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RIYADH: The Italian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Carlo Baldocci, on Monday said there is room to create a big space for collaborations between Italy and Saudi Arabia in the design sector.

Speaking to Arab News at the opening session of Italian Design Day, the ambassador said: “Today we are celebrating the Italian Design Day, which is a very important moment of aggregation to explain and to discuss possible collaborations between Italy and Saudi Arabia in this sector.

“We are making a lot of new ideas on paper. We feel that there is room to create a big space, which might be a sort of a museum for Italian design in Riyadh.

“But it’s something that we are working on. It has not yet been defined, we want to be very successful on something which we are sure will be a strong pillar of the collaboration, in which we will reinforce our partnership capacity in all aspects, sharing knowledge, sharing capacities, and experiencing different sensibilities. We really want to work on this together with our Saudi friends,” Baldocci said.

On transformation in Saudi Arabia in line with Vision 2030 and the Italian design, Baldocci said: “Vision 2030 is a spectacular and very successful approach and vision for the future of this country and of the region. And we feel that there is incredible possibility for the Italians to be present in all the aspects of this vision, cooperating at the economic level, cultural level, partnering in all the different aspects we can do together, and of course there is space for the Italian design in the vision, why not.”

The eighth edition of Italian Design Day kicked off in Riyadh with a two-day program of workshops by the Lombardini22 studio, the chosen representative for 2024 for the day in Saudi Arabia.

Lombardini22 is a leading group in the Italian architecture and engineering sector, specializng in the office, retail, urban, living, hospitality, education, data centre and fair sectors.

A group of professionals, from architects to engineers, designers and communication specialists, are attending the workshops taking place until Tuesday at Casa Italia in the Localizer Mall, where experts from Lombardini22 will share their experience in the field of urban regeneration, sustainability, innovation, hospitality and lifestyle and human centered architecture.

The Italian Design Day is an initiative created by Italy’s ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation in collaboration with the ministry of culture and, as last year, includes the participation of the Association for Industrial Design, the Compasso d’Oro Foundation, the ITA Agency, the Salone del Mobile, the Triennale di Milano and Confindustria, with the aim of involving and recognizing key figures from the public and private sectors who embody the excellence of Italian design and the business world.    

In seven years (from 2017 to 2023), the Design Day generated about 1,370 events around the world. At these events, more than 580 professionals, including designers, architects, entrepreneurs and academics focused on innovation, industry and high-quality Italian craftsmanship.

The event this year proposed a theme: “Manufacturing value — inclusiveness, innovation and sustainability.”

The event is an opportunity to promote the participation of international experts in the sector in the Salone del Mobile in Milan, one of the most important events worldwide for the furniture and design sector, scheduled from April 8 to 13, 2025.