From the experience of Daniele Lorenzon and Compasso, an 800-square-meter Milanese showroom that has explored the best of 20th-century design for over 20 years, the Gilda&Co gallery will open in the historic Via Plinio in 2024. This new space is poised to confirm and foresee trends among established and emerging international designers.
Gilda&Co aims to tell stories, visions, and new perspectives on international design through temporary exhibitions, drawing from the rich archive of Compasso, which includes not only design objects but also artworks, documents, and photographs. The gallery engages guest curators, critics, designers, artists, and creatives from around the world.
The name pays dual homage: “Gilda” references the women’s clothing store that occupied the Via Plinio space for many years, lending it a strong evocative aura, while “&Co” is an abbreviation of Compasso.
The gallery is set in a quaint yet valuable environment, featuring a window that faces the street. The layout, designed by Alessandro Pedretti, is dynamic, surprising, and continuously evolving. It is modular and versatile, suitable for endless reconfigurations to host various types of events and exhibitions.
During the Milano Design Week 2025, Gilda&Co will host its inaugural exhibition dedicated to Aldo Ballo, a talented Italian photographer renowned for his significant contributions to design and advertising photography. This underappreciated figure deserves recognition beyond the design sector.
Titled COSE IN BALLO: Images and Objects from the 1950s to the 1970s, the show is curated by guest curator Manolo De Giorgi and features around eighty black-and-white images paired with the corresponding design objects depicted in the photographs. The exhibition aims to reestablish Aldo Ballo’s legacy following his retrospective at the Vitra Museum in 2011 and a more recent display at the Castello Sforzesco in 2024, which houses his archive since 2022.
This exhibition seeks to transcend the specialization of design to emphasize Ballo’s ability to capture the essence of industrial objects from the 20th century through his images. Ballo himself stated, “I do not take art photos, ‘nail photos’; this is industrial photography, going inside the object: interpreting the object, giving it back its soul.”
Ballo’s work is characterized by essentiality, visual clarity, anthropomorphic detail, often mysterious three-quarter views, and settings that never stray into decor. His approach transforms industrial objects into new actors in the material culture that has surrounded us for decades.
Aldo Ballo (1928-1994) was born in Sciacca and moved to Milan to study architecture. There, he met Marirosa Toscani, the daughter of Fedele Toscani, a Corriere della Sera journalist and the owner of the Rotofoto agency. Abandoning their studies, the couple dedicated themselves to photography and opened the Ballo+Ballo studio in 1953, specializing in industrial design photography. They became a reference point for prominent designers such as Aulenti, Boeri, Vigo, Sottsass, Castiglioni, Rossi, Bellini, and Starck, as well as companies like Artemide and FLOS, and magazines like Abitare and Casa Vogue.
Ballo’s photographs, noted for their refined use of light and composition, documented the evolution of Italian design in the 20th century. His work has been published in specialized magazines and catalogs, shaping the visual aesthetics of the sector. Today, his legacy continues to inspire photographers and designers worldwide.
Photo credits: The photographs are the property of Gilda&Co.