By Cesare Zucca

The Italian furniture industry produces many collections that are popular with other nations. 10% of all furniture manufactured globally is Italian. Buyers flock to the Milan Furniture Fair (Salone del Mobile) each year to place orders.

Superficially speaking, what we recognize as a “design style” is a set of particular colour harmonies, typefaces, compositional styles…But on a higher level, design styles usually carry with them certain principles of what the goals of design are, and techniques for how to accomplish those goals

Modern interior design reigns as the most popular home style in 32 states, according to a new study from Confused.com, a home comparison site. Modern interior design is characterized by a monochromatic color palette, clean lines, minimalism and natural finishes.

Although always the cradle of high-quality craftsmanship, Italy has been massively influential in the timeline of furniture design–especially throughout the 20th century. Between the 1920s and 1930s, Italian rationalism seamlessly formed a relation with the technical and aesthetic experimentations of the European avant-garde on one side and with the Fascist regime’s need for self-representation on the other. Italian design took a turn during the 1960’s and 1970’s towards radicalism, inspired by Pop Art: soon, terms like “Bel Design” and “Linea Italiana” appeared in vocabularies across the country. These changes were powered by an era of Italian designers, inspired to test out new materials and forms and break the boundaries of four-legged chairs and tables.