Design, nature and food meet within the Alcova space during Fuorisalone 2019, involving the Ciam company and the food designer Francesca Sarti, founder of Arabeschi di Latte. A synergy originating from an increasingly contemporary concept, the conservation of life, a concept that also inspires both the CIAM identity and soil phytoremediation, a natural technology from which the art works created by Sarti originate. Organic shapes inspired by nature were preserved in highly innovative refrigerated display cases, the result of CIAM’s research and experience. These high design cases guaranteed the preservation of the food, ensuring that its sensory qualities and aesthetic perfection were retained. A rigorous set designed by Fabrizio Milesi, strongly inspired by the symmetrical character of the industrial space, allowed genius and nature to give life to a fluid dance of metaphors in which Francesca Sarti's edible sculptures and Ciam's technological sculptures become true protagonists.
“Visiting the Alcova space for the first time, I felt a deep sense of rigour, a serene emptiness full of light…I immediately thought that this tension should definitely be maintained in the project”
From Cova Factory to Alcova Space, from the production of panettone to the production of concepts, ideas, dialogues, reflections and beauty. The desire to maintain the fascinating decadence of an industrial archaeology as a backdrop to the most innovative design products demonstrates the ability to look to the future, infusing innovation and concurrence. It was with this spirit that we participated in the creative performance by imagining a highly balanced and symmetrical set design that confronts the almost sacred monumentality of his space, characterized by a perfect symmetry of elements, the two large concrete beams and the vaulted roof above. The setting, in fact, is generatedby a perfect symmetry, carefully arranging two identical horizontal elements and placing a vertical backdrop element in contrapposto. At the centre only the emptyness. The space is built with two of the most symbolic products from CIAM’s recent research: Murozero Slide (a vertical refrigerated cabinet with flush sliding doors, selected by the ADI Design Index 2018) and Move 16 (an horizontal counter with automatically-opening glass cabinets). The super-glossy stainless steel finish of the two Move 16s has completely dematerialized their dimensions, making them ethereal, almost transparent, and, with their reflective surface, multiplying the movements of visitors within the space; these two counters arranged one in front of the other gently direct one’s gaze towards the large Murozero Slide with a monochrome matte finish that stands out like a theatrical backdrop against the back wall. At the centre, a monolithic concrete element organizes the flow of people, and is set up as a large seat. The comparison between materials and concepts, between containers and contents, is surprising on this project: the lucidity of the steel converses with the sense of mass-production taken from the sheet metal of the floor, the roughness of the monolith with the softness of the opaque paint, the large prefabricated concrete beams create tension with the fragility of the small pastry sheets, transparent works by Francesca Sarti, carefully preserved inside the CIAM cabinets. It is exciting to see how buildings are brought back to life within their walls through the contemporary vision of those who live in them and those who know how to give quality, perfection and poetry to commonplace objects such as a refrigerator, a former panettone factory and food.
KEEPING LIFE synergy originating from an increasingly contemporary concept, such as the conservation of life, that also inspire the CIAM identity and the soil phytoremediation, a natural technology from which the art works created by Sarti originate.
