Foscarini
195
Installation created in 2010 with more
than 100 Tress lamps for the Designer’s
Saturday event.
Anni Luce, Triennale di Milano, 2016. Project
curated by Michele Calzavara and Elisa Ossino
to celebrate the Lumiere lamp’s 25th anniversary.
About shedding light
Open locations, not mere showrooms, through which Foscarini conveys its identity and
at the same time generates dialogue with the outside world, in a spirit of inclusion and
engagement. The designer of the two spaces, both located in historical buildings, is
Ferruccio Laviani, whose project is based on a series of display cases of different sizes,
ready for free confi gurations. Besides encouraging direct and empathic contact with
the lamps, the modules function as backdrops for periodic site-specifi c installations,
because the showrooms have been immediately open to the creativity of artists, desi-
gners and architects. Among the fi rst to be invited, the architect Attilio Stocchi – for the
opening in Milan – created a light sculpture of remarkable visual impact, titled Seme/
Seed. Next came the artist Stefano Arienti with an original environmental installation
on one of his most cherished themes, Algae, inspired by Arte Povera and Conceptual
Art, for New York (2013) and then Milan (2014). In the years to follow, these have been the
spaces for the various exhibitions organized for Design Week, as well as other special
installations. This was the case during NY Design Week 2015, with the photographic
performance Twice Light by Gianluca Vassallo, in which the Twice as Twiggy lamp by
Sadler was seen in a giant version, becoming the protagonist – together with the people
– of the public spaces in New York City. It was a sort of social experiment in which pairs
of strangers were invited to pose under the arch of the lamp, giving rise to small tem-
porary communities. This was all reassembled in the installation, where the shots were
displayed on one wall to form the profi le of Manhattan.
Laviani, a long-term reference point for the trade fair displays of the company, as
well as a designer of products, has created most of the exhibits, apart from several
exceptions, such as the project for Euroluce in 2009, assigned to Migliore+Servetto.
Laviani has also designed the stand for Euroluce 2017, based on a ‘double’ Foscarini,
seen from the outside with large lightboxes featuring the sole decoration of a fragmen-
ted logo, and a presence that was striking for its rigorous form, while inside a more
relaxed, playful spirit was revealed. The designer’s communicative touch has also
stood out in the project of a theatrical red tunnel, a place of convergence of the eclectic
universe of the Foscarini collection, presented at the fair in Stockholm in 2016. A jury of
journalists assigned the prize for best stand in the fair to this project, and its replica is
presently on view at the company headquarters, where by crossing it guests and visitors
can have an immediate experience of the catalogue. Laviani is also the designer behind
the latest settings, including the window displays of the new Milanese facility of Spa-
zio Monforte – which replaces Spazio Brera – with inventions that are always original,
also to enliven and interpret the internal space in different ways. Since 2019 Spazio
Monforte is the representative location of the brand in Milan, in an area with
a history of venues hosting the fi nest companies in the fi eld of lighting design.
Chap. 4 — Communicating the culture of light
195
