Abstract

The real museum of Italian design is a sort of «extended museum» composed of sites, both public and private, among which the company museums and archives play a significant role. These collections are able to offer a unique experience to their visitors because they allow them to get to know the products together with their design, production and communication histories. Usually included in companies and in close contact with them, company museums and archives allow knowing «in situ» the work that is hidden behind an industrial design object. Because of their ability to offer a unique design experience that cannot be replicated by other cultural institutions, they have become indispensable stages of a sort of training «Grand Tour» by universities and high schools of design and architecture.