What is a Design Gallery?

During my design studies, one of the mantras some teachers emphasized was, “design must be industrialized and minimized as much as possible.” Yet, all around me, I saw impressive works from renowned designers that didn’t follow this rule. And within this context unfolds the story of Secondome Gallery.

I think, for example, of Paul Cocksedge and some of his works, which are super sophisticated but far from proper industrialization. The same can be said for big names like Ron Arad, whose early works were deeply connected with artisanal research rather than an industrialized process.

Years ago, I came across a story told by Enrico Baleri (former CEO and founder of Baleri). He mentioned visiting important design studios, like Ron Arad’s, to see their research and find the next piece for his company. The designer did the research, and later the entrepreneur found the formula to industrialize it and make it competitive in the market.

Industrial design has its meaning as it is: industrial. But the fascination of this kind of research is fundamental to see where a designer can go and what more free research can bring. Without independent research, things risk going flat, and we lose the sense of creativity, reduced to a well-made render.

This research has a home, a place to be, and it is called a Design Gallery.

To really understand the significance of a design gallery, I didn’t want to listen to the design side but the gallerist side. What does it mean to run a proper business activity with the most research-driven design?

I reached out to Claudia Pignatale, a valuable figure in the design community and the force behind Secondome gallery. Based in Rome, she has been a pioneer and talent scout for many Italian and international young (now fully established) designers, a very competent and authoritative voice in the field for the last 17 years.

I wanted to reconstruct her story to understand how she got there. Rome is not Milan, and it may seem risky to open a gallery there, but I know the city and its citizens. It’s a place where only the brave succeed, and they do it in their own way. So I was sure her story was intriguing.

Claudia is an architect and started her journey with a concept store aimed at selling and promoting self-production and collectible design. From the beginning, the focus was on promoting independent design. The first significant collaboration came with Fabrica, and together they created a dedicated collection that was very successful.

At that time, the design center of Fabrica was led by Sam Baron, an international excellence in terms of research and innovation. The result was a collection of glass objects that crossed the line between form and function, going in a very intimate and personal direction.

This introduces us to the idea that a gallery doesn’t necessarily follow universal market needs. Instead, it can be considered a private collection with its own (invisible) rules that give it meaning. In a gallery, we don’t just find objects; we don’t go there to buy utilitarian tools. It’s more about finding a conscious experience.

The gallery is popular among knowledgeable people who expect to find something that can activate critical thinking. They don’t simply judge an object based on its function and aesthetics but also its meaning, given by the story, the process, and the significance.

But where are these galleries headed?

We now live in an era where people are losing interest in physical places, especially for purchasing things. Everyone is going online, and that’s where everything happens now. Galleries cannot ignore this fact. Talking with Claudia, she confirms that staying online is crucial and has been for a decade.

It doesn’t just help reach people from abroad; it’s actually replacing physical stores, even for deep experiences like those in design galleries. The story is developed and curated in other places, and the shop becomes the arrival point to conclude this story and find a way to finally have that design piece with you.

What’s all of this aiming for? I’m not great at making predictions, but given that Secondome is planning some evolution, I believe that in the near future, some galleries will become new brands. These brands will focus on products that are not designed with the logic of mass production but don’t fully cross the border into art either.