Laufen, inside its Milanese showcase, presents an intriguing encounter between different arts and approaches, in pursuit of an original way to narrate places and spaces. This intention leads to the project “Art meets Architecture,” a cycle of encounters inside Laufen Space Milano where architecture and visual arts (photography, graphics, cinema) establish a dialogue, in relation to the iconic design of the Swiss brand.
The program begins with the architect Marialuisa Montanari and her “Impossible Architectures”: a series of photographs as an overview of personal geographies, investigating the relationship between image and imagination. Some of the best-known monuments of architectural history are juxtaposed with the natural element, altered in terms of place and form, so as to offer a reinterpretation of the traditional narrative, changing common reference points and generating a sense of disorientation in the observer.
“While on the one hand works of architecture are inevitably dense with references to their specific function and the historical period of their creation – the artist says – the montage with other works and other elements, distant in space and time, frees them from any shared significance.”
The exhibition “Architetture Impossibili” (on view until 6 December) is suspended in the Laufen showroom, taking its place amidst the collections of the brand and creating a path through the new setting (the fourth after the opening in 2021), created by Studio Lys of Milan: the concept takes its cue from Teatro alla Scala and produces a grille structure suspended between the ceiling and the floor that can change form, brighten, emit sounds, show videos and display objects, combining physical and digital parts with a certain degree of freedom.
