Milan 2014: an exhibition simulating the homes and workspaces of architects including Shigeru Ban, Zaha Hadid, David Chipperfield and Daniel Libeskind has opened in Milan, allowing young designers to explore the domains of their idols (+ movie).
Located at the Milan Fairgrounds, the Where Architects Live exhibition entails a series of spaces based on the domestic environments of nine eminent designers, based in eight different cities.
The installations, which also feature Mario Bellini, Marcio Kogan, Bijoy Jain, and Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, focus on one detail from each home to create a multimedia representation of both that building and its surroundings.
"A house is not really private," said Daniel Libeskind at the exhibition launch. "I have no secrets, so all the secrets are shown and of course my house is not just about furniture and light."
In Libeskind's space, sliced openings and recesses frame a series of views of artworks. "The domestic environment is no longer seen as some mechanical functionalistic machine to live in, in my view, and it is something that has stood with the global memory with where we are, where we are coming from and where we are going," he said.
The home of Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, this year's Pritzker Prize winner, was built around existing trees and features a series of elliptical windows and openings. Here, these shapes become projection screens displaying views of Tokyo.
"The problem with my house was that there were so many trees, and I didn’t want to cut any trees; that was the main problem. So we are living in between the trees," said Ban, explaining how the design first came about.
The space belonging to Italian architect Mario Bellini replicates the combined staircase and bookshelf that reveals the architect's love of reading, while David Chipperfield's installtion is dominated by a concrete wall that reflects the stark interior of his Berlin home.
Venetian blinds line one side of the installation for Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan, allowing light to filter gently into the space, contrasting with the spectrum of light and colour that patterns the walls of the room based on Zaha Hadid's London studio.
Antique warriors stand guard at the Paris home of Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, and reappear here, while the final space is based on the reading room of Studio Mumbai principal Bijoy Jain.
Where Architects Live was curated by Francesca Molteni and Davide Pizzigoni, and can be found in Pavilion 9 at the Rho Milan Fairgrounds from 8 to 13 April. The exhibition also includes film interviews with each architect and scale models of all eight spaces featured.
