Design duo Laetitia de Allegri and Matteo Fogale used amber and black marble in different shapes and patterns to create an immersive installation for this year's Milan design week.
Described by the duo as a mausoleum, the Mystical Solace installation occupied a small triangular-shaped space in the busy Brera district during this year's Milan design week.
When designing the installation for stone company Casone, De Allegri and Fogale hoped to create something that would allow visitors to detach from the bustling streets outside.
Inside, pieces of marble were cut to show different forms and symbols. Striped sections were infinitely reflected in mirrors, while boulder-like objects were designed to reference talismans for visitors to touch.
"Those who will immerse themselves in this dense and suspended place, those who will encounter a personal and not-at-all obvious path, will become the human and mobile element of the display, among the wonder of the stones, contributing to the show with their very presence," said the duo.
"The crazy juxtapositions of the Yellow Siena marble and the dark stone of Noir Doré tell us that light and darkness are inevitably intertwined, that the time of Black or White is long gone – if there ever really was such a time."
The show was curated by Studio Vedèt, which was founded in January by Valentina Ciuffi – previously editor of Abitare.
The message Studio Vedèt, De Allegri and Fogale were keen to get across was that of a widespread need for a "mystical detachment" from the world.
"The reference, more or less explicit, more or less provocative, is that of the contemporary and widespread need to [create] a mystical detachment from the world and from the daily, buzzing, fast pace of things," they said.
"If this need is fully justified, increasingly it seems to stumble over exquisitely western practices that are, to say the least, curious, sometimes fake, far from any form of authenticity."
Mystical Solace was just one of many installations to take place in the Italian city during Milan design week, which ran from 3 to 9 April. Other highlights included a merry-go-round filled with products by Lee Broom and a tree-like installation that blossomed mist-filled bubbles by Studio Swine.