"Where architects live"

05/03/2014. Milan design week 2014. [MIL] Italy.
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA.

“Where Architects Live” is an original installation, inspired by contemporary architects’ own concepts of the domestic space, conceived as a cultural accompaniment to the Salone del Mobile.

Ban completed his current home, situated in Tokyo's Hangei Forest district, in 2007. "The challenge," Molteni writes, "was to avoid pulling down a single tree in the forest and to build a house around them." Photography Courtesy Hiroyuki Hirai. Click above to see larger image.

The house is riddled with ovoid-shaped cutouts which help to accomplish this goal, while also letting in generous amount of daylight and views. Ban's working area consists of a few evocative objects: a round table, a Terragni chair, a Greek bust, all set against a massive column of light. As Molteni concludes, "a Zen monk’s room." Photograph Courtesy Hiroyuki HiraiP. Click above to see larger image.

The British architect David Chipperfield relocated to Berlin after accepting the job to restore and rebuild the Neues Museum. (The project was completed in 2008, but Chipperfield stayed on in the German capital). He and his studio reside in a three-story concrete house that faces a semi-public courtyard containing a canteen Chipperfield designed for locals. Photograph Courtesy Simon Menges. Click above to see larger image.

The interiors' austere concrete walls are counterbalanced by two colors, Molteni says, represented by "[t]he green of a velvet sofa and the orange of a bookcase that divides the space between the kitchen and the sitting room." Photograph Courtesy Simon Menges. Click above to see larger image.

Photograph courtesy Simon Menges. Click above to see larger image.

Mario Bellini. Like his other peers, the Milan architect Mario Bellini loves books. His home revolves around a 9-meter-tall library, to which is fastened a scaffold-like system containing a staircase. According to Molteni, "the books, artworks and objects make it reminiscent of Antonello da Messina’s painting of St. Jerome’s study." Photograph courtesy Davide Pizzigoni. Click above to see larger image.

The library aside, colorful abstract murals enliven the space and clash wonderfully with the home's period details. Photograph courtesy Davide Pizzigoni. Click above to see larger image.

Photograph courtesy Davide Pizzigoni. Click above to see larger image.

Daniel Libeskind. Having worked all over the world, Daniel Libeskind eventually made his stay in New York. Molteni describes the Libeskind residence as a "refuge" from the hustle-and-bustle of Manhattan life. Relatively sparse, the brightly-lit apartment has a few Le Corbusier chairs, a coffee table, work desk, and not much else.Photograph courtesy Nicola Tranquilino. Click above to see larger image.

Daniel Libeskind. That is, besides "books, books, and more books," Molteni says. Photograph courtesy Nicola Tranquilino. Click above to see larger image.

Photograph Courtesy Davide Pizzigoni. Click above to see larger image.

Zaha Hadid's London studio is filled with works that span the entirety of the architect's storied career. On the backwall are Hadid's early-period neo-Suprematist drawings, which take their cues from revolutionary Soviet formalists like El Lissitzky and Malevich; opposite them are more recent works highlighting ZHA's curvaceous, parametric turn of the last several years. Photograph Courtesy Davide Pizzigoni. Click above to see larger image.

Photograph Courtesy Davide Pizzigoni. Click above to see larger image.

Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. The architect Bijoy Jain runs Studio Mumbai out of this countryside complex, located some 30 km outside of Mumbai. Jain lives and works here with some 60 craftsmen (and several dogs) in what Molteni describes as "a village, a community." Photograph courtesy Francesca Molteni. Click above to see larger image.

Trees shade the property, helping to create a private, enclave-like atmosphere. A large swimming pool to the rear of the house is a welcome respite from the heat, while the modestly decorated reading room is part library, part meditation space. Photograph courtesy Francesca Molteni. Click above to see larger image.

The Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas' Parisian home is located in one of the city's most celebrated public spaces, the Place des Vosges. The minimalist space is filled with original Jean Prouvé furniture, plus artworks that range, in Molteni's description, "from Fontana to Paladino." Photograph courtesy Aki Furudate. Click above to see larger image.

Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas. Photograph courtesy Aki Furudate. Click above to see larger image.

Brazilian architect and Studio MK27 principal Marcio Kogan lives on the 12th floor of a residential building of his own design. "[The] house shoots up towards the sky, reflecting the bright, free spaces of Brazil," Molteni says. Looking inwards, Kogan's apartment is filled with eccentricities. Photograph courtesy Romulo Fialdini. Click above to see larger image.

A grand piano in the center of the room functions partly as a coffee table, while shelves and wallspace are covered with artfully posed souvenirs, toys, trinkets, and other ephemera. Photograph courtesy Romulo Fialdini. Click above to see larger image.

The exhibition has been specially devised for the Salone, providing an exclusive glimpse into “rooms” designed by eight of the world’s most respected architects: Shigeru Ban, Mario Bellini, David Chipperfield, Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, Zaha Hadid, Marcio Kogan, Daniel Libeskind and Bijoy Jain/Studio Mumbai.

We use to see only the work architects do for other people and for other people’s lives. But where do architects live, or rather, what are their homes like and in what way? Exact reflections of their distinctive design styles or complete one-offs? Or something else entirely? “Where Architects Live” is a response to these questions and to natural curiosity, but it also aims to broaden the vision of domestic architecture itself.

The concept underlying the event rests in the conviction that, of all design disciplines, domestic architecture is the most predisposed to evolution and the most suited to experimentation, given its capacity to conjugate architecture and design.

An iconic and paradigmatic reading of the architects’ “rooms,” within the context of the home as a theme, will trigger crosscutting reflection on the modes, experiences and trends of contemporary living.

The curator of the event, Francesca Molteni – who curated “Design Dance” with Michela Marelli (2012) and “A celestial bathroom” (2010) – has been privy to the private homes of eight of the greatest exponents of the architectural world, filming the exteriors and domestic spaces and recording an interview with each of them on the visions, triggers and decisions that have steered their design and professional careers. She and the architect and scenographer Davide Pizzigoni, who has been exploring representational space and working with leading international opera theatres, have devised a project that recreates the private “rooms” of Shigeru Ban, Mario Bellini, David Chipperfield, Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, Zaha Hadid, Marcio Kogan, Daniel Libeskind and Bijoy Jain/Studio Mumbai by means of real-life videos, images, sounds, comments and reconstructions. The result is an interactive exhibition space that unveils the architects’ visions of living, their choices and their obsessions.