Casa IED officially opened yesterday in New York – the first in a series of spaces created by the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) to promote cultural exchange and foster synergies between designers and local communities, in a city that perfectly embodies global interconnection.
Casa IED is a place for coexistence, collaboration, and creativity – a hub for a community united by the shared culture of design. IED chose to launch the Casa IED initiative in New York in partnership with Salotto (salotto.nyc), a creative hub founded by Italian professionals living in Brooklyn and based in the loft at 84 Withers Street.
The two entities share a deep commitment to design and community values, as well as a common origin story: Salotto was founded by a group of designers, including IED alumni Gabriel Zangari (Design Executive) and Emiliano Ponzi (Illustrator and Visual Artist).
The Istituto Europeo di Design – a Benefit Corporation owned by the non-profit Francesco Morelli Foundation, which promotes design as a tool for social progress – is introducing with Casa IED a new model of “giving back” knowledge to the community. Through a public program featuring talks, panels, lectures, and workshops open to everyone, Casa IED becomes a platform for dialogue, exchange, and ultimately, social transformation.
“IED is a network of schools built on a diversity of voices and strong connections with local communities. It’s a rich ecosystem made up of campuses, Alumni Chapters in major cities, and local networks. Casa IED adds a new layer to this system – a place to connect with local territories, enrich the community, share knowledge, and maintain a living connection with collective intelligence. Casa IED allows us to nurture this ongoing exchange, to keep learning from new voices and therefore new forms of intelligence,” said Riccardo Balbo, Academic Director of the IED Group.
The Salotto hub brings together fourteen Italian designers based in New York, representing diverse creative disciplines. It’s a collective where design, graphics, video, film, illustration, and digital art converge, generating innovation. Today, Salotto is not just a co-working space from which ideas and tangible projects emerge, but also a center for research and cultural engagement, hosting unconventional events that spark dialogue and collaboration.
It was created to connect ideas and build relationships – a space where New York City meets the new generation of Italian professionals in art and design. Gabriel Zangari, a 2004 IED Milan graduate in Industrial Design, is also the leader of IED’s first Alumni Chapter, the local network of former students living in New York. From there, he shares news, events, and his expertise in the field of systemic design.
On Thursday, November 6, Casa IED’s public program will kick off with a talk on the theme of “collective intelligence,” featuring Riccardo Balbo and Nicolas Heller – a filmmaker and documentarian known to over 3 million followers as @newyorknico for his authentic storytelling and ability to capture the city’s spirit through a mosaic of voices. Heller has directed campaigns for some of the world’s most recognized brands, blending cinematic aesthetics with storytelling and a natural flair for discovering unconventional characters. His latest documentary, 26.2, recently premiered, celebrating New York City’s marathon runners.
IED is an international network with 11 campuses across 3 countries – in Italy (Milan, Cagliari, Florence, Rome, Turin, and the Aldo Galli Academy of Fine Arts in Como); in Spain (Barcelona, Bilbao, and Madrid); and in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo).
IED is an inclusive, transdisciplinary school that uses design as a universal language for change. Its community includes over 10,000 students each year representing more than 100 nationalities, a faculty of 3,000 instructors, and a global network of 100,000 alumni.
