DESIGN: MATILDE CASSANI WITH; GIORGIA CILLI, DENIZ SAK, EUGENIA MACCHIA

 

http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/yap/2013rome_cassani.html

 

GROUND ATLAS IS A HYBRID PROJECT. IT TAKES INSPIRATION FROM PUBLIC PLACES, BOTH NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL. IT RECALLS A BEACH IN THE RELATION ESTABLISHED BETWEEN WATER AND GROUND, BY ITS USES AND ITS ACCESSIBILITY. IT RECALLS ITALIAN PIAZZAS USUALLY CHARACTERIZED BY STONE PAVEMENTS LAID GEOMETRICALLY. ON THE CONTRARY, THE CHOICE OF THE MATERIALS REMINDS OF THE TEMPORARY AND SUDDEN ATMOSPHERE OF THE TOWN FEASTS, FROM WHICH IT DRAWS EPHEMERAL CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND LIGHT DECORATIONS.

GROUND ATLAS IS AN IMAGINARY SECTION ON THE REALITY, A PORTION OF ITALY DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS: A SQUARE WITH STALLS, A CROWDED BEACH WITH BEACH UMBRELLAS, A FOUNTAIN WITH PEOPLE SITTING ON THE EDGES, A GROUND ATLAS, ALBEIT VERY SMALL, IS IN BETWEEN THE ARTIFICIAL RECONSTRUCTION OF A NATURAL LANDSCAPE, A BEACH, A PUBLIC URBAN SPACE, A SQUARE, AND THE REVIVAL OF A TRADITIONAL SCULPTURAL MONUMENT, A FOUNTAIN. THE RESULT IS A NEW PLACE, WHERE NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN.

 

A LARGE STAIRCASE INTRODUCES THE VISITOR TO A SLOPING WOODEN PLATFORM PLACES ON THE STEPS OF THE MAXXI MUSEUM. THE PLATFORM TURNS THE STEPS INTO A LARGE FLAT SURFACE THAT GENTLY DECLINES UNTIL IT DISAPPEARS INTO A SQUARE FILLED BY WATER.

THE PROPOSED INTERVENTION IS HARDLY VISIBLE IN SECTION, WHILE THE AREA COVERED IS REMARKABLE. ITS SURFACE AREA IS LARGE AND IMMERSIVE IS MADE TO LIE DOWN AND LOOK UP TO SEE WHO IS COMING FROM THE FRONT AND TO LOOK DOWN, TAKING THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN WATER AND WOOD AS AN ARTIFICIAL HORIZON. THE PLATFORM IS VISIBLE FROM THE INSIDE OF THE MUSEUM IN ALMOST ALL ITS EXTENSIONS: THE FLOOR, OUTER SPACE OF THE SQUARE, THEN BECOMES THE NEW LANDSCAPE. LEAVES ROOM FOR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND ALLOWS YOU TO WATCH ITSELF AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. THE GUEST, WHILE LYING, REVISES THE IMAGE OF THE COURTYARD BY INSERTING NEW CHARACTERS: THE FACADES OF THE SURROUNDING BUILDINGS, THE VOLUMES OF THE MUSEUM SEEN FROM BELOW, THE FIFTH IN THE TREES THAT LINE THE STAIRCASE, THE SKY AND FINALLY THE HORIZON OF WOOD AND WATER. GROUND ATLAS IS THEREFORE A DEVICE (OR PERHAPSA PLOY) TO IMMERSE THE VISITOR IN THE SQUARE OF THE MAXXI, MAKING HIM FEEL IN THAT PLACE BUT ALSO ELSEWHERE, IN A SORT OF UBIQUITY FORCED BUT PLEASANT, WHERE EXCEPTIONAL MEMORIES MINGLE WITH MORE EVERYDAY MEMOIRS. THE VISITOR LIES DOWN AND REMEMBERS THE SQUARE IN FRONT OF THE CENTRE POMPIDOU IN PARIS AND THE PIAZZA DEL CAMPO IN SIENA, REMINISCENT OF THE LAST BEACH SUMMER VACATION AND RECALLS THE BOAT TRIP TO GREECE, THE YEAR OF MATURITY.

 

A MULTITUDE OF COLORED FLAGS VISIBLE FROM A DISTANCE, GIVES THE ESSENCE OF TOWN FEAST BUT ALSO THE IDEA OF THE OPENING CERAMONY OF A NEW PUBLIC SPACE OFFERED TO THE CITY.