The Museum for Applied Art in the Furniture sector

The Aldo Morelato Foundation has founded at its seat, Villa Dionisi in Cerea, an interesting Museum for Applied Art In Modern Furniture (MAAM) under the art direction of the architect Ugo La Pietra and curated by the architect Sophia Los.
Villa Dionisi is presented to the public as an "museum within a museum" in which precious furniture pieces of modern design are exhibited in the rooms of the Villa thus becoming small pieces of art contained in the frame of a big artwork; the elegant Venetian Villa of the 18th century.

A visit to the museum of Villa Dionis allows visitors to dive into this double situation. It offers the occasion to follow a historical route at the villa, richly decorated with frescoes which evoke glories of the past but also to follow a contemporary path which consist in a collection of high quality design furniture which belongs to the Aldo Morelato Foundation: the exhibited pieces are experimental pieces and therefore unique examples of modern design in the furniture sector. The produced prototypes testify over 20 years of research (started in 1982) and technical experimentation regarding the use of materials and which stylistically and technically are related to the a more than a century-old production tradition in the area, as well as to the historical furniture of the twentieth century with re-editions and allusions to the Art Decò, the Rationalism and Liberty style.

The pieces are exhibited together with the drawings of the projects, some of them donated by famous furniture designers such as: Clognese, Castellini, Cordero, De Lucchi, De Muro, Garofano, La Pietra, Lo Porto, Mancini, Mollino, Pozzallo, Raggi, Riva, Rizzato, Salerno, Salvatori, Ulrich, Venosta and many others. The pieces have been principally divided into 5 study categories: Editions, Re-editions, Quotations, Allusions and the “Più Piccoli”. The collection is each year enriched with new pieces designed by the winners of the International Competition of Applied Art in the furniture field yearly organized by the Foundation. All exhibited pieces are produced and sold by the Morelato company.