Paola Antonelli: if you look at the world through design, you can never be bored

Parola Progetto

In this inaugural special live episode of Parola Progetto, recorded at Salotto in Brooklyn and presented in English, we are honored to host Paola Antonelli.
As the Senior Curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the museum’s Director of Research and Development, Antonelli brings a wealth of experience and insight.
During our conversation, we delve into her distinguished career at MoMA, discussing the dynamics of success and rejection, the evolving role of curating, and how museums function as research and development hubs for society. Antonelli offers her perspectives on technology, artificial intelligence, and the future of design, highlighting the critical importance of thoughtful analysis and cultural awareness in these fields.
The links of this episode:
- Salotto, a hub for cultural research and production run by NYC-based Italian creative professionals https://salotto.nyc
- Design Emergency, curated by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli https://www.instagram.com/design.emergency
- MoMA R&D Salons http://momarnd.moma.org/salons
- “Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival”, curated by Paola Antonelli at La Triennale di Milano in 2019 https://triennale.org/en/events/broken-nature
- “Planet City” by Liam Young https://liamyoung.org/projects/planet-city
- “Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life” by Edward O. Wilson https://eowilsonfoundation.org/eowbf-archive/half-earth-our-planets-fight-for-life
- “Neuromancer” by William Gibson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer
- “Unsupervised” by Refik Anadol https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5535
- “Remembering a New York Treasure, Jason Polan, 1982–2020” by Paola Antonelli https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/229
- “Pirouette. Experiments and Turning Points in Design” curated by Paola Antonelli at MoMA in 2025
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5756
- “ITEMS. Is Fashion Modern?”, curated by Paola Antonelli at MoMA in 2018
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1638
-"The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor_of_All_Maladies
- “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky https://www.markkurlansky.com/books/salt-a-world-history/
- “Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World” by Mark Kurlansky https://www.markkurlansky.com/books/cod-a-biography-of-the-fish-that-changed-the-world/