Exploring the Timeless: Vignelli Designed Silver

About the Event

Exploring the form and function of Lella and Massimo Vignelli’s silver designs offers an opportunity to understand how their design sensibility creates limitless possibilities. From Lella’s jewelry—bridging the everyday and the elegant—to Massimo’s basic geometric forms elevated to the sacred, this program explores how the Vignellis’ work continues to inspire a timeless sense of sophistication.

As part of the NYCxDESIGN Festival, join us for a panel discussion on May 17, 2025, offering insight into how creative process, precious materials, and design integrity come together to produce enduring silver objects. Panelists will include photographer and art director Julia Abbonizio and master silversmith Ubaldo Vitali. A full list of panelists will be available on our event website.

A reception will follow the discussion, providing guests with the opportunity to view and experience a selection of Vignelli silver designs on display and modeled.

This event is sponsored by the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology, The Arts and Architecture Conservancy at Saint Peter’s, and Saint Peter’s Church.

About the Photo Exhibition

Since its founding in Milan in 1970, San Lorenzo has distinguished itself through collaborations with internationally renowned designers and architects, including Lella Vignelli. Beginning in 1970, Lella worked with San Lorenzo to create a number of timeless silver jewelry pieces. These include the fluid and charming Senza Fine necklace—designed to be configured in multiple ways to suit different occasions—as well as Seicento, a modern interpretation of the Elizabethan ruff collar, inspired by Lella’s admiration for the elegant collars of the 1600s.

As the Vignelli Center for Design Studies completed its archival collection of Lella Vignelli’s jewelry designs, photographer Julia Abbonizio set out to capture the timeless allure of these pieces. This photo exhibition highlights the jewelry’s versatility, using a variety of models to mirror the adaptability and enduring beauty of the designs.

Based on the 2023 exhibition at the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology, the photo exhibition will be on view at the Living Room Gallery at Saint Peter’s from April 9 through July 31, 2025. Admission is free and open to the public.