Mapei is again taking part in the FuoriSalone with an installation entitled ‘Tangible & Intangible’ designed by One Works, a global architecture and design firm founded in 2007 by Leonardo Cavalli and Giulio De Carli. The installation was created in partnership with ICA Group for the exhibition-event entitled Design ‘Re-Evolution’ organised and coordinated by Interni (17th – 26th April 2023) in conjunction with the 2023 Furniture Show in Milan.
Tangible and intangible, visible and invisible: the work investigates the dualism in architecture and building between what can be seen and experienced with the senses and what cannot be seen but can still be perceived.
A subject quite familiar to Mapei, whose building materials are often an invisible presence in many construction/renovation projects. The company welcomed the idea enthusiastically and got its Research and Development laboratory and technicians to supply the materials and products needed to carry out the project, which will be installed in the Main Courtyard of the University of Milan.
"We are very happy to be taking part in the Fuori Salone for the sixth time and to be doing so alongside the international firm ‘One Works’, whose focus on sustainability and drive for innovation are something we have in common - so Simona Giorgetta noted, a member of the Mapei Board of Directors -. The installation immediately captured our interest and drew us in, because, in a direct way, it showcases the tangible and 'intangible' in architecture, breaking them down into an installation embodying the essence of a finished building: materials, research, innovation, sustainability and experimentation, which are also the grounding elements in Mapei's work".
Leonardo Cavalli, co-founder of One Works, added that: "We immediately thought of Mapei for this Fuorisalone installation, whose focus on innovation is renowned throughout the world. The installation, developed also with the invaluable support of the ICA Group, is not just an example of the dualism and complementarity between the tangible and intangible, it is also a metaphor for how the world of architecture is based on very close cooperation between very different, but mutually essential players".
The installation
The installation aims to represent cultural dualism by revealing the reciprocal complementarity, but also the extreme contrast, between the tangible and intangible, the split between the built and imaginary. The material and immaterial coexist along the same path: on one hand what can be experienced with all the senses, on the other what cannot be physically touched but can still be perceived in a space for feeling emotions.
Two totems are positioned along a path built on a platform. One of the two totems, the one referring to the tangible, is made up of layers of various building materials, which we are not used to seeing, because they vanish from the human eye when a work of architecture is completed: mortars, sealants, plasters and other Mapei materials are superimposed over various essential building features, such as metal profiles, wood and glass painted with ICA Group products and brick blocks. The column, stripped of its "skin", of its finishes, shows all the complexity giving dignity to the elements that compose it.
The other totem, the one representing the intangible, is designed out of a thin metal profile that creates a visually empty parallelepiped, which comes to live and takes visitors into the intangible world of virtual experience.
By scanning the QR Code in the center of the totem with a smartphone, it is possible to access a game which, through a simple questionnaire, allows visitors to visualize an imagined city created by artificial intelligence, highlighting how the extraordinary ability to generate images, in construction and architecture, is increasingly widening the gap between imagination and production.
Beyond Tangible & Intangible: the presence of Mapei at Fuorisalone 2023
In addition to the Tangible & Intangible installation, during the Fuorisalone 2023 Mapei participated with its products in the creation of other initiatives. It provided its materials for the creation of the Ánthinos.2 installation by Leonardo Laino, mosaic artist, professional of applied arts and founder of the Leonardo Laino Laboratory - Interior Decoration, located at Il Salotto di Milano, in Corso Venezia 7, and for the creation of the GioPagani showroom, in Via San Marco 26. With the work Open House by Leroy Merlin, Mapei has turned the spotlight on the importance of the thermal insulation system for the energy efficiency of buildings and homes .
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