Cantori's timeless elegance becomes outdoor
With elegant lines and solid know-how, Cantori, a leader in furniture design, presents its first line dedicated to outdoor spaces.
"The brief sounded rather generic and seemingly unpolitical," said Nikolaus Hirsch. "Yet, the political and its repercussions on the production of space occurred in three aspects: the phenomenon of globalization in architecture, the national and international real-estate crisis, and the war between Georgia and Russia in 2008."
Approached by developers in Tbilisi, Hirsch explains how he and the team were struck by the potential of post-revolutionary Georgia: "..Its strategic position between oil-supplying and oil-buying countries; its exposure to the imperial ambitions of both the United States and Russia. Since most of our works (such as the Dresden Synagogue or the Hinzert Document Centre) were deeply involved in politics, we felt attracted by the context."
Behind the aesthetic qualities of a mirage of hundreds of glass Rubik's Cubes lies a clever engineering device. A double façade, containing a system of box-type windows of varying depths that offer protection from the sun and between the inner and outer windows, cooling units are installed. The system offers effective noise-proofing and allows the individual rooms internal temperatures to be controlled separately. The building has three cores and a series of light holes on the façade that allow natural light to penetrate the core of the building.
These future design scenarios didn't imagine coping with the drastic change in the political situation in Georgia in 2008. In an interview with Markus Miessen, Hirsch describes the atmosphere as the building went onsite. " 2008 changed everything. It was a unique combination: not only the dramatic subprime crisis in early summer, which moved the global economy on the verge of collapse, but also the catastrophe of the Russian-Georgian war in August 2008. The Russian army stood 30 kilometers away from our construction site in Tbilisi. Contractors and construction surveyors fled to Turkey and Armenia. After three weeks, construction could commence again – but the rhythm of work slowed down."
The notion of context and the relationship between the static object and its fluid internal and external worlds is sharply in focus in this building. "A design is never really a solution of a given problem - it also produces a new reality." Muses Hirsch. "But what the building does is a way to redefine the issue of "context" in our work. It is a context that is not reduced to material and typological references but a context that is both micro and macro. A material strategy and a reaction the political and economical instability." Beatrice Galilee
The Russian army stood 30 kilometers away from our construction site in Tbilisi. Contractors and construction surveyors fled to Turkey and Armenia.
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Inspired by nature
Fast, a company founded in 1995 in Valle Sabbia by the Levrangi family, is specialised in outdoor furniture, representing the best of made-in-Italy quality.