In mid-September I had the good fortune of traveling to Bergamo, one of my favorite cities in Italy. I was invited by the Italian furniture maker, Pedrali, to attend a special event celebrating its 10th year of sponsoring “I Maestri del Paesaggio” [The Masters of the Landscape] festival.
Under the direction of the non-profit association Arketipos, and with the significant sponsorship of Pedrali, the festival’s topics are designed to highlight the contributions landscape architecture can make to minimizing the negative effects of the planet’s current and most urgent problems: pandemics, wars, and environmental emergencies. The festival also hopes to contribute to a culture based on the concept of “landscape design” as a fundamental and positive interaction between humans and nature.
The festival ran from September 6th through the 22nd with daily presentations, seminars and master classes led by an international selection of landscape architects and experts in fields from botany to agronomy to plant sociology.
Catherine Mosbach, one of the world’s most sought-after landscape architects and founder of the Paris-based design studio Mosbach Paysagistes, designed a highlight of this year’s festival, the “Green Square” project in Bergamo’s storied Piazza Vecchia. It may be a myth, but it is said the geometry of the square is so perfect that when Le Corbusier visited Bergamo he said, “you can’t move a single stone, it would be a crime”
The Green Square invites visitors to explore the Mosbach landscaped Piazza Vecchia, where plants, Café tables and chairs, light and sound mingle to soften and transform an otherwise stone cold, albeit beautiful and historic piazza.
For me, the journey all started at NeoCon this year when I met Monica Pedrali at the company’s new showroom in THE MART. I asked her a question about a guest chair, Lamorisse, not knowing who she was. But as the conversation developed, I found out she knew a lot about the chair, but also a whole lot about the company – and why not, she is the Co-CEO with her brother Giuseppe Pedrali, the second-generation leaders of the family-owned business.
Founded in 1963 by Mario Pedrali, the eponymous company has grown to be one of the most important furniture manufacturers in Italy and certainly the leader the hospitality vertical market, but also very active in the workplace and residential verticals. Pedrali is headquartered in Mornico al Serio, one of many small towns surrounding Bergamo.
Today, under the leadership of Monica and Giuseppe, the company’s philosophy is “100% Made in Italy” leading to the employment of approximately 350 people at its plants in Mornico al Serio (Bergamo) and its wood division in Manzano (Udine).
From conversations I had with Monica it is clear to me that sponsoring events like the Landscape Festival is part of a deeply held love of Bergamo and a conviction that the company has an obligation to support its local community.
The specific Pedrali event I was invited to attend was a two-day affair. To kick things off, on the first evening there was an outdoor dinner in the “Green Square” for the company’s two hundred or so guests. Preceding the dinner we were divided into small groups, based on language, and treated to a guided tour of “Città Alta” [high city], the oldest, most historic part of Bergamo with buildings and ramparts dating back to the 1100’s.
As the evening progressed and all the tour groups had returned to the Piazza Vecchia, there was plenty of time to mix, mingle and enjoy the beautifully landscaped green Square. Pedrali’s outdoor products, Philia chairs and armchairs and Elliot tables had been artfully woven into the design, so there were plenty of places to sit and chat if that was your thing.
Day 2 of the Pedrali event started with a “Design Talk” featuring an interview with Patrick Jouin, a French designer of international standing and founder of the Parisian architecture and design firm, Jouin Manku.
Jouin is an industrial designer by training and his partner, Sanjit Manku is an architect. Together they have assembled a multi-disciplinary team of fifty architects, interior designers, and industrial designers. Among his many commissions, from trains to Parisian street-restrooms, Jouin has designed several products for Pedrali.
Luca Molinari, architect, critic, curator, professor of Theory and Architectural Design and editorial director of Platform Architecture and Design magazine, skillfully directed the conversation with Jouin – to discuss his career, achievements, and Jouin Manku’s many noteworthy projects for a veritable who’s who of prestigious clients.
The Design Talk was held under the canopy of the Pedrali Pavillion, a monumental mass timber venue conceived for just this kind of event. In 2023 to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary, Pedrali commissioned Michele De Lucchi’s firm, AMDL Circle to design a building to house various 60th anniversary events and exhibitions as well as any the company might organize in the future. Here’s a time lapse video of its construction.
The interview was conducted in English but following the talk the multi-lingual guests were once again divided into groups based on language for a tour of Perdrali’s production facilities and its one-of-a-kind automated warehouse.
I am always struck by the degree to which the Italian manufacturers I have visited seem to appreciate the way elevated architecture and design contribute to their brand identity. The headquarters, production facility and warehouse of Pedrali are fine examples.
The automated warehouse is a marvel. It houses 16,880 pallet locations in racks rising to 95 feet high. The automated system can handle 150 pallets per hour and robotic pallet handlers move products through the warehouse on 10 self-steering shuttles that travel along on a rail system at 2 miles per hour. Once a pallet is delivered to its designated location, one of 5 robotic fork-lifts puts it in its programmed location in one of the 10 pallet levels. There is a definite sci-fi vibe seeing the material handlers quietly buzzing around, hauling pallets stacked with boxes of products ready for shipment to customers – and nary a human in sight.
After our tour we were treated to a wonderful lunch created for the occasion by a celebrated chef, Stefano Cerveni. By this time, the guests had made new friends, and the lunch served as a farewell social function. The Pedrali folks had to forcefully herd us to our waiting coaches for transport to planes and trains.
It was a great and memorable time, thanks to the exceptional courtesy of our Pedrali hosts. My personal thanks go out to Monica and Giuseppe Pedrali, of course, and to Carlotta Satta and Alessandro Castelli, who went out of their way to make my trip truly memorable.
