Arch and Art

Arch and Art is a cultural project of Assolombarda Confindustria Milano Monza e Brianza organised and coordinated by Domus and produced in collaboration with the Milan Triennale. Set up in the Triennale Gardens, the initiative is part of the programme of secondary events organised on the occasion of the XXI International Exhibition.

An original and innovative project, Arch and Art aims to document the transversal link that unites a work of architecture and a work of art, and vice versa. Architecture and art have always both contributed to shaping and creating the places and spaces in which humans go about their lives. In our recent past, however, these two disciplines have been separated by an increasing distance. Swaying between autonomy and infringements of their domains, they have in fact abandoned working side by side, ceasing to offer us those magnificent masterpieces that we were used to seeing them produce in the past. These considerations have fuelled the desire to do something tangible today that can reunite art and architecture after their long estrangement.

With the intention of demonstrating this sort of “contamination” between the two fields, five architects and five artists have been united in pairs and invited to design five architectural pavilions, each conceived to contain a single work of art. In this way, ten masters of architecture and contemporary art – David Chipperfield and Michelangelo Pistoletto; Michele De Lucchi and Enzo Cucchi; Hans Kollhoff and Mimmo Paladino; Eduardo Souto de Moura and Jannis Kounellis; Francesco Venezia and Ettore Spalletti – have joined forces to create a space of freedom in which the two disciplines can once again have a point of encounter, openly and respectfully engaging each other without invasions, yet nonetheless asserting their raison d’être through what they create.

The most classic historical iconographies portrayed saints who carried cities on the palm of their hand as a gift to the citizens. And this is also our conception of Arch and Art – as a gift to us today from architects and artists. All visitors to the XXI Triennale can admire and enjoy these creations in the Triennale Gardens, which are unique in their kind and custom-made for this project.

2 April – 12 September 2016
Arch and Art
a project by Assolombarda Confindustria Milano Monza e Brianza
Realized by Domus in collaboration with La Triennale
Curated by: Nicola Di Battista
Set design: Centro Studi Domus with Marco Diana
Graphic design: Giuseppe Basile
Structures: Milan Ingegneria
Contractor: Botta SpA