Aldo Rossi honoured with a retrospective exhibition in Milan

Italian Architect and renowned theoretician Aldo Rossi wore many hats when it came to designing. He was not just an iconic figure in the architectural world of neorationalism, his understanding of the entire concept of architecture as a human postulate is a source of learning and contextualisation for young design enthusiasts globally. In this fascinating new exhibition by Museo del Novecento in Milan, the audience gets a glimpse of hundreds of Rossi’s distinguished creative endeavours that were more satirical, innovative and futuristic statement pieces than just simple utilitarian objects. The exhibition will be on view at the museum till October 2022.

Curated by Chiara Spangaro with the Aldo Rossi Foundation and Silvana editorial group, the exhibition will dive into the world and understanding of design through the eyes of the legendary Italian architect. From his first conception of a furniture piece in 1960, Rossi drew the observer's attention to the constant dialogue between a cityscape and architecture. He righteously seconds ‘platonic design’ as a concept wherein the context and narrative of a design, the story behind it, holds more importance than the design itself.

Over about 20 years of his career, Rossi created more than 20 different pieces of furniture and prosaic objects, some of which are under the umbrella of production still. He always focused on the story, innovation and the context behind the design than on the object itself. All the exhibits at the museum, including everyday objects, pieces of furniture, photographs and drawings curated by Rossi, work along the lines of experimentation in terms of the colours, materials and structures.

The layout of the exhibition as designed by Morris Adjmi of MA Architects, who happened to be an assistant and a fond associate of Aldo Rossi, takes the audience through Rossi’s mindful universe in the frame of nine rooms. Each room at the exhibition represents a certain poetic intellect curated by the Italian architect throughout his life. The first room sheds light on the interrelationship between colourful painted images and the objective reality. The second room has a series of prototypes and variants as in an imaginary home setting. The third room is a poetic reconstruction of Rossi’s Paris series and the coffee piazza service pieces as visual centrepieces, surrounded by many of the previously unseen architectural drawings of his private residence in Via Rugabella.

Rossi believed that humanity and design share a common dialect. He beautifully represented this design language through the paradoxically incomplete house for the dead in his design for the San Cataldo Cemetery in Modena. The fourth room commemorates the cemetery’s design by unifying different objects made by Rossi, by placing each of them in glass cubes. The fifth room introduces the audience to Rossi's apollonian geometric figures which he used in many of his drawings and prototypes. The sixth room is a showcase of a huge variety of chairs, armchairs and loungers, all of which are differentiated by shapes, textures and materials and united with purpose. Along with a variety of lounge chairs in various shapes and colours which are occasionally adorned with a fanatical stick figure reclining on them.

The seventh room brings forth a collection of home furnishings and usable objects from his own home including American coffee makers, a print by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and a 19th-century sideboard amongst other objects of a domestic abode. The room is practically a direct lens into his personal space. The eighth room has an important collection of furniture pieces that Rossi did for his buildings including a chair designed for Carlo Felice Theatre, the Museo chair for Bonnefanten and many more. The exhibition closes with its last and final room showcasing the magical and mysterious Teatro del Mondo, designed by Aldo Rossi as a floating theatre in Venice.

Rossi's exhibition is a wonderful attempt at visually and intellectually understanding the designer's philosophies. With the organisation and support of the Museum and all the curators, the exhibition will be followed by a publication of all the pieces brought together for the first time.