On 2 March 2025, the Molteni Museum unveils Museum 2D, an exhibition marking its 10th anniversary and celebrating the long-standing intersection of design and communication at the Molteni Group. Curated by Ron Gilad, this exhibition is part of Milano MuseoCity 2025 and explores the visual legacy of Molteni&C, UniFor, Dada, and Citterio through a compelling collection of graphic materials. Museum 2D offers an in-depth look at how the company’s creative collaborations have shaped its identity and global presence over the decades.
The exhibition showcases a wide selection of historical photographs, advertisements, catalogues, and brochures that trace the evolution of the Group’s graphic design and communication.
Museum 2D delves into the creative process behind these iconic contents, offering a rare glimpse into design sketches, catalogue pages, and advertising layouts.
A special section highlights the evolution of the Molteni Group’s brand identity, including the famous kite from the 1978 Salone del Mobile, now the symbol of the exhibition connecting the Molteni Museum in Giussano with the UniFor space in Milano through an installation by Ron Gilad for Milano MuseoCity week.
Museum 2D offers a glimpse into Citterio brand identity evolution: originally founded as Industria del Mobile Fratelli Citterio, from the very beginning, Citterio set itself apart with a straightforward, effective, and no-frills approach to communication.
In the 1970s Unimark International, with Franco Mirenzi as the artistic and graphic director, took over the brand’s visual identity. As Citterio increasingly specialized in partition systems, the evolution was reflected in its communication style: slogans gave way to a more rational and technical language.
Since 2020, Studio Klass has led the brand’s artistic direction, ushering in a bold transformation that redefined Citterio’s identity and projected a fresh, forward-looking vision. The company’s graphic design, overseen by Nicola-Matteo Munari, introduced a redesigned logo and coordinated image, striking a refined balance between history and the present day with a style rooted in clarity, simplicity, and elegance.
The exhibition also retraces the evolution of logos, from Pierluigi Cerri’s design for UniFor, to Unimark International’s work for Citterio and the Molteni Group’s visual identity system developed by Nicola-Matteo Munari.
The layout, conceived by Ron Gilad, includes Wood Wall partition system from Citterio’s collection and integrates iconic UniFor products, such as Naòs tables (designed by Pierluigi Cerri), customised to display archival material, Mix chairs (designed by Afra and Tobia Scarpa) and the CF bookshelf for the library section of the Museum. The RP partition system (by Renzo Piano) defines the exhibition space and serves as a backdrop for the screening of archival advertising videos.
A key feature of the exhibition is the Molteni Theatre, a multimedia hub that has been a vital part of the Museum since its opening. Designed by Patricia Urquiola in 2006, the space, recently renovated by Ron Gilad houses a rich archive of films, documentaries, and videos, showcasing the work of leading designers and architects. The theatre also includes a selection of historic pieces from the Molteni&C and UniFor collections, offering visitors an opportunity to explore the company’s design history from both a contemporary and retrospective perspective.
As part of Milano MuseoCity 2025, Museum 2D is an immersive celebration of the power of design and communication, offering a unique insight into the Molteni Group’s enduring legacy of quality and innovation.