By Linda Hales
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 3, 2004; Page C01

The Italians Strike Back

Diplomats who promote their countries' culture in Washington are far too seasoned to compete in public. Those with paltry budgets can't always go mano a mano when they might choose to.

Since April, cultural counselors from Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden have been basking in the glow of "Nordic Cool: Hot Women Designers," which they spent months helping the National Museum of Women in the Arts at New York Avenue and 13th Street NW put together.

The Italian Cultural Institute on M Street NW wasted little time firing back. In May, it opened a jewel of a one-man exhibition called "Art & Design." It features the contemporary furniture and "glueworks" of Riccardo Maranzana, a 32-year-old designer with Italian and Swiss parents. Maranzana is also the product of a California design education. He studied art at Pepperdine University in Malibu, attended the Art Center of Pasadena and earned a master's degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Fans of Scandinavian design will recognize a kindred modern spirit. Maranzana makes furniture entirely in birch plywood, stainless steel and clear acrylic or glass. Chairs, tables and bases for tables are made from identical pieces of wood, cut and assembled in clever ways. Seventeen slats, for example, are combined to make a spare but airy chaise.

In the exhibition, the piece balances on stainless steel supports atop the crate in which its parts were shipped. Martin Stiglio, director of the Italian Cultural Institute, tried it out after the designer screwed the parts together. With a pillow, he says, the chaise is quite comfortable.

Visitors can try out Maranzana's "slat chairs," which provide an excellent vantage point for admiring the melted plastic wall sculptures called "glueworks." The designer combines wood blocks into collages and douses them with pale orange and green plastic. The effect is a little like carrot sheet cake smeared with gooey frosting. It's strangely serene.

Cultural counselors, on your marks. Stiglio is already planning a follow-up exhibition for next year. He promises a return to "something traditional."

The Maranzana exhibition continues through Sept. 17 at 2025 M St. NW, Suite 610. Call 202-223-9800 for hours. "Nordic Cool: Hot Women Designers" continues through Sept. 12 at the women's museum. Call 202-783-5000 for details.