Nilufar Teams With Mutina and Patricia Urquiola
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MILAN — When Milan-based art dealer and gallerist Nina Yashar is asked how she would describe this ongoing artistic age, she takes a measured pause.
“I like to define this moment as Contemporary Baroque because there is a total openness to materials, colors and durability and there is an ample ratio with respect to the past and the present,” the doyenne of the Milan design scene mused. The excitement in her voice is palpable as she details her latest hotly anticipated event and installation that will open Design Week in Milan on April 17.
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It’s a project linking ceramics specialist Mutina to the exclusive world of design through a special installation at her sprawling gallery Nilufar Depot. During the duration of Design Week, a structure made of a 3D element known as Jali will take over its atrium. Designed by Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola for Mutina, the brick is the basis for a contemplative structure, definitive of society’s pursuit of spaces with a natural, sustainable and inspirational spirit.
Ever they catalyst of cross-cultural conversations, Yashar, the daughter of an Iranian antique carpet dealer, has forged many relationships in the design world. To her credit, she has sealed the successful destiny of old and new visionaries by housing their creations under her roof. Over the past four decades, great designers like Gio Ponti, Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Bruno Mathsson, Alvar Aalto, Martino Gamper and Osanna Visconti have all passed through the doors of her galleries. With more than 300 objects on display at any time, her “living museum” is credited with chronicling the ongoing artistic era.
The Mutina collaboration, she explains, is the result of great respect and admiration for both the company and Urquiola, who she says share the same timeless artistic language. Together, she continued, they created like an “architectural project inside a home.”
The display will be arranged over three levels, connecting it with the iconic pieces of historical design.
For Nilufar Depot, Urquiola designed a monumental and scenographic installation, entirely realised with Jali bricks in black. A big lantern and a bench emerge from the wall, creating a meeting point and an immersive experience for visitors, in part thanks to the innovative use of lights, which enhance the dynamism of the structure.
Urquiola has been an integral part of the Mutina team since 2008 and designed the iconic Mutina 3D brick in the shape of a Roman Numeral called Celosia. Last year the company unveiled its Spazio Mutina space, which was designed by Urquiola Studio in collaboration with Mutina Projects Division as a space to host the entire brand universe — Mutina Collections, Mutina Interiors and Mutina Editions.
“It’s the sort of eclecticism only Nina could pull off. In a moment of great confusion Nina, is a master at combining different themes, styles and tastes,” Mutina chief executive officer Massimo Orsini said.
“It is an installation born to dialogue with the environment, a meeting place, a garden seating set, through which we wanted to amplify the narrative and versatile presence of Jali,” Urquiola added.
Nilufar Depot will host the Jali exhibit between April 17 to 23, and will continue until the month of June, at Nilufar Depot, on Viale Vincenzo Lancetti, 34 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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