MEMPHIS GROUP

Visit at the V&A Museum

At the Victoria and Albert Museum, at the furniture section on the fourth flour there is a large collection of Memphis objects and pieces of furniture really interesting. 

CASABLANCA
Italy, 1981
Designed by Ettore Sottsaa
Made By Memphis, Milan
Plastic laminate over fibreboard
COLORADO
Italy, 1983
Designed by Marco Zanini
Made by Ceramiche Flavia, Montelupo Fiorentino, for Memphis, Milan
Earthenware
FOUR DESIGNS FOR CRUDITÉ DISHES
Italy, 1983
By Matteo Thun
For The Memphis Group, Milan
Pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour
DESIGN FOR A FANTASTIC INTERIOR: ‘AMBIENTE CON PATATE’
Italy, 1981
by Andrea Branzi
For the Memphis Group, Milan
ink on card with laminated paper collage

THE FUTURE SARTS HERE

Visit at the V&A Museum

At the Victoria and Albert Museum is currently on the exhibition “The Future Stars Here”, until the 4th of November.

This exhibition displays nowadays technology, the way it interfere and effect our lives in the near future. And you get the chance to think what choices we have, as people living in cities, to influence their development.

More the 100 objects are brought together, from the basic home appliances to more sophisticated satellites, either already released or still in a development stage. Other might look like coming from a fiction movie set but they are all real. The works come from all over the world, produced by research labs, universities, design studios, government groups but also by common people with little resorts.

The exhibition moves around four different scenarios: self, public, planet and afterlife. In this way you can understand better how the technology is changing our life and how is changed the way we interact with each other from different angles. How we live, learn and even love.

It’s a bit disappointing that there’s nothing really to discover. It seems the future that all of us already knew. I didn’t particularly like the layout of the exhibition. The space is divided in four areas but after all it still look messy and everything look on top of each other. Not easy to move around. 

I defiantly recommend to spend your money in other exhibitions.  

Renzo Piano at Royal Academy of Arts

The Royal Academy features some of Renzo Piano’s most important projects in this exhibition on his career. Iconic works including The Shard, the Centre Pompidou and the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre are showed here.
It’s fascinating to understand the amount of time and resources involved in each project. The progression from his first hand drawn sketches to the actual final building. The way Piano meets and tries to understand communities giving an essential meaning to the social context around the projects.
It’s also inspirational to discover the importance of the “piazza” for the Italian architect, a space he sees as vital to create a social feeling. “A piazza is an empty space with no function. A space without function allows one to be ‘in the moment’, he says. 
This is an unmissable opportunity to discover more in depth the pioneering works of this visionary architect.

    Modernist architecture in London

    Alexandra Road Estate – Neave Brown – 1972
    This is a beautiful example of modernist architecture. We are in the London Bourogh of Camden. The Alexandra Road Estate is one of the most recognised housing block of the entire England. Construction works started in 1972 and were completed only in 1978 after many delays. It’s a complex of three blocks, four to eight floors tall. They were built next to the national railway. To avoid the vibration from the trains running just a few meters away the entire structure seats on rubber pads. With over 520 apartments, the Estate also includes a school, a community center and many other facilities. 
    Walking through the blocks you can see how the sharp concrete edges predominate all over. The green on the balcony though makes everything smoother and lighter. 
    There is no better way to really feel the style of the ’70s than visiting this symbolic piece of architecture.