THE MAGAZINE OF INTERIORS AND CONTEMPORARY DESIGN
N
°
11 NOVEMBRE
NOVEMBER
2020
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www.internimagazine.itN. 11 novembre November 2020
rivista fondata nel review founded in 1954
MILANO DESIGN CITY
INTERNI DESIGNER’S WEEK
GLI EVENTI E I PROGETTI
EVENTS AND PROJECTS
LE OPINIONI DEI DESIGNER
E DEGLI IMPRENDITORI
VIEWPOINTS OF DESIGNERS
AND ENTREPRENEURS
LE ULTIME ARCHITETTURE
DELLA CITTÀ
THE LATEST WORKS OF
ARCHITECTURE IN THE CITY
I NUOVI INDIRIZZI
Nell’immagine: scorcio del MEET, il nuovo centro di cultura digitale di Milano progettato da Carlo Ratti/CRA Studio, con l’installazione di luce site-specific realizzata da Artemide.
In the image: view of MEET, the new center of digital culture in Milan, designed by Carlo Ratti/CRA Studio, with the site-specific light installation made by Artemide.
NEL PROSSIMO
NUMERO 12
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
direttore responsabile/editor GILDA BOJARDI
gilda.bojardi@mondadori.it comitato scientifico/board of experts ANDREA BRANZI DOMITILLA DARDI DEYAN SUDJIC consulenti/consultants CRISTINA MOROZZI MATTEO VERCELLONI RUDI VON WEDEL redazione/editorial staff MADDALENA PADOVANI maddalena.padovani@mondadori.it (caporedattore/editor-in-chief) DANILO SIGNORELLO danilo.signorello@mondadori.it (caposervizio/senior editor ad personam) ANTONELLA BOISI
antonella.boisi@mondadori.it (vice caposervizio architetture architectural vice-editor) CAROLINA TRABATTONI carolina.trabattoni@mondadori.it (vice caposervizio/vice-editor ad personam) produzione e sala posa
production and photo studio KATRIN COSSETA katrin.cosseta@mondadori.it produzione e news/production and news NADIA LIONELLO
nadia.lionello@mondadori.it produzione e sala posa production and photo studio ANDREA PIRRUCCIO andrea.pirruccio@mondadori.it produzione e news/production and news rubriche/columns
VIRGINIO BRIATORE
giovani designer/young designers grafica/layout MAURA SOLIMAN maura.soliman@mondadori.it SIMONE CASTAGNINI simone.castagnini@mondadori.it STEFANIA MONTECCHI stefania.montecchi@consulenti.mondadori.it segreteria di redazione/editorial secretariat ALESSANDRA FOSSATI
alessandra.fossati@mondadori.it responsabile/head
ADALISA UBOLDI adalisa.uboldi@mondadori.it
assistente del direttore/assistant to the editor contributi di/contributors
MAURIZIO BARBERIS DONATELLA BOLLANI ANDREA BRANZI STEFANO CAGGIANO MARIA CLARA CAGLIOTI PATRIZIA CATALANO VALENTINA CROCI DOMITILLA DARDI EDOARDO DE COBELLI PAOLO FERRARINI CLAUDIA FORESTI MARINA JONNA ELISA MASSONI ANGELA MARIA PIGA ALESSANDRO ROCCA MATTEO VERCELLONI fotografi/photographs ATELIER PHVM CREATAR IMAGES FERNANDO GUERRA DAVIDE LOVATTI PAOLO RIOLZI STEPHANIE TENG STUDIO OTTO
52
35
novembre/November 2020
IN
dice
CONTENTS
INCOVER
ART LUCA BARCELLONAINBRIEF
SUSTAINABILITY PER UN’ETICA AMBIENTALE / TOWARDS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, RECYCLED GRAY LIMITED EDITION TRIBUTO ALLA LAMPADINA,
IMPREZIOSIRE LE PARETI / TRIBUTE TO THE LIGHT BULB,
ENHANCING WALLS
LookINgAROUND
PRODUCTION FUOCO CAMMINA CON ME / FIRE WALK WITH ME
COMPAGNI DI ESPERIENZE / COMRADES IN EXPERIENCE IL BELLO DELLA TECNOLOGIA /
THE BEAUTY OF TECHNOLOGY SHOWROOMS PIANCA & PARTNERS
ANNIVERSARIES 15 ANNI DI CREATIVITÀ SU MISURA / 15 YEARS OF BESPOKE CREATIVITY
28 30 32 35 43 46
PROJECTS TUTTE LE SOLUZIONI PER IL REAL ESTATE / ALL THE SOLUTIONS FOR REAL ESTATE
RINASCITA MADE IN ITALY / REBIRTH MADE IN ITALY RAVELLO, PALAZZO AVINO
SEOUL, LIA-LIVING IN ART
DESIGNFUL FASHION LA T-SHIRT, DALLO STILE
AL MESSAGGIO / THE T-SHIRT, FROM STYLE TO MESSAGE
AWARDS XXVI COMPASSO D’ORO
NEL SEGNO DEL COLORE / UNDER THE SIGN OF COLOR
ARTS CORPI SONORI / SOUND BODIES COMMEMORATIONS PHILIPPE DAVERIO
ALBERTO SEASSARO CINI BOERI
BOOKSTORE TRANSLATIONS FIRMS DIRECTORY
In copertina: Luca Barcellona interpreta la scritta
“The China Gambit”. Il numero è infatti dedicato al Paese del Dragone, dove i prodotti del design italiano sono sempre più apprezzati per i loro contenuti culturali e manifatturieri. A rappresentarli è la famiglia di lampade JJ di Leucos che si amplia
con le nuove dimensioni della versione JJ BIG, disponibile nelle versioni terra e sospensione e in vari colori a catalogo o su richiesta.
On the cover: Luca Barcellona interprets the phrase
“The China Gambit.” This issue, in fact, is all about China, where Italian products are increasingly coveted for their cultural content and fine workmanship. As represented by the JJ family of lamps by Leucos, which has expanded with new
sizes in the JJ BIG version, available in the floor and suspension models, in various colors from the catalogue or by request.
49 63 66 73 77 90 92 106
32
77
38
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22 novembre 2020 INTERNInovembre/November 2020
IN
dice
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
DI / BY GILDA BOJARDI 110
ARTS
FERNANDO DE FILIPPI, IL SACRO FUOCO DELLA SCRITTURA /THE SACRED FLAME OF WRITING
DI / BY MAURIZIO BARBERIS
2
4
6
8
A CURA DI / BY CAROLINA TRABATTONI
PLASTIC WORLD
PLASTIC CITY, RO PLASTIC PRICE FOTO / PHOTOS ANDREA GARUTI
DESIGN GALLERY
LIVING DESIGN GALLERY, ALLESTIMENTO /
SET-UP PIERO LISSONI
FOTO / PHOTOS SIMONA BOSSI
GARDEN FESTIVAL
HOME GROUND DI / BY ANTONIO PERAZZI, RADICEPURA FOTO / PHOTOS CLIVE NICHOLS
CHINESE VISIONS
OUT OF THE BLUE. VIAGGIO NELLA CALLIGRAFIA ATTRAVERSO / A CALLIGRAPHIC JOURNEY THROUGH ALCANTARA, PALAZZO REALE
FOTO / PHOTOS DAVIDE CALAFÀ
INtopics
INsights
PhotographINg
INside
ARCHITECTURE
A CURA DI / BY ANTONELLA BOISI
TERNI, NELL’ANTICA PICCIONAIA / IN THE OLD DOVECOTE PROGETTO / DESIGN CARLO BERARDUCCI ARCHITECTURE FOTO / PHOTOS FERNANDO GUERRA
TESTO / ARTICLE ANGELA MARIA PIGA BERLIN, CASA D’ARTISTA / AN ARTIST’S HOME PROGETTO / DESIGN PHILIPP VON MATT FOTO / PHOTOS ATELIER PHVM
TESTO / ARTICLE ALESSANDRO ROCCA
INCONTRO A SHANGHAI / ENCOUNTER IN SHANGHAI PROGETTO / DESIGN WUTOPIA LAB & SUNYAT
FOTO / PHOTOS CREATAR IMAGES TESTO / ARTICLE MATTEO VERCELLONI
SINGAPORE, IL PIATTO È SERVITO / DINNER IS SERVED PROGETTO / DESIGN PAOLA NAVONE
FOTO / PHOTOS STUDIO OTTO TESTO / ARTICLE ANTONELLA BOISI
TALKING ABOUT
ANDRÉ FU: UN LUSSO RILASSATO / RELAXED LUXURY TESTO / ARTICLE ANTONELLA BOISI
14 22 28 34 40
22
28
2
10
14
40
PROJECT
IL DISEGNO DELLA POESIA / THE DESIGN OF POETRY TESTO / ARTICLE STEFANO CAGGIANO
FOTO / PHOTOS CHINA DESIGN CENTRE
L’EVOLUZIONE DI UN’ICONA / EVOLUTION OF AN ICON TESTO / ARTICLE ANDREA PIRRUCCIO
SHOOTING
#DESIGNCOLLAGE DI / BY NADIA LIONELLO GREEN THERAPY
DI / BY CAROLINA TRABATTONI FOTO / PHOTOS PAOLO RIOLZI
REVIEW
DETTAGLI DA SOGNO / DREAMY DETAILS DI / BY KATRIN COSSETA 68 72 74 82 90
DesignINg
TRANSLATIONS
FIRMS DIRECTORY
DI / BY ADALISA UBOLDI 98 111INservice
novembre/November 2020IN
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CONTENTS
46 48 52 58 62VIEWPOINT
LA CINA È LONTANA? / FARAWAY CHINA? DI / BY ANDREA BRANZI
FOCUS
ALLA CONQUISTA DEL DRAGONE /
TO CONQUER THE DRAGON
TESTO / ARTICLE DONATELLA BOLLANI LA NUOVA AURORA DEL MADE IN ITALY /
A NEW DAWN FOR MADE IN ITALY
TESTO / ARTICLE VALENTINA CROCI VERDE CINA / GREEN CHINA TESTO / ARTICLE ELISA MASSONI
TALKING ABOUT
L’IDEA DIETRO AL PROGETTO /
THE IDEA BEHIND THE PROJECT
TESTO / ARTICLE DOMITILLA DARDI
74
68
90
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26 novembre 2020 INTERNIfoto courtesy of ©Atelier PhvM
CASA D’ARTISTA
A BERLINO
Una
materialità solida, robusta, alleggerita da pieghe
e
sfumature inaspettate. Scavare, all’interno di un volume
compatto, gli
spazi per lavorare sotto la luce
del cielo berlinese, per le consuetudini della
vita quotidiana,
per custodire e mostrare le proprie opere
INside
ARCHITECTURE
Progetto di PHILIPP VON MATT
Due scorci del soggiorno al primo piano, con una parete e i soffitti in cemento faccia a vista, il materiale che caratterizza fortemente gli interni di tutto l’atelier. Pareti attrezzate e bancone della sala da pranzo sono ricoperti da pannelli in vimini, il pavimento è in listoni di larice, utilizzato anche per gli infissi. Luce da tavolo e sofà vintage di Josef Frank.
INside
ARCHITECTURE
L
a casa che Philipp von Matt ha costruito a Berlino per un importante pittore francese, in collaborazione con Stefano Tiracchia (project leader), vuole essere un edificio obbediente, rispettoso delle regole urbanistiche e intonato anche all’atmosfera generale della città e del quartiere; un edificio educato e sobrio ma anche 'inquietante', nella sua capacità di impiegare elementi, colori e misure usuali, nella zona, ma con leggeri spostamenti di attenzione, con sottili manipolazioni percettive, mescolando ordine e disordine, regola ed eccezione. D’altronde il progettista è un architetto attento al confine tra architettura e arte, sensibile al fascino discreto dell’ordinario e abile nell'alterare le consuetudini senza stravolgerle, ma cambiandole solo un po’, con qualche morbida forzatura, qualche innocente tradimento.“L’edificio", spiega Philipp, "è modellato in accordo con il regolamento edilizio della città, e
l’irregolarità della pianta, dovuta ai vincoli urbanistici, è diventata l’occasione per generare uno spazio atipico, interessante, dove collocare il vano della scala”, e dove l’anomalia geometrica – le due pareti convergenti – è utilizzata per creare una prospettiva scorciata, un trompe-l’oeil che amplifica le dimensioni dello spazio reale. Nel suo testo più celebre, il grande architetto viennese Adolf Loos sosteneva che l’ornamento, in architettura, è un delitto. Certamente, nessuno si è mai attenuto a questa sentenza e, tantomeno, lui stesso, autore dei più raffinati interni viennesi di inizio Novecento. Tuttavia, il verdetto di Loos continua a risuonare in progetti che scelgono l’afasia, l’anonimia, l’astinenza, la nudità e la
franchezza dei materiali, come in quelli, recenti, di architetti interessanti quali Valerio Olgiati, Christ & Gantenbein o Raphael Zuber. Niente a che vedere, in questo atteggiamento, con il minimalismo ispirato al grande Ludwig Mies van der Rohe che, illuminato dal motto “Less is more”, raggiungeva ineguagliati traguardi di eleganza e straordinaria bellezza. Il messaggio loosiano è invece alla base di una nuova sobrietà: Loos realizzava esterni semplicissimi, spogliati di ogni ornamento, e interni opulenti, caldi, di grande comfort e pieni di materiali pregiati. Philipp, col proposito di realizzare un edificio “normale, ordinario”, nel volume compatto, nel mutismo delle finestrature
Nella pagina a fianco, due vedute del piano terra, destinato a studio, con la galleria, spazio per eventi e mostre, affacciata sul giardino interno. Arredi anni Trenta, tra cui un coffee table di Gerald Summers; luci di Erco.
Qui sotto, da sinistra: la torre della televisione nella vicina Alexanderplatz, il fronte strada dell’edificio; la scala che collega i tre livelli è un flusso continuo, in cemento a vista, alleggerito dalla delicata balaustra in lamiera stirata e dorata.
INside
ARCHITECTURE
Il caminetto, aperto su una piattaforma rotonda in ardesia, ha una singolare forma a triangolo gotico ispirato, secondo il progettista, alla piramide Cestia e alla tomba di Antonio Canova. Lampada da terra di Josef Frank.
semplici e irregolari e nel tetto a padiglione cita le più belle ville loosiane, mentre negli interni mantiene, al contrario del maestro austroungarico, lo stesso rigore scelto per l’esterno.
Nell’ingresso e nella scala, che collega direttamente la sala espositiva con l’atelier, si esplicita con più forza la predilezione per il materiale grezzo, il cemento, con le rigature dei casseri lasciate bene in vista. La scala è una sequenza rude, ma anche fluida e leggera, basata sul grigio luminoso del cemento, che qui è lisciato e fluttua nell’ampio pozzo del vano verticale che, spiega Philipp, consente di calare a terra i dipinti
realizzati nell’atelier. Il parapetto, in lamiera d’ottone, aggiunge colore alla vibrazione luminosa e dialoga con la materia del cemento, così diversa, con una ricercata brutalità.
Ma l’opzione di un interno spoglio, per fortuna, non è seguita come un dogma minimalista, è invece commentata, e contestata, da inserti che portano colori, texture e forme più morbide e accattivanti, come le grandi tessere ceramiche della cucina, che sono state recuperate da antichi contenitori per il vino. “Sono affascinato dal contrasto tra l’ordinario e l’eccezionale”, spiega Philipp, e il gusto per l’accostamento incongruo, tra materiali e forme contrapposte, tra il nudo e l’ornato, l’opaco e il luminoso, il freddo e il caldo rappresenta la cifra distintiva di questo interno così ambivalente. L’elemento di eccezione è il cemento, modellato e teso non solo sulle rampe della scala ma anche nelle sagomature dei soffitti, mentre l’ordinario sta nella studiata casualità degli arredi, sempre insufficienti a dominare gli spazi, un po’ 'sperduti' e soccombenti di fronte alla brutalità del cemento e alla abbondante luce nordica soffusa dalle grandi finestre.
Poi, ogni livello si caratterizza per una qualità differente, sempre in sospeso tra una normalità sommessa e una teatralità che mette in evidenza, di volta in volta, un diverso elemento
architettonico. Senza parere, la casa diventa la protagonista di una storia semplice, nella trama, ma articolata secondo complessità definite con eleganza, come tutti i passaggi tra il vano della scala e gli ambienti ai diversi livelli, come l’incastro dei mezzanini che sospinge l’onda di cemento al di sopra degli spazi a doppia altezza. Al piano terra, la sala grande, destinata alla vita sociale e alle esposizioni delle opere del padrone di casa, si caratterizza per l’astratto traliccio metallico che sorregge una quadreria a scomparsa e una generosa finestra, sormontata da grandi sopraluce e affacciata sul giardino privato. Al primo piano, dove si trova la zona giorno, la sorpresa si svela nel contrasto forte tra l’onda, increspata e grezza, del soffitto in
cemento, il giallo neutro della parete intonacata, il tono caldo del pavimento in doghe di larice e il timpano aguzzo del camino. Il secondo piano, separato e più intimo, accoglie una coppia di doppie camere da letto e il terzo ospita l’atelier. Il lavoro dell’artista si svolge in un open space ampio, occupato soltanto dai piani di lavoro appoggiati ai cavalletti, sormontato e illuminato dal profondo scasso praticato nella soletta, a falde, che lascia scivolare all’interno la luce filtrata dal lucernario. ■
A sinistra, la sala da pranzo e la cucina, al primo piano, con il tavolo Sunflower di Alvar e Aino Aalto e la lampada a sospensione realizzata dall’artista. Sotto, scorci delle scale in cemento, dell’ingresso alla zona residenziale del primo piano e un particolare della sala principale, al piano terra.
A destra, una veduta dell’atelier, al secondo piano, e un dettaglio della scala con il parapetto metallico.
What impact has this revolution towards the contemporary had on the lifestyle of the owner?
The best thing he told me was that prior to the project he never spent time in the apartment, and neither did his children. Now, on the other hand, the children are constantly coming and going, they bring friends, and he and his companion like to stay there, because they field no need to go out.
Is this radical approach with no concessions to the period of the build-ing, in the furnishings and materials, part of your stylistic signature, or is it related particularly to this project?
It’s my way of proceeding, because I believe it is more respectful of history and the site, rather than constructing a fake. The radical response arises to eliminate everything that did not belong to the original structure, with a contemporary alteration. But even in this contemporary context, we have used natural materials, things that could also have been utilized in the 1500s: cement stucco with an earthy, porous, natural effect, as the original may have been; brushed natural gray stone with a rather aged effect, mak-ing it seem worn. The stone we have used is not from this place; the local stone is travertine, but the owner wanted darker tones. It is not a space of cold, artificial materials, but of warm ones: the iron has been left natural, with a wax finish, the wood has many knots, a thermo-treated oak, brushed with visible grain and finished with wax.
The house is full of design furniture, both international and Italian, from the 1950s to the present, but the stand-out is your Tavolo Italia, in the form of the peninsula. A strong statement, a brash face-off with the modernist internationalism of the rest of the house. How did you reach the decision to include such an object, with a character that differs from the overall décor?
It wasn’t included, it was created for the house. The idea, in fact, comes from the fact that we needed a table for a trapezoidal dining room, where an or-dinary symmetrical rectangular table would not have worked. What was needed was a fluid form. The references were Renaissance maps, and Italia Rovesciata by Luciano Fabro, from 1969.
Which region is at the head of the table?
No region. Or, more precisely, the head of the table is multiple.
A red Italy. How should we interpret this object?
Red is one of my passions, which often emerges, especially when I am creat-ing design pieces. This ‘raccreat-ing red’ is the color of speed, of raccreat-ing cars, Fer-rari red. Over the table, suspended in the air, we see its chandelier. A term that suggests historical mansions. The Manassei three-arm chandelier was also created for this home, due to the need to fill the two-story space with a free, floating form, like a mobile by Calder.
While the architectural project has refurbished the pure structure of the open space, the furnishings constitute anything but a minimalist tab-leau. What reasons lie behind this ‘filled-up’ approach?
It’s true. Though we have emptied out the house in its structure, the furnish-ings do not create a sense of emptiness. The structure is taken back to its roots and remains minimal, with the objective of opening up space, but the deployment of natural materials and furniture sets out precisely to fill up that space. So there is no minimalist emphasis on an empty environment, and instead we have the pursuit of warmth and comfort. Also for the fur-nishings, the choices are radical: Italian and international design, without any mixture between antique and modern, of the sort many decorators boast about. I was given free rein here, so I have created my ideal collection of pieces from the history of design. I would love to own them all: they have made history in the past, and continue to do so today.
In this ideal collection, what are your favorite pieces?
Those of the 1950s, like the armchairs by Charles and Ray Eames (the ES106 Billy Wilder from 1968 produced by Herman Miller, ed.) or those of Warren Platner (the Easy Chair from 1962 by Knoll, ed.). Then, of course, I have juxtaposed piec-es in terms of rpiec-esemblancpiec-es of form, or in any case in terms of affinitipiec-es.
Your next project will be for the same client, a villa in the midst of nature near Sangemini, also in the province of Terni. Will you be applying the same approach used for Palazzo Manassei?
Here too we have to start with what exists, which in this case is the topog-raphy of the landscape. Seeking the right exposures, light and space, the approach – in definitive terms – is indeed the same.
CAPTIONS: pag. 14 View of Palazzo Manassei, in the city center of Terni, with
the terrace of the attic apartment created in this project. On the facing page, the terrace establishes a dialogue with the windows of the dining room and functions as an outdoor living area, with a long masonry bench in basaltina stone.The floor in brushed Grey stone and the ceiling of wooden staves continue seamlessly into the internal spaces. The ceiling is in Greenwood composite. Diamond Chairs in metal wire mesh by Harry Bertoia (1956) for
Knoll. Live-Milk-Revolution lightbox by Alessandro Valeri. pag. 16 Upper left,
the path leading to the living area with floor in brushed Grey stone, with the wall in natural waxed iron sheet and the suspended ceiling of wooden slats. Fjord chair by Moroso, designed by Patricia Urquiola (2002), Toio floor lamp
by Flos, designed by Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (1962). Above, view of
the living area towards the dining room, with the fireplace zone on the left, and a loft open to the two-story space on the right. Cement stucco walls by
Kerakoll, lighting by Viabizzuno. Lounge Chair by Charles & Ray Eames in
curved plywood and leather, Vitra, and a coffee table by Tom Dixon. pag. 17
View of the living area towards the back wall, with the cantilevered staircase in Grey stone leading to the loft-studio. In the foreground, the Lounge Chair by Charles & Ray Eames, Vitra, and the Standard gray velvet sofa by Francesco
Binfaré for Edra. The chair in steel rod is the Easy Chair by Warren Platner, in
the Knoll catalogue, while the shaded carpet is by Eberson Moss. On the wall,
an optical work by Wolfram Ullrich. pag. 18 The dining room with the windows
towards the terrace, left, and the portholes facing the street, right. At the center, the large Tavolo Italia Rosso Corsa designed by Carlo Berarducci, in numerical-control milled foam and glossy lacquer on a polyester base, with support structure in curved iron tubing. Scoop chairs by Tom Dixon. pag. 19
Views of the kitchen open to the dining zone, with the island in Brazilian Patagonia granite at the center and seating by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. The
accessorized wall is made to measure and covered in DeLabré bronze-plated sheet metal by De Castelli. Lighting fixtures by Viabizzuno. In the drawing:
the plan. pag. 20 Left, in the guest apartment: Strips blue velvet sofa by Cini
Boeri (1968) for Arflex sliding units by Rimadesio. Below, the fireplace and TV
room with the staircase leading to the upper level, in Grey marble, like the wall of the fireplace with irregular cuts and mixed hammered, brushed and polished finishes. Hood in sunburst iron sheet. Anselmo giant wall lamp by
Viabizzuno, Gilda chair by Carlo Mollino (1954), Zanotta, wood floor and
ceiling in thermos-treated brushed knotty oak by Haute Material. In the
foreground, Naomi Campbell, in a photographic work by Alessandro Valeri.
pag. 21 Right, the space communicating with the fireplace-TV room on the first
level. In the foreground, the Easy Chair in steel rod by Warren Platner (1962) for Knoll; in the background, pair of 836 Tre Pezzi chairs by Franco Albini
(1959), in the Cassina catalogue, like the 194 9 table by Piero Lissoni. The floor
lamp is the Statistocrat by Atelier Van Lieshout for Moooi. Floor in polished
Grey stone, suspended ceiling in DeLabré brass-tone sheet metal by
De Castelli, rug by Eberson Moss. To the right, the wardrobe with sliding
panels in sunburst iron sheet; on the left, the wall clad in Chocolate wood with brushed and waxed finish. Below, the master bedroom and bathroom, all customized. Faucets by Fantini.
P22.
AN ARTIST’S HOME IN BERLIN
project PHILIPP VON MATT
photos courtesy of ©Atelier PhvM - article Alessandro Rocca
SOLID, STURDY MATERIAL SUBSTANCE, LIGHTENED
BY UNEXPECTED BENDS AND SHADINGS. EXCAVATING INSIDE A COMPACT VOLUME TO MAKE SPACES FOR WORKING UNDER THE LIGHT OF THE BERLIN SKY, SPACES FOR EVERYDAY LIVING, IN WHICH TO STORE AND DISPLAY WORKS OF ART
The home Philipp von Matt has built in Berlin for an important French painter, in collaboration with Stefano Tiracchia (project leader), sets out to be an obe-dient building, respecting the rules and tone of the city and the neighbor-hood; a well-mannered, sober but also ‘disquieting’ building due to its ability to apply the usual elements, colors and proportions with slight detours of attention, subtle manipulations of perception, mixing order and disorder, rules and exceptions. After all, Von Matt is an architect well-versed in his discipline’s interaction with art, sensitive to the discreet charm of the ordi-nary, skilled in altering habits without disrupting them, changing them only slightly, with gentle pressure and a dash of innocent betrayal. “The building," Philipp explains, "is shaped in tune with the city’s building regulations, and the irregular form of the plan, due to local restrictions, has become an oppor-tunity to generate an atypical, interesting spaces in which to place the
stair-case,” where geometric anomaly – the two converging walls – is used to create a foreshortened perspective, an effect of illusion that seems to amplify the real space. In his most famous essay the great Viennese architect Adolf Loos insisted that ornament is a crime in architecture. Of course no one has ever obeyed this rule, not even Loos himself, creator of the most refined Viennese interiors of the early 20th century. Nevertheless, his verdict continues to have echoes in projects that choose aphasia, abstinence, nudity and honesty of materials, as in the recent works by interesting architects like Valerio Olgiati, Christ & Gantenbein or Raphael Zuber. This attitude has nothing to do with the minimalism inspired by the great Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who driven by the motto “less is more” reached unmatched heights of elegance and ex-traordinary beauty. Loos’s message, instead, forms the basis for a new sobri-ety: he made very simple exteriors, stripped of all ornament, and opulent, warm interiors of great comfort, full of precious materials. Philipp, with the objective of making a “normal, ordinary” building in the compact volume, with silent, simple and irregular openings and a roof pavilion, references the most beautiful villas of Loos, while the interiors – unlike those of the great master – continue with the same rigor seen on the outside. In the entrance and the staircase, connected directly to the exhibition space and atelier, we can ob-serve a preference for raw material, concrete, with the lines of the formwork still on display. The staircase is a rugged yet fluid, light sequence, based on the luminous gray of the concrete, smoothed in this case to float in a big well of a vertical compartment that makes it possible to lower the paintings made in the atelier down to ground level. The parapet in brass sheet adds color to the luminous vibration and establishes a dialogue with the concrete, in a contrast of textures formulated with refined brutality. Fortunately this option of the stripped down interior has not been followed as minimalist dogma. It is also commented and challenged by inserts that bring colors, textures and softer, captivating forms, like the large ceramic tiles of the kitchen, recovered from antique wine vessels. “I am fascinated by the contrast between the ordinary and the exceptional,” Philipp explains, and the taste for jarring juxtapositions between materials and forms, nude and decorated, opaque and luminous, coolness and warmth, becomes the distinctive signature of this ambivalent interior. The exceptional factor is the concrete, shaped and taut, not only on the ramps of the staircase but also in the shaping of the ceilings, while the ordinary lies in the studied randomness of the furnishings, always insuffi-cient to dominate the spaces, a bit ‘lost’ and yielding with respect to the bru-tality of the concrete and the abundant Nordic light spreading through the large windows. Each level has a different quality, always suspended between understated normality and theatrical flair that underlines a specific architec-tural feature each time. The house becomes the protagonist of a simple plot line, but expressed through complexity defined with elegance, as in all the passages between the stairwell and the rooms on the various levels, or the interlock of the mezzanines that push the wave of concrete over the two-story spaces. On the ground floor the large hall, set aside for socializing and the display of the works of the owner, stands out for the abstract metal frame-work used to store paintings that can be hidden away, and a large window topped by large transoms, facing onto the private garden. On the first floor, utilized for the living area, the surprise comes in the strong contrast between the rippled, rough wave of the concrete ceiling, the neutral yellow of the plas-ter wall, the warm tone of the larch wood flooring, and the sharp tympanum of the fireplace. The second floor is more secluded and private, with two dou-ble bedrooms, while the third floor is for the studio. The artist works in a large open space, occupied only by tabletops resting on trestles, lit by a deep breach made in the pitched roof that allows light to enter through a skylight.
CAPTIONS: pag. 22 Two views of the living area on the first floor, with a wall
and ceilings in fair-face concrete, the material that sets the tone of the interiors of the entire atelier. The accessorized walls and counter of the dining area are covered with wicker panels, while the floor is in larch wood strips, also utilized for the casements. Vintage table lamp and sofa by Josef Frank.
pag. 24 Below, from left: the television tower on nearby Alexanderplatz, the
streetfront of the building; the staircase connecting the three levels is a continuous flow in fair-face concrete, lightened by the delicate balustrade in expanded, gilded sheet metal. On the facing page, two views of the ground floor, utilized as a studio, with the gallery, a space for events and exhibitions, facing the internal garden. Thirties furnishings, including a coffee table by Gerald Summers; lights by Erco. pag. 26 The fireplace, open on a round slate
platform, has an unusual Gothic triangle form inspired – as the designer explains – by the Pyramid of Cestius and the tomb of Antonio Canova. Floor lamp by Josef Frank. pag. 27 Right, a view of the atelier on the second floor,
and a detail of the staircase with its metal parapet. Left, the dining room and kitchen, on the first floor, with the Sunflower table by Alvar and Aino Aalto and a suspension lamp made by the artist. Below, views of the concrete stairs, the entrance to the residential zone on the first floor, and detail of the main hall on the ground floor.
P28.
ENCOUNTER IN SHANGHAI
project WUTOPIA LAB & SUNYAT
photos CreatAR Images - article Matteo Vercelloni
A COURTYARD BUILDING THAT BRINGS TOGETHER TWO SEPARATE VOLUMES THROUGH A COMPOSITIONAL SOLUTION
THAT COMBINES THE ORIENTAL TRADITION WITH ALLUSIONS AND FIGURES BELONGING TO OCCIDENTAL ARCHITECTURE. A DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO WORLDS IN A SEQUENCE OF EPISODES, WITH GREAT ATTENTION TO DETAIL
The courtyard building has roots in the Chinese architectural and urban tradi-tion. Precisely in Shanghai, location of the project shown in this article, over time the model of the siheyuan (the quadrangle house) generated the pre-cious, dense pattern of the famous hutongs, with narrow streets in the his-torical center, most of which have now vanished. The siheyuan is an architec-tural type directly related to the anthropological and social structure of the country; its symmetrical layout can also be seen as a translation, in architec-tural form, of the laws that govern the life of the family nucleus, the ethical underpinning of the society and the state. The Chinese family, at least until a few years ago, was a compact microcosm, a ‘miniature state’ with rigid rules of hierarchy; the house became a sort of small city, an introverted and precise structure, bound by continuous, silent walls to protect it from what was hap-pening outside, in the streets of the city or in the countryside. While the structure of the state was similar to that of nuclear families, the typological foundations of the house were those of the palace, configuring a single mor-phology defined by an internal courtyard placed on a central axis of refer-ence. Over time this typology marked both rural and urban dwellings, as well as grand palaces, imperial tombs and temples. In the general repetitivity of figurative, formal and artistic motifs of Chinese culture, the siheyuan model – flexible in size, interpreted on different scales – was repeated in interlocking units, forming the hutongs, the fabric of the historical city. This house too, with a different planimetric solution calling for a larger volume juxtaposed with a small corner construction, separated by a garden and an outdoor zone with a wooden deck, links back to the historical model in the definition of an introverted space, protected by boundary walls and accessed by means of a single large gate revised and designed as a precious threshold, a filter be-tween public and private space. Rethinking the existing constructions in a long process of development and reflection lasting six years, Wutopia Lab & Sunyat have defined the guidelines of the project, adding a small tea house in the smaller unit to the domestic spaces organized on two levels. Now flanked by a narrow staircase leading to the flat roof, the tea house offers a small ter-race from which to observe the treetops and the garden in Chinese style be-low. Here the Taihu stones arranged on the black volcanic stone of the pave-ment surround a bauhinia tree, some shrubs and a wisteria that forms a pergola beside the entrance, with a small bench facing a circular mirror set into the stone, an allusion to a still pond. Next to the garden, and raised by one step, a wooden deck zone separated by a mobile curtain set into the ground is interrupted, approaching the house and forming a curve in rammed earth that leaves a view of the roots of the large tree, grafted into the custom canopy in front of the master bedroom. The latter, together with the dining room, is set back slightly from the main façade of the house facing the garden, where a living area with a large library has been placed. Here the motif of the Serlian window that marks the façade, and the adjacent arched opening of the entrance, blends – together with the large fireplace inside – into a single moment of reinterpretation of occidental features and figures. The living area concludes in a large back wall in parallel blades of wood to emphasize the geometric design and the double-pitched roof of the space, separating it from
