations, and a coffee bar and it has direct docking on the lagoon. The structure is equipped for all the typical Murano glass techniques: furnace, lampworking, glass fusing and grinding. There is a large outdoor garden with a seating capacity of 200.

MASSA LOMBARDA–RAVENNA / 3D PRINTING

WASP - World’s Advanced Saving Project, located in Massa Lombarda (Province of Ravenna) grew out of the encounter in 2012 between Massimo Moretti, the owner of CSP srl (Centro Sviluppo Progetti), several experienced artisans, and a group of young recent university graduates.

Taking their inspiration from the potter wasp, which builds its nest from material salvaged from the surrounding environment, WASP was born with the objective of developing large scale 3D printers for building houses from natural materials and recyclable materials available, at no or low cost, in local environments. The goal is to provide for humans’ basic needs: food, housing, health, and energy, through digital craft, art and culture. With this in mind, WASP reinvests its sales profits to finance and expand its own research.

In 2017, the company – which has created the world’s largest 3D printer (40 feet tall) – opened a multi-material 3D printing service devoted to large-scale projects. In 2018, in order to promote the culture of self-production on a global scale, the company started a network of WASP Hubs: operational units that create innovation by sharing discoveries, designs, processes, materials, and work opportunities. Currently, in addition to its 4 Italian hubs, there are WASP hubs in Barcelona, Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Umeå, Odense, Jersey City (NJ) and Beirut.