Ore streams: The Shape of Things to Come

Curator: Bartolomeo Pietromarchi
Artists: FormaFantasma

This exhibition by designer duo Formafantasma, curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, engages deeply with Carlo Scarpa’s architectural masterpiece and the legacy of Olivetti—a company synonymous with innovation, design excellence, and social responsibility.

Inspired by their 2017 project Ore Streams, which explored electronic waste recycling, the exhibition presents an expanded iteration through design objects, films, and 3D animations. These works examine the tech industry’s environmental impact, framing design as a catalyst for change.

Taking its title from H.G. Wells’ sci-fi novel, The Shape of Things to Come envisions a future where sustainability, durability, and resource management are prioritised. It challenges the notion of the electronics industry as an immaterial ‘cloud’, instead revealing its tangible—and often damaging—supply chain.

A central theme is planned obsolescence, the deliberate shortening of product lifespans to drive consumption.
This phenomenon, now dominant in the electronics sector, contrasts sharply with Olivetti’s design philosophy, which has always promoted quality, durability, and the cultural value of objects. The Olivetti Store thus becomes an ideal place to reflect on this dichotomy, embodying an alternative vision in which design is conceived to withstand the test of time.