By Athina
Iconoclastic, ironic, and fun: Alessandro Mendini was an architect and designer who was decidedly out of the box.
Active in Milan, where important – and in some ways, imposing – internationally renowned designers worked (Ettore Sottsass, Vico Magistretti, and Achille Castiglioni, to name a few), Mendini managed to emerge and stand out thanks to his visionary and highly personal poetic approach.
This week’s Design Icon is one of the many masterpieces by this eclectic architect: the Cubosfera lamp, created in 1968 for Fidenza Vetraria.
This is a table lamp made of molded glass in a cubic shape. It consists of two concave parts that, once joined, form a sphere (within which the light bulbs are placed).
Mendini plays on the apparent incompatibility between these two geometric shapes: the sphere symbolizes dynamism, while the cube is an anti-dynamic figure, anchored on its four sides.
In reality, the two shapes are homeomorphic (they can be deformed into each other without any gluing, tearing, or overlapping); the result is an object with a clean and essential design, yet with a sharp and playful aspect.
By placing human beings and their functional and spiritual needs at the center of his research, Mendini aspired to create objects that could do more than simply fulfill their function.
In his desire to give objects the power to entertain, provoke thought, and transmit positive energy to the user, there is a departure from the rationalist era and a first approach to postmodernist positions. To exemplify this, we can mention the famous “Anna G.” corkscrew designed for Alessi and the Proust Armchair (1978), a postmodern synthesis that people either love or hate.
“The last freedom is played out inside the house, because in the city and at work, we are prisoners. In the prison of the house, however, we return free. In fact, it is the only space of anarchy.” He would say, playfully but not too much.
Driven by a creativity and imagination almost childlike (in the positive sense of the term), inspired by the irreverent, playful, and colorful forms of the best Futurism, Mendini undoubtedly succeeded in bringing anarchy and fun into our homes.
