2010世博意大利館, 上海

Ambassadors of Italian quality around the world.

Italy is a nation of saints, poets and navigators – or so the saying goes – but it is also a land of great innovators, inventors and designers. Our most enterprising countrymen have always gone beyond national boundaries, perhaps to unknown places, often driven by their strong desire for discovery and knowledge. Just think of the great Venetian explorer, Marco Polo, one of the first Westerners to arrive in China via the Silk Road. Nearly eight hundred years later, the same route has been travelled by another illustrious Venetian representative, and Italy as a whole. No longer an explorer but a company, but still the same spirit of openness to the world as the great Venetian traveller.

The pinnacle and pride of Made in Italy, Vimar was chosen by the General Government Commission for Shanghai World Expo 2010 – the international exhibition held in the Chinese city from May 1 to October 31, 2010 – for all the lighting points that illuminated the pavilion of our country. The layout of the pavilion, designed by the architect Giampaolo Imbrighi, was based on returning the main focus on people and where the concept of liveability plays a predominant role.

And it is this very notion that fits perfectly with Vimar, whose mission reflects the theme of the Expo ""Better City, Better Life"": focusing investments in research and development aimed at technological innovation that provides a continuous improvement to life style.

For more than 65 years – the anniversary of the founding of the company was on 1 May, the same day as the inauguration of the Expo – Vimar has in fact been a major player in the evolution of housing styles. A process that has seen its electrical systems grow from a simple lighting points to home automation systems able to manage our immediate environments and render technology synonymous with comfort. Vimar was therefore able to find an affinity between Shanghai 2010 and its products, and did not want to miss this important opportunity to promote Made in Italy, especially in a country like China which is increasingly appreciating the unique capacity of ​​Italian style to blend aesthetics and reliable technology.

Not surprisingly, the Eikon Next home series was chosen for the expo, with an undisputed level of quality, design and innovation that distinguishes this range of products developed and manufactured entirely in Italy. The aesthetic choice of the plaques – laser engraved with the logo of the Italian Pavilion – fell on the Classic model, which was provided in two different versions: one in the matt silver coloured metal and the other in crystal, coloured silver mirror.

Eikon offers a complete system of solutions with over 200 different functions to choose from. A home series of exclusive Italian design – strong and elegant – able to fit harmoniously into different interior styles. With 5 different high quality materials (natural stone, solid wood, metal, glass and stainless steel), three colour varieties for the buttons and controls and a kaleidoscope of colours for the plaques, Eikon is the culmination of continuous research and innovation, allowing total freedom of choice for anyone who installs it. These are the details that render the Eikon series the symbol of a new way of living. An ""all Italian"" style intended for people and made to be used; designed to help live life in a better way and manufactured to satisfy our daily needs. A lighting point in which technology and design come together: symbolising a new way of living. An all Italian way.