Modern Reverie

This installation reinterprets the allure of Italian interiors from the 1960s, a time when design became the very language of modern life. These were the years of postwar reconstruction and newfound prosperity, when domestic spaces turned into both everyday stages and laboratories of style: dark woods contrasted with bold fabrics in purples and reds, creating interiors that were intimate, theatrical, and sophisticated.

Within this domestic landscape, ANTIQUA brings together iconic pieces of the era: Kazuhide Takahama’s Naeko sofa for Gavina and a large ribbed wood cabinet, Ico Parisi’s model 839 armchair for Cassina, a sculptural glass-topped table attributed to Melchiorre Bega, and Gae Aulenti’s pair of Oracolo floor lamps - timeless expressions of material richness and formal elegance.

The installation is enriched by a selection of rare and refined objects: Leonor Fini’s painted centerpieces, with her enigmatic masks and elegant dragons, and a large glass centerpiece by Pietro Chiesa. In contrast to this nostalgic elegance, the scene is enlivened by the playful gestures of postmodernism: Alessandro Mendini’s pink-toned Zabro armchair/table, Francesco Buzzi Ceriani’s Cuffia lamp, and Ettore Sottsass’s bright yellow Hikary lamp from 1976, a luminous sculpture that heralds the radical turn of Italian design.

This project is both a journey into memory and a vision of the present: a reimagined domestic interior that celebrates the poetic energy of historical design and its enduring relevance today.

Works by:
Alessandro Mendini
Alvar Aalto
Angelo Lelii
Angelo Ostuni & Renato Forti
Carlo Mollino
Ettore Sottsass
Francesco Buzzi Ceriani
Gae Aulenti
Gino Sarfatti
Ico Parisi
Kazuhide Takahama
Leonor Fini & Guido Andloviz
Melchiorre Bega
Michele De Lucchi
Paolo Caliari
Pietro Chiesa
Stilnovo