Gaetano Pesce: A celebration for the architecture: models, thoughts and drawings
On the occasion of the Salone del Mobile 2025, we present Gaetano Pesce. A celebration for the architecture: models, thoughts and drawings, an exhibition that tells the story of the design revolution operated by Pesce, realized in co-production with Studio Gaetano Pesce New York and Contemplazioni, a company specialized in the production of art exhibitions that, among its many collaborations with the master, created two years ago the site-specific installation Vieni a Vedere that was one of his last visions.
Gaetano Pesce returns to the gallery after his 2015 solo exhibition 鈥楩rammenti e figure architettoniche ai quattro angoli del mondo鈥� (Fragments and architectural figures in the four corners of the world) in which he presented 40 works on paper of projects realised between 1989 and 2013, narrated by Silvana Annicchiarico in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition.
The new exhibition will be a tribute to the master鈥檚 innovative conception through models, drawings and autograph texts chosen from among the most important ones to narrate his unique approach to architecture understood as a revolutionary act. In a metal and resin setting, which completely transforms the historic Milan gallery into a joyful yet alienating environment, there are the three architectural models Pluralist Tower, World Trade Centerand Pink Pavilion.
The first model, the Pluralist Tower, whose first design idea dates back to 1987, is a skyscraper with forty levels, designed to be a non-preconceived representation of those who live in it. Each tenant, according to Gaetano Pesce鈥檚 idea, would be free to entrust the design of their portion of the fa莽ade to a different architect or decorator, so that the whole structure would express a non-standardized harmony, a symbol of pluralism.
The second model is World Trade Center (2002) proposed after the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001, for the reconstruction of the Twin Towers; two identical reconstructed architectural volumes, which, however, as they rise, rotate on their own axis with at the top, a large luminous heart that connects the two structures, silhouetted against the New York sky. The Pink Pavilion is the first architecture made entirely of polyurethane foam. Built in 2007 for the Bovisa Triennale, it has been demolished in recent years in the face of general indifference. As a testimony to its architectural values, it is featured in the exhibition as the third model. It is a prototype of a new 鈥渇ast鈥� way of doing architecture, with randomness and spontaneity in the definition of the final form as a design element. The Pink Pavilion is an empathetic, joyful, communicative architecture, archetypal of the research Pesce has carried out throughout his career.
Alongside the models there is a selection of large-format drawings including Hubin鈥檚 House (1988), Church of solitude (1977), Vertical loft (1982) and Maison des enfants (1985). Finally, a focus of the exhibition is devoted to the relationship established between Gaetano Pesce and Oman in the last year of his life. To the journey he made to discover Boswellia trees, whose fascinating ramifications take the shape of an inverted cone. These inspired the three seats in the Oman Chairs collection, among the last masterpieces made by the master. With their uniqueness they represent a further experimentation with material, the result of a unique casting of two different resins, one flexible and one rigid. This will be celebrated in a special event with Amouage, partner in the project.
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On the occasion of the Salone del Mobile 2025, we present Gaetano Pesce. A celebration for the architecture: models, thoughts and drawings, an exhibition that tells the story of the design revolution operated by Pesce, realized in co-production with Studio Gaetano Pesce New York and Contemplazioni, a company specialized in the production of art exhibitions that, among its many collaborations with the master, created two years ago the site-specific installation Vieni a Vedere that was one of his last visions.
Gaetano Pesce returns to the gallery after his 2015 solo exhibition 鈥楩rammenti e figure architettoniche ai quattro angoli del mondo鈥� (Fragments and architectural figures in the four corners of the world) in which he presented 40 works on paper of projects realised between 1989 and 2013, narrated by Silvana Annicchiarico in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition.
The new exhibition will be a tribute to the master鈥檚 innovative conception through models, drawings and autograph texts chosen from among the most important ones to narrate his unique approach to architecture understood as a revolutionary act. In a metal and resin setting, which completely transforms the historic Milan gallery into a joyful yet alienating environment, there are the three architectural models Pluralist Tower, World Trade Centerand Pink Pavilion.
The first model, the Pluralist Tower, whose first design idea dates back to 1987, is a skyscraper with forty levels, designed to be a non-preconceived representation of those who live in it. Each tenant, according to Gaetano Pesce鈥檚 idea, would be free to entrust the design of their portion of the fa莽ade to a different architect or decorator, so that the whole structure would express a non-standardized harmony, a symbol of pluralism.
The second model is World Trade Center (2002) proposed after the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001, for the reconstruction of the Twin Towers; two identical reconstructed architectural volumes, which, however, as they rise, rotate on their own axis with at the top, a large luminous heart that connects the two structures, silhouetted against the New York sky. The Pink Pavilion is the first architecture made entirely of polyurethane foam. Built in 2007 for the Bovisa Triennale, it has been demolished in recent years in the face of general indifference. As a testimony to its architectural values, it is featured in the exhibition as the third model. It is a prototype of a new 鈥渇ast鈥� way of doing architecture, with randomness and spontaneity in the definition of the final form as a design element. The Pink Pavilion is an empathetic, joyful, communicative architecture, archetypal of the research Pesce has carried out throughout his career.
Alongside the models there is a selection of large-format drawings including Hubin鈥檚 House (1988), Church of solitude (1977), Vertical loft (1982) and Maison des enfants (1985). Finally, a focus of the exhibition is devoted to the relationship established between Gaetano Pesce and Oman in the last year of his life. To the journey he made to discover Boswellia trees, whose fascinating ramifications take the shape of an inverted cone. These inspired the three seats in the Oman Chairs collection, among the last masterpieces made by the master. With their uniqueness they represent a further experimentation with material, the result of a unique casting of two different resins, one flexible and one rigid. This will be celebrated in a special event with Amouage, partner in the project.
Artists on show
