Stories. 2. DOUBLE HELIX. THE FORM OF A HAIRSPRING INSPIRES BJARKE INGELS FOR THE NEW AUDEMARS PIGUET MUSEUM. 3. MR. SCENT. FOUNDER OF CULTI MILANO, ALESSANDRO AGRATI HAS CREATED A PERMANENT FRAGRANCE DISPENSER. 3. NEW, RARE, UNUSUAL. NEW TRENDS FOR FLOOR
1. THE HOUSE OF WOMEN. PALAZZO VENIER DEI LEONI IS FAMOUS BECAUSE OF THREE FEMALE PROTAGONISTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
words ELENA DALLORSO
In 1749 Nicolò Venier called on Lorenzo Boschetti, succeeded by the young Domenico Rizzi, to design a five-story neoclassical building on the Grand Canal. Construction began at a brisk pace but was mysteriously interrupted several years later. After the death of Nicolò in 1780 the building was abandoned. The English writer Judith Mackrell tells its remarkable story in The Unfinished Palazzo: Life, Love and Art in Venice, through the lives of its last three inhabitants, emancipated women who were important figures of art, literature and society in the 20th century: Luisa Casati Stampa, Doris Castlerosse and Peggy Guggenheim. The three fell in love with the place precisely because of its decadent, unfinished character. The young wife of the marquis Camillo Casati Stampa visited the palazzo for the first time in 1910, when it was in a very dilapidated state. She rented it for 14 years, using it as a site for memorable parties. Lady Doris Castlerosse renovated the building, and in 1938 she had a dining room and kitchen at the back, a living area and six new bedrooms at the front, with central heating. After World War II the third tenant, Peggy Guggenheim, a wealthy heiress from New York, bought the place for 60,000 dollars, to house her art collection. She remained at Palazzo Venier until her death.
words RICCARDO BIANCHI
Historic Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet and its chairwoman Jasmine Audemars had been considering expanding the company’s museum for some time. They held a competition, won by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels (BIG). The new facility will be partially below ground, connected to the existing museum by a tunnel. In glass, steel and concrete, it rises from the ground like a double helix, a clear reference to the hairspring, but also to DNA. The shape exploits the slope, and the glazings offer views of the company’s master craftsmen at work. The roof has an ecological function, as a meadow that blends into the landscape, optimizing energy consumption.
words BERNARDO RIZZATO
Small inventions can change the world. Like the one created by Alessandro Agrati in the 1980s and 1990s: a permanent fragrance dispenser. At the time he was working as a designer for a furniture manufacturer that used wicker. By chance, he realized the material was like a sponge, and could capture and release odors. He conducted experiments to perfect the idea. Then came the finishing touch: that of scents that would be truly appealing, an invisible, impalpable presence in the decor. In 1990 he founded Culti Milano, where he patiently selects natural ingredients, never overdoing it, always focusing on seductive, elusive impressions.
words MARIO GEROSA
Ceramic surfaces have become the protagonists of residential spaces. New solutions in this field are created every day by the team at Digital Design, a company of the Siti B&T Group that functions above all as a research center. The new ideas for surfaces are presented at the headquarters in Fiorano Modenese, in the spaces of the “Docks”, six areas based on conceptual themes: handmade, wood, marble, stones, structures, cements. Large formats with velvet-like surfaces, ceramics made with digital technologies to reproduce the image of rare marble, precious fossil wood, or types of stone found today only in particular historic works of architecture.