Obsession, often seen as a limitation, becomes here the engine of a continuous exploration, a tension that drives design towards the unknown. The result is not just a collection of works, but a reflection on the very nature of the creative process.
From February 12 to March 23, 2025, the ADI Design Museum in Milan hosts Ossessivo-Inventivo, an exhibition that explores the boundary between obsession and creativity in contemporary design. Curated by the studio JoeVelluto (Andrea Maragno and Sonia Tasca), the exhibition gathers the work of 12 international designers, each presenting a manifesto object that embodies a personal creative exploration.
The objects on display represent the tangible sign of a personal obsession, transformed into a design research. Themes such as perception, connection, repetition, color, and softness emerge through the metal, chosen for its ability to shape abstract concepts. The realization of the works was made possible thanks to the collaboration with Diemmebi, a company specialized in the production of metal structures for furnishings.
To deepen the reflection on creativity, the contributions of Alioscia Bisceglia, musician and frontman of Casino Royale, and psychiatrist Mauro Cibin, who analyzes the role of obsession as a generative force of innovation, are also included.
One of the most innovative aspects of the exhibition is the involvement of the public. Thanks to the collaboration with the software house Uqido, visitors will be able to actively participate in the creative process by sharing their obsessions, which will be processed by an artificial intelligence and transformed into images.
An experiment that merges human sensitivity with the potential of digital technology.
The president of ADI, Luciano Galimberti, emphasizes how each designer has accompanied their object with a brief note on the creative process: "Small but significant personal torments, which find breath and form in unpredictable and poetic objects."
Obsessive-Inventive is a journey into the obsessions that drive creativity. As Oliviero Toscani stated: "Insecurity is the path of creativity." Not knowing becomes a push to discover new territories and reinvent the already known. The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore design from a new perspective, where obsession is not a limit, but a spark of invention.
