Matteo Fogale, who until recently worked in the creative duo with Laetitia de Allegri, went back to the country he originally came from to be inspired by the legacy of local modernist architecture and moved it forward in the collaboration with seven local design studios. Fogale was born in Punta del Este, a small coastal town near Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo. He spent his childhood in Italy and now works in London, where he became one of the promising talents of an emerging generation of product designers.
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This year, he was given the opportunity to come back to Montevideo and take part of a residency project in the former house and studio of the Uruguayan architect Julio Vilamajó Echeniz (1894-1948). Fogale spent several weeks there. He focused primarily on the life and creations of this lesser-known figure of modern architecture, searched his archive, and visited some of his exceptional buildings he had built during his relatively short life in Uruguay. Since the 1920s, Vilamajó has been one of the pioneers of modern architecture in the country, and under the influence of his famous foreign colleagues such as Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer and Frank Lloyd Wright, has since then developed his own specific version of South American modernism. At the end of his life, Vilamajó met some of the masters when he took part of the workshops during the building of the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The most striking example of his style is his own house, which he completed in 1930. It became a museum in 2012 and its interiors were open to the public. The special residency program for artists and designers was also established. They are invited to work in the premises of the house. It represents an original conception of modern architecture, which in the creation of Julio Vilamajó interconnects with eclectic inspiration of historical styles and non-European cultures. Vilamajó traveled to Europe and North Africa in the early 1920s and studied Arabic architecture. Its influences were also imprinted in his own home. The architect never denied the ornament and created a surprising project in which the radical spatial concept links with the sensitive decorative details, sophisticated built-in furniture of Art-Deco influences and generous open-space interiors.
Julio Vilamajó’s furniture has become an inspiration for Fogale, who wanted to discover and process a lesser-known chapter of the architect who subsequently built several major projects in the country, including the brutalist Engineering faculty or the El Mirador hotel of vernacular style. Fogale was immersed in the archives of drawings and technical drawings of Vilamajó’s carpenter and found some impressive details that later served as direct inspiration for individual pieces of new furniture collection.
London-based designer then collaborated with seven design studios. The result is seven series of objects or solitaires, including marble lamps, a mirror bar, a leather cushioned bench, or a quilted chair. All the objects not only follow specific drawings, but are also inspired by the sensitivity of Vilamajó’s work, the materials he used and craftsmanship of local craftsmen. Among the Uruguayan designers who worked on the project were Menini-Nicola, Rafael Antía, Claudio Sibille, Estudio Diario, Carolina Palombo Piríz, Muar and Estudio Claro.
Fogale presented the results in a contextual installation at Aram Gallery. Besides furniture, it also pshows historical archive materials, including photographs, sketches and period magazines and books. It reveals forgotten story of the Uruguayan architect in a sophisticated and creative way, connected to contemporary design culture. Through the creation of Matteo Fogale and the contemporary young generation of Uruguayan designers, the life and work of one of the very original representatives of regional modernism comes to life again.
- Exhibition title:
- Hilos Invisibles (Invisible Threads)
- Exhibition dates:
- 17 September - 27 October 2018
- Venue:
- The Aram Gallery
- Address:
- 110 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, London