The history of Italian design is extremely relevant to the international design culture. At the end of the 19th century, the work of a group of maestros sought to interpret the changes in the epochs, thanks to a project that responded to the demands of a technological and manufacturing nature, and those of a new emerging class of consumers who desired objects that were not mere expressions of a function or of a productive necessity, but above all that were the expression of a new idea of beauty, of a new aesthetic that also brought out the actual value of objects. The history of these objects intersects with the stories of men, young architects fascinated by the universe of objects, by new materials, in short, by new horizons of design; there are also stories of enlightened, educated businessmen, who were aware of the importance of design as a factor of differentiation and legitimation of objects. The objects displayed tell stories of technological inventions, production processes, socio-cultural changes, economic and political factors that intertwine in a single movement, in a single stream of a history that produced and continues to produce icons, silent presences that trace and accompany the life of several generations. The objects selected tell these stories in search of the reasons and conditions that today produce a new way of designing, producing, distributing and consuming.