"Where architects live"

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.