An exhibition dedicated to women’s empowerment, on the Amalfi Coast

Read
Travel

Palazzo Avino’s “Palace to Palace” Art Takeover

An exhibition dedicated to women’s empowerment, on the Amalfi Coast

Lucrezia Worthington

17 September 2024

When it comes to the Amalfi Coast, Amalfi and Positano often take the spotlight compared to their smaller, hilltop neighbor Ravello; but it’s precisely for this reason that Ravello has become a destination worth visiting for those seeking to escape mass tourism. Perched 365 meters above sea level, this quaint village boasts a panorama that sweeps the coast, over Minori, Maiori and extending southward toward the Cilento coastline. This vista is what you’ll wake up and fall asleep to at Palazzo Avino (where the best moment might very well be at sunrise, when the entire coastline is painted in pink hues). The hotel officially opened back in the 1930s, welcoming actors such as Humphrey Bogart and Gina Lollobrigida during the filming of Beat the Devil, as well as notable filmmaker Roberto Rossellini and his lover, the actress Ingrid Bergman. But it’s not until 1995 that the property was purchased by its current owners, the Avino family, who, from a state of abandonment, lovingly and carefully restored it to its former glory. 

Today it narrates the story of a family—the kind of family that takes into consideration every minute detail in order to unveil the secrets of this glamorous destination and one that treasures a world of culture, craftsmanship and savoir-faire. In fact, the property is that of two souls. The first is an ode to tradition—an aristocratic residence with a tapestry of Italian and French antiques, gilded details, ancient majolica tiles, Vietri ceramics and Moorish arched windows. The second is the integration of contemporary art and design, a direction that the Avino sisters (Mariella, Attilia and Mariavittoria) sought to weave into the property.

Architect and interior designer Cristina Celestino was the first to bring her avant-garde touch to the hotel, transforming seven of the 53 rooms and suites. She revamped them around three main color tones—aquamarine, coral, and sand—reflecting the essence of the Palazzo’s surroundings. Celestino also designed The Pink Closet, a luxury boutique opened in 2019 that features hand-picked items by Mariella.

The latest projects have been designed by Neapolitan architect Giuliano Andrea dell’Uva, who designed the prestigious Infinito Suite in 2023. Set across two floors, the architect restored the ancient tower of the palazzo, integrating designer furnishings by Gabriella Crespi, Gio Ponti, Hans-Agne Jakobsson and Ignazio Gardella. English artist David Tremlett was also commissioned for a site-specific work adding color to the vaulted ceilings and handcrafted ceramic-tiled floors. The suite’s color scheme aligns with Gio Ponti’s “Mediterranean Law” concept which underlines that “everything by the sea must be colorful.” Within the suite, breathtaking views pour out from the private terrace, as if you’re suspended between sea and sky. 

This year, dell’Uva also unveiled a new room with twelve more set to follow next season. This sea-view nook has been coated in chalk white, with splashes of pink and blue to recall the fantastic three-dimensional headboard created by Venetian artist Giulano Dal Molin. Next to the bed is the traditional Moorish arched window, iconic of the property, that looks out into the gardens and beyond. This particular style has been reflected by the architect as an arched, glass door to enter the bathroom. 

Furthermore, dell’Uva injected his contemporary vision to Rossellinis, Palazzo Avino’s one-Michelin-starred restaurant. In parallel with the aesthetic changes is the culinary format overseen by chef Gianni Vanacore. Diners will begin their culinary venture with a glass of champagne and amuse-bouche on the lawn before taking a seat at their table and the options of three different tasting menus with one common denominator: the dessert trolley. It shows up at your table post dinner with a delectable selection of regional delights including a slice of rose-scented pastiera, the art of Neapolitan pastry.

Within the spaces of the Caffè dell’Arte, the Avino sisters decided to create a living gallery, imbued with creative works that rotate on an annual basis. This year, until November 2024, Palazzo Avino has collaborated with Palazzo Monti, an artist residency in Brescia. The theme is one that marries the philosophy which guides the Pink Palace today: female empowerment.

As Mariella says, “Breathing life into the palace, infusing it with art, has been an enduring journey that has grown richer with each passing year. The idea that this year the project will shine a light on the female world of art holds even a deeper meaning for me, resonating with our DNA and family legacy.” The Palace to Palace art takeover, curated by the honorary director of Palazzo Monti, Umberta Beretta, celebrates femininity through emotion, creativity, exploration, color and inclusivity. This exhibition showcases the diverse perspectives of emerging international female artists through a collection of paintings, sketches and photography.

The Importance of PR for Designers and Architects

Effective public relations (PR) is essential for designers and architects looking to gain visibility and build their brand. While you might be focused on your craft, reaching the right audience is equally important. In today’s competitive market, utilizing a premium PR service like Designspotter Newswire can be a game-changer. Here’s how you can enhance your PR work as a designer or architect and boost your presence with the help of our platform.

Designers and architects often overlook the significance of strategic PR in their professional growth. However, PR can do wonders for showcasing your work, attracting new clients, and building your brand’s reputation. A well-crafted PR strategy can highlight your projects, tell your unique story, and place your brand in front of the right audience — from potential clients to industry influencers.

Whether you’re launching a new collection, unveiling a sustainable architectural masterpiece, or pushing the boundaries of design, PR ensures that your voice is heard. Without it, even the most groundbreaking projects may go unnoticed.

Maximizing Your PR Strategy with Designspotter Newswire

Designspotter Newswire offers a comprehensive solution for designers and architects who want to reach the right audience through the right channels. Our premium PR ticker is specifically tailored to the needs of creative professionals in design, architecture, tech, and lifestyle industries. Here’s how it can work for you:

Effortless PR Management: You don’t have to be a PR expert to take advantage of Designspotter Newswire. Our platform is intuitive, allowing you to easily craft and distribute your press releases. All you need to do is submit your news, and we take care of the rest.

Amplified Reach: With Designspotter Newswire, your press releases don’t just stay on one platform. We leverage our extensive network to amplify your message across social media and other design-focused platforms. Whether you’re showcasing your latest designs or promoting a new architecture project, your news will reach a global, targeted audience.

Tailored Exposure: We understand the unique nature of the design and architecture industries. With our platform, your news won’t get lost in the noise. We ensure that your press releases are seen by the right people, including design enthusiasts, architects, industry influencers, and potential clients.

Get Started with Designspotter Newswire Today

If you’re serious about growing your brand and gaining the recognition your work deserves, Designspotter Newswire is the solution for you. With our PR service, you can ensure that your designs and projects reach the right people and make a lasting impression. Don’t let your work go unnoticed — join the growing community of designers and architects who are transforming their PR strategies with our platform.

Ready to take your PR to the next level? Start today by using Designspotter Newswire. Click here to learn more and submit your first press release: Designspotter Newswire.

Der Beitrag How to Do PR Work as a Designer and Architect with Designspotter Newswire erschien zuerst auf Designspotter Creative Media.

As “immersive experiences” continue to proliferate, Shane Reiner-Roth considers the implications for our relationship with architecture and the built environment.

It was not long ago that advancements in OLED displays, projection-mapping and digital signage appeared to be the key to reinvigorating art and architecture, as well as public interest in both of these fields.

In her 2011 book Kissing Architecture, the architectural theorist Sylvia Lavin catalogues examples of “superarchitecture”, which she defines as “architecture in contact with incommensurable forms of time, movement and immateriality that coalesce to produce socially enveloping and therefore political effects”.

We are seeing “immersive experiences” pop up in nearly every city with a tourism economy

The video artwork of “superarchitects”, including Pipilotti Rist and Doug Aitken, is not only projected onto architecture by “kissing” its surfaces, but intensifies architectural effects by allowing the legibility of both forms of media to “give way to the experience of perception itself”.

The ability of superarchitecture to socially envelop audiences, in other words, would encourage the public to slow down their daily pace, pay attention to the finer details of the built environment and, perhaps, even reevaluate their responsibility to one another as they co-inhabit public space.

But we haven’t heard a lot about “superarchitecture” in the 13 years since Kissing Architecture was published. In its place, we are seeing “immersive experiences” pop up in nearly every city with a tourism economy.

Instead of video artists receiving commissions to “kiss” the surfaces of public space, the work of the great painters of the public domain – including Hieronymous Bosch, Picasso and Monet – is cast onto the characterless surfaces of warehouse interiors for a substantial admission fee. Circles are sometimes projected onto the ground as a post-Covid measure, allowing visitors to occupy the same space without the threat of social interaction.

In the hands of for-profit companies, Van Gogh’s Starry Night is no longer a painting to be interpreted. Like Frankenstein’s monster, it is an image to be shocked with a million volts for public consumption. Painterly details, originally so small they require a magnifying glass to be appreciated, are scaled up beyond all subtlety. The movement once implied by gestural brush strokes has been made literal through video animation. The aura is gone, but the buzz is overwhelming.

Many recently developed live-performance venues have additionally been designed to flood the senses by affixing LED screens to reductive volumes, minimising architectural massing to an obligatory secondary character.

Seamless, wraparound screens may soon dethrone the flat screen of the movie theatre as the primary urban-entertainment venue

In Las Vegas, for instance, the Madison Square Garden Company recently spent a whopping $2,300,000,000 on the Sphere, a dome designed by Populous whose only architectural significance is that it is the largest spherical building in the world. Technologically, however, the Sphere is a marvel: a 160,000-square-foot (15,000-square-metre) LED screen – the highest-resolution one in the world – wraps around its interior.

The 17,000 ticket-holders are encouraged to look upwards, rather than at one another or even the musicians performing on stage. When the Grateful Dead performed at the Sphere during their weeks-long residency, with tickets starting at $145 and steadily going up from there, who was the star of the show: the Grateful Dead, or the Sphere?

Though its 580,000-square-foot (54,000-square-metre) LED screen exterior most commonly serves as a digital billboard for any company able to fork over $450,000 for four hours of screen time, it has occasionally been handed over to at least one video artist, Refik Anadol.

But like the first silent movies, whose depictions of dreams and magic principally served to demonstrate the capabilities of the new visual medium, Anadol’s swirling animations were largely advertisements of the Sphere’s technical prowess. The distinction between theme parks and urban venues is rapidly dissolving as more versions of the Sphere begin to pop up in major American cities and beyond.

Cosm, a technology company specialising in planetariums and science centres, has recently opened up what are essentially walk-in televisions in Los Angeles and Dallas with a 1,500-person capacity. For several times the price of a beer at a sports bar (and, in some cases, several times the price of a seat at a sports stadium), one can instead get “immersed” in live basketball matches.

The seamless, wraparound screens which, Cosm claims, make you feel “like you’re courtside at an NBA game or traveling to a world beyond your own”, may soon dethrone the flat screen of the typical movie theatre as the primary urban-entertainment venue, especially given that more people are opting to avoid crowds altogether by streaming movies at home.

In these “immersive experiences”, Van Gogh, Anadol, the Grateful Dead and basketball stars all play second fiddle to screen devices

For those in attendance without an interest in football, the technological spectacle is likely enough to keep them occupied. In these “immersive experiences”, Van Gogh, Anadol, the Grateful Dead and basketball stars all play second fiddle to screen devices that, through their scale and technological sophistication alone, have the power to occupy our attention any time we turn away from our phones.

They count on us being so consumed by the changeability of screen devices, and so desensitised to the relative stillness of everything else, that they become the eternal flame to our moth-like attention while burning a hole in our pockets.

And as soon as these screens are no longer noteworthy, ceasing to be “immersive” enough to justify astronomical ticket prices, they will respond by becoming more spectacular, more engrossing, more pulsating, until the built environment that surrounds them seems unbearably inert by comparison.

Shane Reiner-Roth is a writer, photographer, curator and educator. He is a lecturer at the University of Southern California and is studying for a PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles. His writing has appeared in Dezeen, The Architect’s Newspaper, Architectural Record and Architectural Digest.

The photo is by Tan Yang Song via Shutterstock.

Dezeen In Depth
If you enjoy reading Dezeen’s interviews, opinions and features, subscribe to Dezeen In Depth. Sent on the last Friday of each month, this newsletter provides a single place to read about the design and architecture stories behind the headlines.

The post “The distinction between theme parks and urban venues is rapidly dissolving” appeared first on Dezeen.

Agricultural architecture informed this timber house, which architect Roman Morschett has nestled into a grass-filled orchard site in rural southwest Germany.

Named Bliesgau House, the home was designed to celebrate its orchard setting and draw from the rural Gersheim surroundings, with a simple timber structure that sits low in the landscape.

Located next to the street to maximise the private space offered by the rest of the orchard, the single-storey home rests on a concrete foundation and is topped with a pitched metal roof supported by a rhythmic timber structure.

“The design aimed to preserve the orchard’s unique atmosphere while creating a strong connection to the garden,” Morschett told Dezeen.

“To achieve this, we proposed a straightforward timber construction whose materiality, colour and construction are reminiscent of agricultural architecture.”

To protect the plot from the public street as much as possible, Morschett designed the home to have a long form that runs along the side of the street.

“As the narrow plot is flanked by the street, it was an appropriate strategy to build a long structure that separates the public space from the private area to the south,” Morschett explained.

“At the same time, the resulting single-storey design strengthens the connection to the surrounding garden. On a typological level the building is thus reminiscent of agricultural barns,” he continued.

Aside from its concrete foundations, the entirety of Bliesgau House is made from timber, with a spruce structure and a stained larch facade cladding designed to withstand the weather. Larch wood was also used to create the terrace flooring, as well as window frames and parquet flooring inside.

“The structure itself is made of economical spruce whereas the parts exposed to the weather such as external supports, facade cladding, terrace boards and benches are made of more durable larch wood,” said Morschett.

“Together with the windows and the parquet flooring, the larch is the primary material of the house.”

“The visible parts of the roof construction and the larch windows were the starting point of the natural colour palette,” Morschett continued.

“By staining the exposed wood surfaces in a patina-like warm grey tone, the house looks as if it has been in the orchard for a long time.”

The home’s main entrance faces the street, while an additional entrance is nestled beneath a pergola that cuts into its footprint on one side, creating a covered parking area that flanks an enclosed storage space.

Inside, the home’s long, single-storey layout allows for a sequence of bright spaces that open onto the orchard. These large, open spaces take up most of the home’s plan.

A strip of the interior on the north side closest to the road is home to smaller, secondary spaces including a dressing room, laundry room and storage cupboard, as well as two bathrooms.

From the main door, a small entrance hall offers access to an open-plan kitchen and dining area. With dark and wooden furniture and pale walls that join to create a neutrally toned interior, the open-plan space is flanked by a large sliding door that opens onto the pergola at the back of the house.

A small pantry sits to one side of the kitchen, while a study at the end of the same corridor is illuminated by a circular window, which pivots horizontally to open and allow natural ventilation through the space.

Also on the east side of the kitchen is a bright living space that extends forward from the house’s rectangular volume towards the garden. Brightened by large glass doors and floor-to-ceiling windows, the living room is set at a lower level than the kitchen.

“The spatial configuration of the communal area creates different levels of intimacy, which is further emphasised by the level difference between the kitchen and the living room,” said Morschett.

Parquet flooring features across both the dining area and living room, which are connected by a trio of wooden steps. The living room is decorated with modern furnishings that fit with the home’s neutral colour scheme.

From the other side of the kitchen and dining room, a second corridor leads to two spare rooms and a main bedroom.

At the back of the house, a long, split-level sheltered porch looks over the garden, decorated with plant pots and lined with larch boards.

“The rationally organised floor plan gains spatial diversity through a pergola to the south, where a long bench extends the living space to the outside,” said Morschett. “The house was to be simple and yet rich in spatial situations.”

“The living area flows around the large covered terrace, which becomes the communicative hub of family life,” he continued. “From here, it is only a few steps to the orchard, which links naturally with the house.”

Other timber homes in Germany recently featured on Dezeen include a cubic timber duplex with a sage green facade and a semi-detached countryside home made from straw bales and timber.

The photography is by Rory Gardiner.

The post Bliesgau House in German orchard takes cues from agricultural architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

The Dezeen team is reporting live from London Design Festival, which takes place 14-22 September. Read on for all the coverage from Monday 16 September.

5:00pm – spoilt for choice!

Looking for a bit of retail therapy, social editor Clara Finnigan dropped into The Hoxton in Shoreditch, to see The Yinka Ilori Objects Pop-Up return to east London a second time.

The pop-up shop showcased British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori‘s latest collection in his distinctive, colourful patterned style. Now what to buy…

4:45pm – its coming together

After a busy weekend installing the Design You Can Feel exhibition, the Dezeen team is spending the day filming interviews with the six designers in the exhibition.

Here, Dezeen editorial director Max Fraser is chatting to designer Giles Miller about his Awaken installation as part of the show. Keep an eye on Dezeen over the coming weeks for the films!

4:30pm – more vases

As part of Reclaimed: The Silo Collection, 22 London ceramicists have created objects using an experimental glaze, developed by local practice Studio Omelette and Mexican potter Lucía Ocejo using waste wine bottles from zero-waste restaurant Silo.

In line with the idea of eliminating waste, the resulting pieces are displayed on a scenography made of reclaimed materials including plinths made from wine boxes and podiums made from kiln shelves.

The next step, Studio Omelette founder Cécile Dumetier hopes, is to use the glaze to create tableware for the actual Silo restaurant, run by chef Douglas McMaster.

“For him, it’s like what could we do next?” Dumetier told Dezeen. “Because they’re going through so much wine, so much of this raw material that can be used by so many artists or makers.”

“It’s a call to action: if someone wants to use material, reach out because we would love to provide it and you can experiment and do something with it.”

3:30pm – vase maker extraordinaire

Workshop sessions are now well underway at Making Room, an exhibition in the Brompton Design District curated by Andu Masebo  and Mikey Krzyzanowski. The show aims to shine a light on the process of making, with visitors involved in crafting furniture and objects that will be used here throughout the week.

Dezeen editor-at-large Amy Frearson popped in on Saturday afternoon to see the results of day one’s workshops, which included stool-making with Masebo and Krzyzanowski and vase-making with Berlin-based artist Anna Zimmermann.

She ended up making her own vase, a leopard-print-style design that is now on display next to Masebo’s woodgrain-inspired effort.

These vases will come in very handy tomorrow, with Galerie Navy scheduled to host a floral sculpture workshop.

Other workshops in the progamme include hook-making with Mitre & Mondays and a drawing class with Daniel Schofield.

3:00pm – vandalism

Sad news from King’s Cross where the Juicy Booth is closed following an act of vandalism at the weekend. According to designer Annie Frost Nicholson, who created the installation in collaboration with K67 Berlin and The Loss Project, the sensory booth will be open again for visitors tomorrow.

 2:30pm – pizza time

Next stop for Jennifer Hahn – zero-waste restaurant Silo in Hackney Wick (with interiors by Nina+Co) to see a collection of ceramics glazed using the many many wine bottles consumed by the restaurants patrons.

Unfortunately, I’m not having lunch at the actual restaurant because journalists don’t have that kind of time or money (and also the restaurant isn’t serving food until Wednesday). So instead, I’m having pizza by the canal. There are worse ways to spend a Monday!

More on the exhibition on Dezeen soon.

 2:00pm – sneak peek!

Also in east London, Dezeen co-CEO Benedict Hobson took a sneak peek at our Design You Can Feel exhibition in collaboration with Asus, which explores the properties and possibilities of Ceraluminum.

The exhibition features designers including Fernando Laposse, Giles Miller, Natural Material Studio, Niceworkshop and Studio Furthermore.

Opening tomorrow, the exhibition at Protein Studios in Shoreditch runs until Sunday. Come say hi!

1:15am – still no sponsor?

Jennifer Hahn’s one-person Lime bike tour continues…

12:45am – “flat-pack moments of rest”

Next stop on the bike tour is a mere stone’s throw from the Dezeen office in Haggerston. Set in the lobby of Leroy House, Indian studios Blurck and Dasein Lab have come together to share their first seating collection.

Named Tula after the Sanskrit word for equilibrium, the chairs are made from reclaimed London scaffolding planks balanced on top of chunks of salvaged slate from Delhi.

The result are what the studios call “flat-pack moments of rest”, held together completely without screws and relying instead on an elaborate system of tension cables like the kind you might see on a suspension bridge.

12:15am – planning ahead

For those of you still planning your week, we have rounded up the 10 key exhibitions and installations to visit during LDF.

We are also hosting a series of talks and events over the next three days in collaboration with Buster + Punch, Molteni&C, Autex Acoustics and Ustwo, as well as a major exhibition with ASUS. There’s still time to sign up!

11:55am – are you sitting comfortably?

A short skip across the street for Douglas Jardim is the Chair of Virtue exhibition at One Hundred Shoreditch, which includes five sculptural chairs created by UK-based makers that celebrate form and design.

The Blob Chair by Sophia Colman is a particular standout.

Responding to the theme of Natural Forms, the chair reflects the components of a red blood cell among other elements of the human body.

Judging from looks alone, The Blob Chair does what it says on the tin. Whether it’s pleasing or not to sit on, however, is a mystery.

11:15am – crocodiles and corkscrews

Back in east London, editorial intern Douglas Jardim popped into Blond Laboratory – a touring exhibition from the London design studio which debuted earlier this year in Milan.

The exhibition in Shoreditch showcased the work of seven designers who take inspiration from objects that are no longer manufactured or readily available, highlights include a balancing lighter by Swiss-French designer Julie Richoz of Julie Richoz Studio held down by weights and a whisk-turned-candelabra made from springs by Jon Marshall from Pentagram.

Some interesting object pulled from the Blond Artefacts archive are also on display, including a rather snappy crocodile-shaped grater. It’s as sharp as their teeth!

11:00am – Tuscany in Mayfair

Fresh from Helsinki Design Week, design and interiors reporter Jane Englefield has headed straight to Mayfair’s Gallery Fumi, where Tuscan designer Francesco Perini is presenting a collection of timber furniture.

Nucelo is Perini’s first solo show at the gallery, featuring organic-shaped oak furniture inlaid with materials including veiny marble, smooth onyx and robust steel and brass.

Perini was informed by desert roses – naturally occurring crystal clusters that form in harsh weather conditions (which also informed Jean Nouvel’s National Museum of Qatar in Doha) for the collection.

All of the furniture was handmade in the designer’s workshop in Tuscany

10:30am – LDF bike tour

Design editor Jennifer Hahn is leading a one-person Lime bike tour (sadly not sponsored… yet!) around east London this morning, where there are lots of fun things happening this year.

The first stop was Light in Motion, an exhibition of experimental lighting designs from nine emerging designers and engineers, initiated by London studio Kai Lab.

Many of the works on show play with indirect light, including Sophie Mei Birkin‘s swampy Biomaterial Submersions, which feature foraged plant matter immortalised in a bio-resin, and Duncan Carter’s algorithmically optimised 10,000 Tiny Suns.

A personal highlight was a massive metallic flower, that casts different reflections as it robotically unfurls its petals.

It was created by Heyl & Van Dam for the Ice Melt Tour of American psych rock band Crumb, of which I’m a huge fan (I recommend listening to Ghostride, which will be the soundtrack for the next leg of the cycle tour).

9:30am – the morning after the weekend before…

Following a super buzzy weekend we are back reporting on this year’s London Design Festival (LDF). Dezeen’s design editor Jennifer Hahn, design and interiors reporter Jane Englefield, editorial assistant Starr Charles, social editor Clara Finnigan and editorial intern Douglas Jardim are on the ground in London reporting live.

Catch up on what happened on the opening day here including an installation by Marshmallow Laser Feast for Johnnie Walker. And to keep you up to date on all the festival activities Dezeen Events Guide has created an LDF guide, highlighting the key events at the festival this year.

To stay up to date, follow Dezeen live: London Design Festival, taking place from 14-22 September 2024. Dezeen Events Guide has created a LDF guide, highlighting the key events at the festival. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest information you need to know to attend the event, as well as a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Read about everything that happened on the opening day (13 September).

All times are London time.

The lead image is by Jennifer Hahn.

The post Monday from London Design Festival 2024 appeared first on Dezeen.