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As a child Leonardo da Vinci was used to sitting down on a holm oak and wonder what it was like to fly. His passion led him to invent flying machines able to climb to the sky, to parachute, descending back to the earth without getting hurt. And Leonardo was used to studying the flight of birds and insects, bats and swallows. 

Hello Leo! Good morning child who wanted to learn to fly!

On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s birth, unduetrestella DESIGN WEEK dedicates a special project celebrating the greatest of genius’. Artist, painter, mathematician, scientist, man of multiform talent. 

We like to think of Leonardo as the first designer in history, able to combine creativity and functionality, beauty and practical resolution of problems, the desire to overcome limits and the ability to remain grounded. Even after flying! Leonardo built terrible war machines, yet his models today look like toys. His studies and drawings regarding wings and animals today have the poetry of an illustration for children.

To celebrate Leonardo the designer, and to remember the childish components of his vision, we have collected the products of historical Italian and international brands: the Abitacolo (1971) by Bruno Munari assembled with only 8 screws produced by the Italian REXITE. Pablo Picasso had called Bruno Munari the new contemporary Leonardo. The old genius has designed many horses and we choose the most recent H-Horse (2016) by Nendo for Kartell (I), while the elephant seat, designed by the Eames in 1945 for Vitra (CH) is on display to commemorate his passion for elephants. The masters of design interact with the works of young creatives such as the Haptic Lab site-specific Flying Martha, from New York, for the first time in Italy, a flock of handcrafted flying toy birds inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s study of birds and the exploration of flight, like the cabinet dedicated to the myth of Icarus by the Italian designer Alicucio, the Mona Lisa reinterprered by Poppik (F) as a sticker puzzle that children could easily interact with, the imaginary machines made from the DIY 2D construction elements pack by Foooty (NL),that enables you to create 3D shapes; and the illustrations Duvet Days by Jenna Wiebe from Costa Rica, for supporting survivors of sexual assault and rape: with her graphic abstractions of the human body reminds us of the Leonardo drawing boards.

We have asked them to interpret, and update Leonardo’s lessons and inspiration in their own way.

Hello Leo! Helps us teach children how to fly again! 

The participating brands at Hello Leo! Unduetrestella DESIGN WEEK are:
Alicucio, Anne- Claire Petit, Banwood, Bonheur Intérieur Brut, Carapau Portuguese Products, CasieLiving, Cink, CLiCQUES, Collégien, DollsVilla by Liliane, Dotandcross, Dsgn Kids, Duvet Days, Eguchi Toys, Eperfa, Franck & Fischer, PlanToys, Play&go, Poppik, and Quut for Ama Gioconaturalmente, Foooty, Haptic Lab, Kartell, Koko Cardboards, Lama Palama, Linha Bloom, LOWII, Maké Maké, Mini Home, MOLUK, Nidi, Nini, nati con le ali, Nofred, Nuna, ooh Noo, Paola Sala, Pinch Toys, Puella, Reisenthel, Rexite, Swandoo distributed by Eleven, Tellkiddo, TIPTOE, Tresxics, Virvoltan, Vitra distributed in Italy by Unifor and Molteni&C, Wooden Story and Zanotta.

Like every year, at Unduetrestella DESIGN WEEK there is a special corner dedicated to international magazines about children and lifestyle with three sizes of the pop icon Sacco, the anatomical easy-chair designed by Gatti-Paolini-Teodoro 50 years ago and produced by Zanotta, one of the recognized leaders companies in Italian industrial design since forever, and with LOU stools, stackable, colorful and universal by TIPTOE, contemporary furniture brand from Paris. Thanks to the national and international magazines that have made their latest issues available to our public: Casa Facile (I), Dim Dam Dom (F), Donna Moderna (I), Doolittle Magazine (F), Elle Kids (I), Fathers (PL), Giovani Genitori (I), Grazia Junior (I), Ideat (F), Insieme (I), Io e il mio bambino (I), Kids Magazine (F), Magic Maman (F), Marie Claire Enfants Italia (I), Marie Claire Enfants Francia (F), Milano Moms (I), Milk Magazine (F), Pambianco Design (I), Ser Padres (ES), Style Piccoli (I), Vanity Fair Design e Vanity Fair Junior (I). 

THANKS to Favini for the supply of paper and to the historic company Mera & Longhi that has always followed us over the years with its unmistakable candies flavored with herbs and flowers.

Photos by Denise Bonenti