On the island of Elba within the late Nineteen Seventies, architect and artist Gianni Pettena started constructing a home that by no means fairly ended. La Mia Casa all’Elba was not a static construction however a sluggish, unfolding composition of pavilions, paths and partitions – formed as a lot by the panorama as by any design. It grew over a long time, guided by instinct, native supplies, and a shifting solid of occupants – an open-ended experiment in residing and making.
It’s this spirit of improvisation and blurred boundaries that curator Joseph Grima and longtime collaborator Valentina Ciuffi wished to seize in ‘The Theatre of Issues’, the pair’s new exhibition hosted by Milanese gallery Delvis (Un)restricted. Half collectible design showcase, half efficiency, the present is what the curators describe as ‘an experiment in residing with design’.
An upholstered mattress, canopied by a twisting chandelier created from loofah fibres—each by Belgian collective Espace Aygo—sat on the centre of the area.
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Piercarlo Quecchia, DSL Studio)
From 7 to 12 April 2025, it remodeled a storefront in Milan’s Brera district right into a home stage furnished with items by seven designers handpicked by Grima and Ciuffi – the duo behind Alcova, the smash hit present of latest Milan Design Weeks, now in its seventh yr. The collaboration with Delvis (Un)restricted gave them a uncommon alternative to carry what they describe as a ‘loopy’ concept to life, that includes new works by designers Objects of Widespread Curiosity (whose Greek marble Alcova set up we’ve additionally explored), Linde Freya Tangelder, Espace Aygo, Wealthy Aybar, Laurids Gallée, Stefania Ruggiero, and Niki Danai.
Every day, a unique designer spent the evening within the area, seen to passersby by the big street-facing home windows. Within the morning, a journalist, critic, or curator arrived to wake them with espresso, sparking an off-the-cuff dialog in regards to the in a single day expertise. If Giorgini’s island retreat was a spot for concepts to float and settle, then The Theatre of Issues provided a stage the place design was not simply displayed however inhabited – briefly, intimately, and beneath remark.
On the morning Wallpaper* visited, Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis of New York and Athens-based Objects of Widespread Curiosity mirrored on the expertise over espresso in mattress with the curators and design journalist Max Fraser. They reported a peaceable evening, unbothered by the onlookers, and spoke in regards to the energy of gathering and residing with items that ‘inform a narrative’ about who we’re. The mattress, by Belgian collective Espace Aygo, sat within the centre of the room in full view of the window. Overhead hung a big, nest-like chandelier created from loofah fibres, additionally by Espace Aygo, which could be raised and lowered to create a cocoon-like impact. Forged rubber chairs, vessels, and lamps by Wealthy Aybar added to the smooth, pliable environment, whereas a cherry wooden shelf by Laurids Gallèe housed artwork and design tomes, alongside DVDs of Intercourse and the Metropolis.
A solid rubber ‘Slug’ chair by Wealthy Aybar sits beside a cherry wooden shelf that includes intricate vine motifs, designed by Rotterdam-based Austrian designer Laurids Gallée
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Piercarlo Quecchia, DSL Studio)
Valentina Ciuffi on ‘The Theatre of Issues’
The exhibition textual content notes that the present displays on ‘collectible design’s place between creative endeavour and dialog piece, questioning the very which means of dwelling.’ So what sorts of reflections did it make doable? We caught up with curator Valentina Ciuffi to search out out what emerged in the course of the week.
Wallpaper*: In per week of chaos and big-brand gestures, ‘The Theatre of Issues’ felt like a spot for reflection and intimate dialog. Was that your intention?
Valentina Ciuffi: Throughout Design Week, I’m normally operating round like loopy between occasions, conferences, and the whole lot that ‘must be seen’. However this yr, ‘The Theatre of Issues’ gave me a type of morning rhythm I couldn’t resist. I used to be initially purported to attend only one speak, and as a substitute I ended up being there virtually each day. It turned a vital second to start out the day – a day that will then unfold in a busy rush, typically stuffed with fast, superficial conversations, which is typical of Milan Design Week, the place there’s all the time the strain of constructing it to the subsequent factor on time. I’d say it was a very good aspect impact of what we had hoped would possibly occur
New York- and Athens-based studio Objects of Widespread Curiosity contributed the ‘Lithos III’ stools and ‘Holy Mountain’ – a bubblegum-pink cupboard bar with a built-in speaker taking part in a reside audio feed from the Amazon rainforest
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Piercarlo Quecchia, DSL Studio)
W*: How did the conversations unfold throughout the week?
VC: The conversations I joined have been very numerous: some have been mild and playful, virtually amongst associates – since lots of the members already knew one another – whereas others have been extra in-depth, with journalists who have been effectively ready and keen to mirror on the theme. A theme which, in any case, has very broad boundaries.
W*: What have been you hoping to discover by putting designers in an area with their very own work?
VC: The preliminary concept was that collectable design might rework the home area right into a stage. Selecting to furnish your own home with dialog items successfully turns it right into a narrative gadget. And this time, we took a meta-approach: we put that narrative gadget on show and noticed what occurred. We watched how the creatives – those that had truly designed the items – reacted to being ‘on stage’ alongside their objects, and the way observers, critics, and design journalists inserted themselves into this spontaneous efficiency. I’d say it labored.
‘Layer over Layer’, a solid white bronze flooring mild by Dutch artist and designer Linde Freya Tangelder, stands sentry beside her ‘Sculpting Archetypes’ eating chair. Underfoot, the ‘Bonfire’ rug by Milanese artist Stefania Ruggiero provides texture and heat
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Piercarlo Quecchia, DSL Studio)
W*: How did the distinctive traits of the area affect the exhibition?
VC: The experiment made the a lot of the nature of an area – one which’s fairly completely different from these I’ve been working in just lately. This area is smaller in scale, but it surely’s all home windows onto the centre of Milan – it’s a part of town because it strikes, pauses, is shocked, and perhaps even finds time to mirror throughout its common working days. In truth, the exhibition will keep open for fairly some time.
W*: Do you see this experiment persevering with in any method?
VC: I gained’t repeat this precise experiment inside Delvis (Un)Restricted, as I’ll be curating the gallery’s programme for a full yr, and I’m very intrigued by the chance to current new and completely different tasks for this area. However the experiment isn’t over! The present will stay open [through] July, and we’ll be inviting individuals – associates, journalists – to sleep on this storefront area. I already did, simply after Design Week ended. So no, we don’t consider the reflections round this mission are completed. T
he Theatre of Issues will run at Through Fatebenefratelli 9, 20121 Milan till 1 August 2025. delvisunlimited.it
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