11 June 2014

Architects and their homes

Dove vivono gli Architetti - Where architects live
Salone del Mobile 2014

On my way out of the Salone del Mobile I managed to fit in a gem of a show. My Interior Designer friends had decided to wait for the coach at a café, so I was able to take a quick look round the pavillion dedicated to Bathrooms. Within it there was an exhibition which I had seen advertised all over Milan. The exhibition, curated by Francesca Molteni, was dedicated to eight great architects of our time and their homes. Eight stands for eight architects: Shigeru Ban, Massimiliano Fuksas, Zaha Hadid, Marcio Kogan, Mario Bellini, David Chipperfield, Bijoy Jain/Studio Mumbai, Daniel Libeskind. Withing each space a different experience made of shapes, sounds and a video, showing each architect being interviewed and telling the story of his or her houses and homes.

Unfortunately I was pressed for time so I decided to see only one of the stands and entered one at random. It was the space dedicated to Polish born Architect Daniel Libeskind... I have to admit I was not familiar with his work so I watched the video and perceived the whole experience with a laymans eye. Which was suprisingly refreshing. I listened to the son of Holocaust survivors talk about his humble childhood sorrounded by a loving family, I admired the smiley family man talk with warmth about his first family appartment house and all the homes he lived in around the world with his beloved wife and children, I heard the friendly designer talk about the first table he made which has followed him everywhere. Not all the houses Libeskind has lived in were designed by him but in all, it seemed, reigned a sense of home and belonging which I found admirable for someone who has travelled the world and lived in so many different countries. It appeared from his words that he is able to take his roots with him, a rare skill. The final impression was one of a man that knows what he's doing and is having fun doing it, which again is quite something.




the maquette of the showroom


 
 
 
Read more about the Exhibition:
 
 
Ps: for anyone following my blog, I am sorry this post is a bit outdated. I know the Design Week took place two months ago! But I still thought you might like to hear my account of this exhibition as it was well worth seeing. I haven't found the whole videos of the interviews online, so I thought it might be nice to at least get a second hand impression.
 
 
 

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