A Designer and an Artisan: Creativity and Craftsmanship
Renowned architect and designer Michele De Lucchi pairs designers with artisans to create objects that celebrate the hand at Creativity and Craftsmanship, Venice
A designer and a woodcarver. A product designer and a Delftware artisan. A designer and two carpenters.
These are just three of the eight collaborations that were set into motion by renowned architect and designer Michele De Lucchi’s exhibition Creativity and Craftsmanship. Conceived for the Michelangelo Foundation’s Homo Faber showcase, De Lucchi decided to pair world-class designers such as Marcel Wanders and Ugo La Pietra with specialist artisans to create commissioned pieces that represent specific regions of Europe and celebrate the hand in the production process. De Lucchi says: “Hands are the most effective tool we have. By making things with our hands, we connect our brain to reality, to matter, to shape. We give substance to imagination.”
The brief set by De Lucchi was to create a free-standing object inspired by the spiritual notion of the tabernacle – a residence or dwelling place designed to hold something precious. Tackling this brief, the designers and artisans worked together over many months.
The result is eight unique works that demonstrate the fruitful outcomes when traditional making-techniques are both honored and challenged by the imagination of the designer and the skill of the artisan. The pieces are currently on display in the monumental Cenacolo Palladiano in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. They are accompanied by short films that document the collaborative making process.
The objects in Creativity and Craftsmanship are:
Interno/Esterno: CasAperta by designer Ugo La Pietra and marble mosaic artisan Giulio Candussio
Gabbiadoro by designer Martine Bedin and carpenters Dominique Monié and Jean-Luc Cesses
Monochrome cabinet by designer Adam Lowe and Factum Arte Workshop
Trinity by designer Alfredo Häberli and carpenter and specialist in the Weissküfer technique Roman Räss
Enlich-Unendlich – Finito infinito by designer Ingo Maurer and metalsmiths Martin Deggelmann and Enno Lehmann
Starry Pyramid by designer Oscar Tusquets Blanca and artisan Pere Ventura Sala
Celeste Blue by designer Piotr Sierakowski and wood marquetry artisans Andrzej Dobrowolanski and Jakub Przyborowski with artist Pola Dwurnik
One Minute Vase by designer Marcel Wanders and ceramicists Wilma Plaisier, Jorrit Heinen/Heinen Delfts Blauw
In addition, artisans from the Milan-based furniture designers Bottega Ghianda will work in situ at the entrance to the exhibit to showcase the value of the handmade and some of Italy’s finest craftsmanship.
Creativity and Craftsmanship will be on display until the September 30
Cover image: Left: Celeste Blue, designed by Piotr Sierakowski, produced by Andrzej Dobrowolanski & Jakub Przyborowski and painted by Pola Dwurnik, handmade cabinet with two doors and metal shelves. Right: Golden Cage (Gabbiadoro) designed by Martine Bedin and produced by Dominique Monié and Jean-Luc Cesses, gilded wood tower/pyramid-like sculpture.
© Michelangelo Foundation
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