agrAir by Piuarch at Milan Design Week 2018

Between earth and air
Between earth and air
Photo © Giovanni Hanninen

Drawing on the past to set the lifestyles of the future: that was the mission of agrAir, the installation designed by Piuarch for “Inhabits” event at Milan Design Week 2018, located in the middle of piazza Castello in Milan,

Between earth and air
Photo © Giovanni Hanninen

The project was conceived as an opportunity to re-think about the traditional setting of the urban fabric and to recover its values in the city of tomorrow. The key features of the projects – lightness, brightness, careful use of resources, eliminating the boundaries between interior and exterior, between natural and artificial spaces – were outlined in a balanced relationship between the elements of earth and air.

Between earth and air
Photo © Giovanni Hanninen

This relationship was thus figured out by two horizontal layers, parallel to each other. The lower section, at ground level, consisted of a rust colored expanded clay platform, made by Laterlite, which set a dialogue with the brick walls of the Sforza Castle.

Between earth and air
Photo © Giovanni Hanninen

It included two pedestrian crossing and it was almost entirely covered by herbs: a sort of botanical garden, designed by the landscape designer Cornelius Gavril and enriched by colorful flowers and perfumes, that acted as a symbol of agriculture’s recovery in the city center.

Between earth and air
Photo © Giovanni Hanninen

Parallel to the green basement, a multitude of transparent balloons danced gently, following the movement of the air. It was a cloud, metaphor of a forest but also of the city itself, whose reflections changed color in daytime; at night, it was turned into a fluctuating lantern by the artificial lighting designed by Rossi Bianchi Lighting Design and made by Platek.

Between earth and air
Photo © Giovanni Hanninen

Between the two horizontal layers, some connections were drawn: the acrylic glass rods were used as support for creepers reaching to the balloons, making the indissoluble between natural and artificial.

Between earth and air
Photo © Giovanni Hanninen

The quality for living in the future outlined by agrAir is like a field of connections with impalpable contours, a space where links between the past, the present and the future are generated and where everything could flow without any interruption, in a set of gentle movements, lights, shadows, fragrances and colors. Source and photos Courtesy of Piuarch.

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