This is the installation designed by Ma Yansong and Andrea D’Antrassi of MAD Architects for AXA IM Alts, for the INTERNI Design Re-Evolution exhibition at the University of Milan. Visitors will find themselves contemplating a pure shape, a cube, tilted by 45° and anchored in the ground. Momentum represents the moment when a new awareness is born, when the creative process begins.
MOMENTUM
The iron structure, measuring 8 metres along each edge and 12.5 metres high, is covered with strips of ETFE polymer, a metallic, reflective material. During the day, it mirrors its surroundings, like a creative mind in the unpredictable act of searching for inspiration. As evening falls, the cube’s surface becomes ethereal, transparent, ceding to artificial light the main role in the installation. The interior illumination embodies “the moment, a dialogue between thought and evolution that’s both pure and disarming”.
The installation’s technical sponsorship saw us working together with architects from MAD Architects to use light to emphasise the artistic concept behind Momentum. The inner surfaces of the cube are lit with a grazing light by Rio 1.3 and Rio 1.4 profiles with diffuse light, 3700K, giving the object an “extra-ordinary” value. The fixtures are placed end to end to create continuous lines of light that enhance from within the reflective material with which the cube’s structure is clad. Meanwhile, nine Trevi 1.2 profiles with diffuse light, 4000K, are fixed to the triangular base that supports the cube. These fixtures are programmed to activate at regular intervals to create a light play that evokes the pulsing rhythm of the heart.
The project also comes to life in the virtual realm. A QR Code enables visitors to activate two Instagram filters, a daytime and a nighttime one. With these, they can enjoy two different views of the work: the first enhances the cube and its reflective capacity; the second brings to the fore the light effect within.
At the end of the exhibition, a smaller version of the project will be installed in the building at Via Monte Rosa 91, Milan – a Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) project – which AXA IM Alts manages on behalf of its clients.
MOMENTUM
INTERNI Design Re-Evolution
Cortile d’Onore, University of Milan, Via Festa del Perdono 7, Milan
from 17 to 26 April 2023
opening hours:
17–23/04 10am–midnight
24–26/04 10am–10pm
Project: MAD Architects
Implementation: AXA IM Alts
with: P.A.T.I., Maco Technology srl – Roberto Maffei
Lighting: L&L Luce&Light
Motion design: Studio AIRA
Fog effect: Nephos
INTERNI DESIGN RE-EVOLUTION
The Momentum installation is part of the exhibition-event organised by INTERNI, which, for this edition of the Fuorisalone, is called “Design Re-Evolution”. The event’s very name expresses the key concepts of the review it aims to carry out with the collaboration of architects, designers and firms.
“Re-Evolution”, revolution and evolution together: revolution intended as the redevelopment of the territory, materials and objects; evolution as the result of the synergic work of people, companies and citizens. It is a collective effort to promote the construction of a positive, dialectical relationship between human beings and the environment, and the achievement of happiness.
The INTERNI Design Re-Evolution exhibition will take place in six locations across Milan:
17–26/04 University of Milan – via Festa del Perdono 7
17–26/04 Orto Botanico di Brera, ENI Space – via Fiori Oscuri 4
17–23/04 Audi House of Progress, Portrait Milano – corso Venezia 11
17/04–1/05 Eataly Milano Smeraldo – piazza XXV Aprile 10
17–23/04 Urban Up | Unipol, De Castillia 23 – via De Castillia 23
17–26/04 Torre Velasca, Piazza Velasca 3/5, digital installation
