Zucchetti and Kos

“Ways of Water” is a large installation in the heart of Brera district that can be visited during the whole week. Studio Lys signs the creative direction of this exhibition, celebrating the multiple natures of water, the fluidity to get lost in and the poetics of dream and abandonment.

The signage with the name of the exhibition, Ways of Water on linen fabric at the front door is the perfect introduction to a space in which the Italian brand seeks to pay homage to nature, and focus on sustainability through water. This installation translates Zucchetti’s Water Values and Kos’ Water Wonders into a play of transparencies, lights, reflections, materials, depth and lightness inviting us to consider the preciousness of water and rediscover a conscious relationship with it.

The location’s industrial structure is visible and combined with the naturalness of water. This translates into new materials such as gauze suspended from the ceiling, recalling the ripples of a liquid surface and building architectural depth through a game of transparencies, stratifications and reflections. In the space, which develops from the street inwards, the curtains’ movement recreates a fluid path with an ethereal and timeless dimension.

Framed in the evocative installation, Openhouse Studio was involved in the curation of the music that can be heard while visiting the space as a way of generating a total experience which involves all senses. The authors of that playlist, are part of a collective called the Sound Earth Legacy, an organization that creates music from nature sounds in order to preserve a legacy as it is at risk of extinction.

Alex Aller with the sound and Irene Sáenz with visuals arranged a performance relaying on the consciousness of being part of nature and the idea of urgency in careness as we are also nature.

“Considering that the space is located in a central and busy area of Milan, we wanted to create a real installation: a gesture of strength, but quiet strength, in Zucchetti and Kos’ manner. The company has always worked on substantial products and activations, carrying out conscious actions that know how to combine industry with poetics, concreteness of the product with lightness of the senses. The idea of the installation was born to mirror Zucchetti and Kos’ attitude” declares Matteo Fiorini, founder of Studio Lys.

Every element of the installation has been studied and organized so that they can be dismantled and reused in the future also for other functions, reflecting the conscious and sustainable approach typical of the company. The fabrics used for the set-up come from the Italian company The House Of Lyria. For the interior, the Merluzzo fabric has a translucent and shiny appearance given by the density of the threads and wefts, while the lightness of the material contrasts its tactile sensation, rigid and resistant. Garzone fabric is used for the exterior.

This white linen with a natural, organic and primitive appearance is characterized by a canvas weave and a snappy and rigid hand, which has not been subjected to any particular treatments. Casone Group provided the installation’s stonework. In the new pool area, the handcrafted platform is in Pietra Forte Fiorentina, split-cut and smoothed starting from a solid block. A choice linked to tradition for a stone which has been used for urban and convivial spaces.

Across the whole itinerary, Zucchetti and Kos also presents new sculptural compositions: the exclusive projects signed by Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodríguez, and David López Quincoces, among others.