Knowledge in Memory: Corporate and Museum Archive

In recent decades, we have witnessed the affirmation of the museum enterprise as a means of settling and a systematization of memory and knowledge about history and activities of specific companies that have distinguished themselves over the years as manufacturers of unique and iconic products. In the contemporary scene in fact companies are immersed in the economy knowledge paradigm (Rullani 2004) in which the symbolic components and intangible assets related to the production contexts have a predominant value. For this reason, many companies of the “Made in Italy” brand have decided to create exhibition space to document its historical-productive heritage and to credit in this way its value in terms of cultural and social impact (Amari 1997, Hatch and Schultz 2000). This paper aims to explore the theme related to museums and business archives, reading these events not only as a means of self commemorative intent and consolidation of the corporate image, but as active resources, continuously integrated in the production and design process and construction of the company.