PUBLIC LECTURE - ITALIAN RADICAL DESIGN - STUDIO65 - 50 Years of Future

On the occasion of Italian Design Day 2026

To celebrate Italian Design in the World, the Italian Cultural Institute in Sydney, the Consulate General of Italy in Sydney, the Consulate of Italy in Brisbane, the University of NSW, with the support of ICE Sydney and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Australia, are organizing a public lecture by architects Franco Audrito and Athena Sampaniotou, founders of Studio65, an experimental and vanguard group that revolutionized design in Italy from the 1960s and 1970s.

The lecture, in English, will be held on the 24th February at the University of NSW (Anita B. Lawrence Centre, West Wing, UNSW, School of Built Environment, Gallery Space, Ground Floor, University Mall, UNSW, Kensington NSW 2033) and will be preceded by a convivial networking event.

Admission is free, but reservations are required on our Eventbrite profile.

• Tuesday, 24 February 2026
• 5:00 PM Reception
• 6:00 PM Public lecture moderated by Professor Luciano Cardellicchio (UNSW), followed by a Q&A session
• Where: UNSW, Anita B. Lawrence Centre, West Wing, School of Built Environment, Gallery Space, Ground Floor, University Mall, UNSW, Kensington NSW 2033

Bio

Studio65 was founded in Torino by Franco Audrito in 1965. An experimental vanguard group which, through its ironic and irreverent design, participated actively in the revolution of cultural and architectural languages during a season (’60 –’70) of liberation in creativity and imagination, interpreting these times of change with objects (Bocca sofa, Capitello, Mela) and architectures which are still nowadays a fresh testimonial of this revolution.

Towards the end of the ‘70s, Franco Audrito and Studio65 ventured abroad, moving in and around new architectural languages throughout the world with the same freedom, imagination and curiosity for knowledge, operating in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia, where they still currently work.