Home Bench

Technogym’s Home Bench is already a design object that happens to hold weights. For the brand’s 40th, that was the brief: 40 designers, 40 benches, one iconic chassis. Design to Move, conceived with Giulio Cappellini and curated by Bruna Roccasalva, opened 16 April 2024 at Via Durini during Milan Design Week.

The names are the point. Patricia Urquiola wrapped the bench in a concrete, sandstone skin — Rocky Bench, a furnishing piece, not a trainer. Piero Lissoni’s Ghost vanishes into mirrored glass and metallic paint. Antonio Citterio, who has designed Technogym’s Personal line for years, recut his in chrome and leather. Nendo, Walter De Silva, Kelly Hoppen, Elena Salmistraro, Rolf Sachs, Objects of Common Interest — forty lenses on the same wellness object.

Nerio Alessandri founded the company in a garage by joining technology to exercise. Design to Move is that origin story as an exhibition: function turned emotional, equipment treated as Italian design. After Milan, 15 benches were auctioned with Sotheby’s (24 September 2024) and the remaining 25 listed on technogym.com; later showings included Miami and London. All profits were pledged to UNICEF. Product pages for Urquiola, Lissoni, Citterio and others remain up as design furnishings — contact, not a cart — so this stays Archive.