Olivetti: A Study of the Corporate Management of Design by Sibylle Kicherer

Abstract

400 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE new world of a flexible and specialized communications services industry. This is a study of technology and culture, but one in which tech­ nology undoubtedly has the upper hand. According to the editor of this volume (Pool died in 1984), the author described himselfas a “soft technological determinist.” This is a reasonable description. For while there is some sensitivity in Technologies without Boundaries to the influ­ ence of politics and economics on the development of telecommuni­ cations networks, in the end it is the inherent (and benign) force of technological change that is seen as leading to cultural transformation. While it is tempting to dismiss this book’s arguments as overdeter­ mined by its neoliberalism, its scope and ambition are undoubtedly impressive. The impact of telecommunications on freedom of speech, on the environment, and on relations between developed and devel­ oping countries are all examined with equal vigor. The relation between telecommunications and global transformations in the spatial organization of social activity is explored at length. In an era when social science research has often retreated into the safety of policy analysis or the individual case study, Technologies without Boundaries has, at the very least, indicated a gap in the market. Andrew Barry Dr. Barry is lecturer in sociology at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. His current research is on the sociology of telecommunications in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Olivetti: A Study ofthe Corporate Management ofDesign. By Sibylle Kicherer. New York: Rizzoli, 1990. Pp. 163; illustrations, notes, bibliography. $35.00. This book recounts in careful detail the evolution of Olivetti as one of Italy’s most respected companies, with a unique international identity between technology and culture. Sibylle Kicherer sympathet­ ically relates management design philosophy to corporate structures, supported by well-illustrated design case studies. The massive tech­ nological shift of manufactures in this century from the mechanical to the electronic sciences provides an undercurrent to the cultural and social philosophies of management that weigh heavily on design activities as designers strive to create products whose character encompasses and reflects technological advances. A sympathetic review of the career of Camillo Olivetti, who founded the company in 1908, follows his education as an electrical engineer in Italy and his subsequent experience in education and exposure to new ideas in mechanization and automation and educa­ tion in the United States. Although his son, Adriano, also studied engineering and made his own pilgrimage to America in 1924, his TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 401 particular focus was to be on ethical-philosophical values, as well as an empathy for the company’s cultural identity and devotion to designrelated activities that would bring distinction to the company in the future. The author suggests that Adriano’s devotion to the social and cultural interplay among management, employees, clients, and others may have been a noble attempt to use the arts and culture to offset the harsh reality of fascism in his times. At the heart of Olivetti’s design success was Adriano’s policy of contracting with independent designers of substantial reputation to serve as directors of in-house design activities in order to keep Olivetti abreast of design movements. This in turn attracted culturally aware people of high caliber to serve as staff members devoted to the philosophy and design goals of the company. The basic design policy of Olivetti had been set so that, even after Adriano’s death and the takeover of management of the company by a syndicate that up­ graded its research and put its production and marketing programs back on track, corporate design policies and practices continued to be upheld under Adriano’s son, Roberto, thus helping Olivetti maintain its design position and reputation with the public. The two main product design studios established by Adriano were placed under the corporate identity umbrella as having obligations that went beyond product development. One was and is still directed by Ettore Sottsass, who is charged with the design of Olivetti Network Systems and Olivetti Synthesis and office furniture programs. The second, under Mario Bellini, is responsible for the independent product company, Olivetti Office, that covers the broad range of consumer-oriented office...