Marni's Wooden Beacons
Published 17 months ago
Architect Matteo Thun teams up with Marni's creative director Consuelo Castiglioni for an unexpected installation
- Text by Dazed Digital
"The Wooden Beacons" is the new installation by architect Matteo Thun to be housed by the Italian label Marni based on a 'talking point about a life cycle's rhythm'. Going through a process of managing the entire life cycle of a product from it's conception, through design and manufacture, "The Wooden Beacons" is a dialogue between two creative worlds: architecture and fashion. Hardware and software. The mix of raw and soft elements as a demonstration of life cycle management.
The installation is composed of three "hardware" parts interacting with the "software". Wood as Matteo Thun’s favourite material in architecture and design becomes a statement, and even treated it remains natural. Beacons, representing the "hardware", are made from American red oak from the sustainably managed forests of North America, as a result of a close collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC).
Whilst the "software" inside the beacons are by Marni, where one beacon contains floating paper patterns, a series of outlines the designer uses to cut materials, and another beacon is filled with bales of Marni fabrics in different prints. The third beacon supports a sphere with hanging jewellery pieces in wood, resin, horn and seeds.
Two more installations complete the project: in the courtyard of the Marni boutique in Via Senato, American walnut wood planks placed upright randomly create a path. In the window of the department store La Rinascente American cherry wood planks form together with jewellery elements a fragmentary composition.
