british sculptor alex chinneck, known for inverting electricity pylons and tying grandfather clocks in knots, has ‘unzipped’ the façade of a building in milan as part of the city’s design week festivities. to create the dramatic effect, chinneck created a totally new elevation in the style of traditional milanese architecture, which appears to open up to reveal the building’s interior. the interior spaces, on the other hand, are radically transformed through unexpected ‘openings’ in the cement pavement and stone walls.
all images by marc wilmot
serving as the project’s distinctive feature, the zip is used as a device through which the artist gives way to a series of surreal crevices from which an ethereal and weightless light disseminates. ‘through the repeated use of the zipper, we have opened up the fabric of a seemingly historic milanese building to playfully re-imagine what lies behind its façade, floors and walls,’ explains alex chinneck.
the walls and floor become metaphors for a process of transformation, evoking — through a series of portals — seemingly infinite routes to a newly imagined future. ‘ethereal light pours through each opening, filling the space with color and filling the work with a sense of positivity and potential,’ chinneck continues. the project spazio quattrocento until april 14, 2019 as part of milan design week. see designboom’s ongoing coverage of the world’s biggest design event here.
project info:
artist: alex chinneck
name: IQOS world revealed by alex chinneck
presented by: philip morris international
location: spazio quattrocento – opificio 31, via tortona 31, milan
dates: april 9-14, 2019 from 10AM to 9PM
photography: marc wilmot
alex chinneck (12 articles)
alex chinneck unzips the walls of an abandoned office building
alex chinneck ties antique grandfather clock in a knot of ticks and tocks
alex chinneck ties 450-year-old column into a knot
alex chinneck fractures the façade of a brick building in london
alex chinneck spears inverted electricity pylon into london's greenwich peninsula
alex chinneck melts two-storey wax house in london
milan design week 2019 (77 articles)
polestar recreates the vividness of driving at milan design week 2019
jasper morrison, konstantin grcic and foster + partners present new projects for mattiazzi
‘I am dead now, I feel so free!’ - philippe starck's acceptance speech at THE DESIGN PRIZE
art news
curated by the neighborhood, this book shelf illusion features 8 languages and cultures
#art
no political books, no religious books -- those were the only rules.
no political books, no religious books -- those were the only rules.
carlos amorales' swarm of thousands of black butterflies invades fondazione adolfo pini
#art
15,000 paper creatures populate the foundation's new and existing spaces, starting from the staircase at the entrance.
15,000 paper creatures populate the foundation's new and existing spaces, starting from the staircase at the entrance.
dystopian fairy tale by nick stath depicts mountains and trees as 'monuments of the past'
#art
'monuments of the past' is an illustrated architectural narrative that poses what life could be like in a future where mother nature and her resources have »
'monuments of the past' is an illustrated architectural narrative that poses what life could be like in a future where mother nature and her resources have diminished before our eyes
benedetto bufalino cuts fiat coupé horizontally to serve french fries on the street
#art
the car has been transformed into a one-of-a-kind friterie.
the car has been transformed into a one-of-a-kind friterie.
I’ve always been fascinated by zippers. This is really super duper cool!