via MILANO
A compilation of posters made for the course History of Design, under professor Arturo Dell’Acqua Bellavitis, at Politecnico di Milano.
Harshali Paralikar July, 2017
Pforzheim, Germany
Art Nouveau Architecture Art Nouveau was aimed at modernizing design, seeking to escape the eclectic historical styles that had previously been popular. Artists drew inspiration from both organic and geometric forms, evolving elegant designs that united flowing, natural forms resembling the stems and blossoms of plants. Art Nouveau architecture was a reaction against the eclectic styles which dominated European architecture in the second half of the 19th century. It was expressed through decoration. The buildings were covered with ornament in curving forms, based on flowers, plants or animals: butterflies, peacocks, swans, irises, cyclamens, orchids and water lilies. Façades were asymmetrical, and often decorated with polychrome ceramic tiles. The decoration usually suggested movement; there was no distinction between the structure and the ornament. The style first appeared in Brussels’ Hotel Tassel (1894) and Hotel Solvay (1900) of Victor Horta. The architectural style spread from Belgium and France to Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain and the rest of Europe, taking on different name and character in each country. It reached its peak in 1910, and by the beginning of the First World War it was virtually finished. A new style, Art Deco, took its place. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau#cite_note-65 http://www.theartstory.org/movement-art-nouveau.htm Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Location: Zona 2
Stile Liberty details in the windows
Via Pietro Marroco, Milano A quite street fifteen minutes north east of the Centrale Stazione, Via Pietro Marroco is uneventfully dull on a hot summer day. The only ristorante on the street prepares itself for lunch time customers. There’s one other shop, a property renting agency, which prepares itself to close for lunch time. It is here that my business brings me. Having arrived a wee bit late to pay my monthly rent, I am asked to wait as the employees break for lunch. This delay leaves me with some time and so walking around, I am pleasantly surprised to see that in a neighbourhood full of late 20th century architecture, a sole structure stands out for its floral motifs and faces. The building that houses my renting agency is a residential building. It is simple, to the extent of being uninteresting at first glance. On a closer look one can see faces of women on top of every door. They have curly hair framing an expressionless face with leaves and flowers for a background. The faces at the highest end wear large beads in the neck. Floral patterned tiles run along the higher edge of the building. Balcony ledges are adorned by motifs of creepers and intervened tendrils. Beams supporting the balcony are decorated with buds and flowers. In all, this Stile Liberty building stands out for not adhering to the cubical scheme of modern architecture around it. Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Loaction in Pforzheim
Jugendstil details
Pallazo Cusini, Via Durini
Bleichstrasse, 92, Pforzhiem Having spent the weekend in Germany, I got the opportunity to see the buildings built in the German Art Nouveau style, the Jugendstil. The Jugendstil was named after the art and design magazine “Jugend” which was created in 1897 in Munich. This building close to where I lived while in Pforzheim exhibits plenty iconic details: intertwined creepers with flowers and leaves and faces of women and childern. Unlike the Stile Liberty in Milano, the creepers here seemed more entangled with thicker stems. The decoration gave a heavy, mysterious feel, like the one on top of the door (first image to the right). Tile work in the middle of the building depicts a crown and an axe with two rings around it encircled by a wreath. The words “Anno 1907” are on either side of this wreath. I assume the building was built in that year and has some connection to the crown. A unique observation here is the garlands of flower that frame the windows (third and fourth image to the right), which gives it a slightly regal look. The Jugendstil seems to have been inspired by the flora of the region, its few, small flowers and more leaves and stems are evidence to that, as compared to Stile Liberty in Italy, which has more tendrils and petals, flowers and flourishes, reflecting the plants thriving in the warm weather of Italy.
Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Location in Pforzheim
Stores showcase a wide variety of products from top design studios
Pallazo Cusini, Via Durini
Bleichstrasse, 88, Pforzheim Another interesting specimen of Jugenstil is this building on Bleichtrassse, 15 minutes away from Pforzheim Hauf Banhoff, the main station. It’s yellow sand stone easily eaily attracts attention. This residential and factory building by architect Heinrich Deichsel was made for the manufactuere Victor Mayer. Mayer was a jeweler and wanted to make and sell his jewelry from this building. Pforzhiem being the town of jewelers, was then the seat of minute crafts ranging froom watch making to jewelry production. The estate was from 1905 to 1983 seat of gold and silwerware factory Victory Mayer and now houses only a jewelry store. The facade of yellow sandstone has some protruding bricks, forming neo-Gothic and Jugendstil style of architecture. The balcony ledge is a repeat patern of natural, organic motifs. A relief placed over one of the largest windows depicts a shield with the alphabets V and M and year 1905. It is held by two angels surrounded by leaves and florets. The combination of two styles of architecture give the building a mildly Gothic look from afar, and and Art Nouveu look from a up close. I wonder if this combination was the architect, Mr. Deichsel’s design or the commissioner, Mr. Mayer’s taste.
Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Both the churches as seen on the map
Crowded piazza at the Santa Maria della Grazie, after the Pope’s visit.
One of the chapels in Santa Maria Della Grazie
Santa Maria Della Grazie Chiesa Santa Maria presso San Satiro Santa Maria Della Grazie is a red brick structure, similar to many other churches in Milan. Architects Guiniforte Solari built it’s nave in a Gothic style. The apse and the dome, on the other hand, are built by Donato Bramante in the Renaissance style. Completed in 1497, the then duke of Milan, Francesco I Sforza ordered the construction of the Dominican church. I was awestruck by the difference between the styles of the two distinctly different architects at Santa Maria. The trip was fulfilled with a pleasant surprise of having seen the Pope who was visiting Milan at that time. Housed quietly in a nice on the busy shopping street of Via Torino, Santa Maria presso San Satiro is an example of Renaissance architecture, the architect being Donato Bramante. It was commissioned by Duchess Bona di Savoia and Duke Gian Galleazo Maria Sforza and was completed in 1482. The choir, due to the presence of the road Via Falcone behind the church, was replaced by Bramante with a painted perspective, realizing in this way one of the first examples of trompe l’oeil in history of art.
Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Similar grille work is found on the sturcture opposite the church
Playing with the perception of depth at Santa Maria San Satiro
Left: Fusion of traditional pottery and modern graphics Right: Japanese art in layers
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Korean Pottery, Triennale
Would you drink? Top: A play of light and shadow, Brera Bottom: New age pottery- 3D printing experiments
Fuori Salone: Culture, Context and Perspective The onset of April brought with it bright sunshine and plenty excitement as the city of Milano geared up for the International Design week 2017. The characteristic Salone del Mobile in Rho, a suburb, and the bustling design districts in the heart of the city gathered an audience from around the world. In India, where I was born and raised, Design is in the process of gaining a foothold in the general public, and companies have only now started to value Design thinking. So when I started my Fuori visit witht Triennale design district, I was pleasantly overwhelmed with thie celebration of Design at such a large scale. Triennale had exhibitions from different countries, and each offered a unique sensory experience under one roof. When one lays eyes upon something, a descision of whether it lies in their tastes and scope of understanding is formed within a fraction of seconds. The dislikes are then dismissed, the likes, retained. Taking in all that was displayed at the Fuori meant pushing the boundries of one’s mind and allowing more variety of information. This meant pausing, understanding the background of the exhibit, where it comes from, what it stands for, and what it has to say. The five days of Fuori granted a glimpse at all kinds of things: the local and the international, the relatable and the unrelatable, and the obvious and the hidden. Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Lift it with one finger!
Simple. Durable. Elegant.
Natural ashwood in black. Seat in India cane.
The Genius of Gio Ponti: La Superleggera (1952) The Superleggera might be the most conventional choice for an iconic Gio Ponti product, but I’d be lying to myslef if I didn’t select this as my favourite. In one of the first few classes of the course History of Design, we visited the Castello Sforza to see the Museo del Mobile (museum of furniture). It is there that I first saw the Superleggera and instanatly admired it. The Superleggera is simple, durable, and elegant. It’s provides for a broad spectrum of aesthetic and economic needs. Following the Italian aethetic, and the vernacular archytype of a straw chair, it’s super light frame in ashwood and seat in natural cord are a pleasure to the eye. I absolutely admire this design for its simple and light form. It appeals to every eye from a wide range of cultures. In India, where I come from, they use cord and rattan for furniture purposes too. I find it interesting how the chair combines design with crafts, giving scope to traditional craftsmen and including them in todays world of mass manufactured goods. It makes design cultural and inclusive. The chair allows for various combinations of frame colour (stained black, white, walnut and more) and seat material (cord or leather) thus allowing for personal taste. Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
The most common example of cane weaving found in India.
28 Apr - 20 Aug 2017
La Terra Inquieta An exhibition that explores real and imaginary geographies, reconstructing the odyssey of migrants through personal and collective tales of exodus. Crashing waves, gurgling water. Silence. Murky feet pedalling hard to stay afloat. Entagled bodies. Head above water, take a deep breath. Closeby, a baby lets out a desperate cry. Lumedusa disaster. It is rather unfortunate, that thousands of people in the Mediterranean region are suffering what can be called one of the greatest crisis of modern history, and the rest of the worl has little idea of their experience. The global audience is so far away from the field that sitting in their chairs, they never truly are stirred by the magnanimity of having lost ones everything. La Terra Inquieta is a stirring exhibition of the pain and loss suffered by the migrating populace. It delivers exactly what the newspapers and the social media posts miss- sensitive, firsthand experience of being lost, scared, and hopeless resident of an unstable nation. As living conditions in Libya becoming more and more dangerous, numerous vessels filled with hopeful hearts leave the coast for the north, unsure whether they will even see land again.
Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
1 Apr 2017 - 18 Feb 2018
Giro Giro Tondo A new history of Italian design, devoted to the world of children and to the design and architecture that has been created for them. The exhibitoin includes the games and images that have amused and informed them, the spaces within which they took their first steps, and the objects they used to discover the world. As the Triennale assistant checked my ticket at the entrance, she smiled kindly and said, “feel free to look around and click pictures, we have only one request: do not touch anything until the last two rooms, especially the first room”. I smile at her insistence. Of course, it’s a design museum, why would I touch anything? -The first room in the Giro Giro Tondo is filled with scaled up, curvy and colourful objects. One instinctively tends to reach out to touch them! Forms of animals and plants, couches and everyday objects scaled up in materials like plastic or fabrics. They were easily double the size of a human, even a little over maybe. Their scale changed the proportions of the room. I felt far smaller in the space, almost like I was a child. I fought the urge to climb up on a sofa chair, whose seat was easily at the same high as my chest. Primary and secondary colours, distinctively different textures, forms with more curves and few edges, all packed at a scale larger to the human body. Artefacts in this exhibit made me feel like I was in Alice’s Wonderland. The intent of the exhibition, to remind adults that they too were once children, was very successfully achieved!
Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Map showing Via Durini and Corso Monforte
Stores showcase a wide variety of products from top design studi
Pallazo Cusini, Via Durini
Via Durini Corso Monforte Via Durini is a street dedicated to Industrial and Interior design located near San Babila. The Durinis were one of the oldest families in Milan who became a part of Milanesi aristocrasy after buying the title and county of Monza. The street was a part of the once modest district Cantarana di Porta Tosa. It now houses famous brands which exhibit pieces of top designers. Corso Monforte is street connecting the city centre to Porta Monforte. This street exhibits a wide collection of lighting shops, housing a variety of unique pieces.
Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Villa Reale di Monza The Villa Reale was built between 1777 and 1780 by the imperial and royal architect Giuseppe Piermarini commissioned by the archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg, general governor of the Austrian Lombardy, thanks to a substantial funding donated by his mother, the empress Maria Theresa of Austria. The U-shaped plan can be referred to the typical layout of the 18th century Lombard villas. Standing in the ball room at the entrance, once can sense an imaginary line deviding the villa. Towards the gardens is the direction of Vienna, and the opposite side leads straight to Milan, thus indicating that the occupant of the Villa had a hold on both these strong cities. With the Unity of Italy, (1862), the villa and the park were donated by Parliament to King Vittorio Emanuele II. The king, in its turn, gave it to his eldest son, Prince Umberto on the occasion of his marriage with Margherita di Savoia. In 1878 Umberto ascended the throne and turned Monza in the summer residence of the court. Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Location: Monza
Painting in the Ball Room give an impresion of a dome.
The Savoys were very fond of technological advancements, thanks to which one can see heating ventilators in almost all rooms. The Villa was also the first in Europe to have electric lights installed. The Savoys brough the grid lines for power from Milan, the second city in the world to recieve electric lights only after New York, and made this feat possible. One can also observe modern bathroom fittings including a commode and twho seperate taps for hot and cold water. When the king was assasinated on July 29, 1900, Personal effects were withdrawn by the royal house and the villa was closed and forgotten. The Gardens of the Villa Reale, covering 40 hectares, were designed by Piermarini, assisted by gardeners sent from Vienna at the behest of Maria Theresa of Austria. They were the first in Italy to be designed in the “English style�, with alternating trees and lawns, and with grottos, lakes, decorative waterfalls, an artificial hill and a small Doric temple, which is mirrored in the waters of a lake. http://www.turismo.monza.it/en/things-to-do/1386-monza-royal-palace-and-gardens Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344
Eclisse (1965) Artemide
The Dawn of The Eclipse The Eclisse table lamp designed in 1965 by Vico Magistretti for Artemide won the Compasso d’Oro in 1967 and has become a classic of Italian design. It is an object of the simple shapes inspired by the blind lanterns of miners or thieves, as pointed out by Magistretti. The lamp is composed of 3 “semifere”. The base, the fixed outer shell, and the movable inner shell with the manual rotation makes it possible to adjust the luminous flux recalling, in fact, an eclipse of the moon. Choosing a simple technology, not exasperated, aesthetic based on primary forms. The hemisphere by rotating on its own axis can graduate the light emission. http://catalogo.living.corriere.it/catalogo/prodotti/Artemide/Eclisse.shtml#
Why Ecclise I was fascinated by this lamp the moment I laid eyes on it. Attracted by the simplicity of the forms that come together to make this tabletop artefact, its colour suggests a playful and easy going mood. Louis Sullivan’s quote “Form follows Function” is given a different meaning with this product. Here, form is the function! Using the lamp, watching it’s shade rotate to transform into a crescent moon is an experience of sheer joy. Currently working on the form of a Coffee Machine totem in my Product Design Studio project, the Eclisse’s form language impressed and inspired me. The 60s were an era of growing technological advancements, people wanted to see faster, newer and better. In the midst of this, the Eclisse provided a simple bulb, encased in a sphere but delivered the cute ambience that one would require in a study setting. Technologically speaking, Ecclise proves that good design is not always about cutting edge tech. It is in it’s essence, creativity delivering aesthetic and easy functionality. Harshali Paralikar Matricola no: 884344