THE FIRST TIME I SAW
Taschen’s MARLENE TASCHEN on moving to Milan
MY FIRST ENCOUNTER with Milan was not exactly love at first sight. I only came to appreciate the city’s understated charm once I began working on our bookshop.
We opened Taschen in the spring of 2015 in the Cinque Vie, a historic neighbourhood just a stone’s throw from the Duomo and Da Vinci’s The Last Supper in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. With the Expo underway, the whole city was experiencing a transformation, shedding its more reserved character in favour of an open, international outlook.
Picking up some Milanese customs made life particularly enjoyable: a cappuccino and brioche in the morning; an early evening aperitivo.
Milan is full of hidden gems. There are numerous parks and myriad archaeological sites. Recent projects such as Rem Koolhaas’ tower for the Prada Foundation intersect with other dazzling examples of modernist architecture. Our bookshop combines traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design: 1950s pieces by Gio Ponti and Flavio Poli are juxtaposed with custom Marc Newson bookshelves and a Venetian terrazzo flooring by artist Jonas Wood.
What I took with me from Milan is the proverbial ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. Milan taught me to look at urban spaces and architecture with curiosity and to develop an open mind for discovery. That can often lead to beautiful surprises. 我跟米蘭首次接觸，並非所謂的「一見鍾情」。直到我在我們的書店工作，我才開始欣賞這座城市內歛的魅力。
2015年春季，我們在歷史悠久的Cinque Vie區開設Taschen書店。這個舊區有濃厚的傳統氣息，附近就是米蘭主教座堂及恩寵聖母教堂，達文西的名作《最後的晚餐》就在後者的食堂內。那時正值世界博覽會舉行期間，整個城市亦隨之出現變化，放下平日矜持的性格，變得更開放、更具國際氣息。
米蘭有很多令生活更愉快的習慣，例如早上喝一杯泡沫咖啡配brioche甜麵包；黃昏時分，則會小酌一杯開胃酒。
米蘭城內有許多鮮為人知的精采之處。城裡有多個公園，而且遍佈古蹟。近日有Rem Koolhaas為藝術機構Prada Foundation設計的大樓落成，與其他出色的現代主義建築互相輝映。我們書店的裝潢將傳統手工藝及當代設計共冶一爐： Gio Ponti及Flavio Poli於1950年代的作品與由Marc Newson特製的書架並列在一起，威尼斯式水磨石地板的設計出自當代藝術家Jonas Wood的手筆。
我從米蘭學到的，就是俗語常說的「勿以貌取人」。米蘭讓我懂得以好奇的眼光來觀察城市的空間與建築，並以開放的態度探索不同的事物，這樣往往會為你帶來意想不到的驚喜。
MarleneTaschen是藝術圖書出版社Taschen的董事總經理，出版社於香港的大館開設首家亞洲專門書店。taschen.com