21_21 DESIGN SIGHT

Michele De Lucchi is a leading contemporary Italian architect, designer and artist. As well as being active as a cutting-edge architect, De Lucchi has always explored new forms by creating art derived from his 20-year passion for handiwork. He conducts experiments using numerous creative processes, from the selection of materials to the final finishes. The vitality propelling his artwork is also a driving force for speculation and definition of new notions of architecture.
Roppongi Rokken: Sei Case (six houses) is an exhibition of works forming part of De Lucchi's sculpture series Logge*. These artworks are being shown for the first time.

The exhibition concept originates in dialogue De Lucchi's held with Issey Miyake in 2018, and has been specially designed for Gallery 3. Sei Case, consists of three wooden and three bronze Logge, and will be installed together with an artistic video directed by Victor Kossakovsky. De Lucchi was interested that the placename Roppongi, where the venue is located, is sometimes said to come from six samurai residences that once existed there. The coincidence with his sculptures of six houses intrigued him, and that is why he named this exhibition Roppongi Rokken.

Sei Case are installed on oak pedestals treated with acetyl oxidation that enhances stability, water-resistance and preservation. Detailing on the pedestals was also designed by De Lucchi.
"Wood and bronze are among the oldest and noblest materials used by humankind. We have used them to build civilizations and deepen humanity." De Lucchi notes that these materials also have wide anthropological meaning.

Loggia explores the notion of "Space-in Between." This is a space connecting inside and out, where indoor life and the environment outside fuse.
The walls of Loggia incorporate elements evoking traditional Japanese sliding screens (shoji partitions), and also the windowed walls of European houses.
This may be called De Lucchi's project of bridging Japanese and Italian traditions - intrinsically different, but at the same time sharing a deep respect for craft and craftspeople. De Lucchi thinks the fusion of differences and commonalities will serve to make each even better.

For De Lucchi, Loggia is like an unrestricted journey into the imagination of spaces in which people can live. It is an investigation into permeable environments through which external worlds can be adopted. His trajectory liberates from conventional notions of architecture.
"Loggia reminds me of traditional Japanese tea houses, but also avant-garde architecture which extends inside/outside spatial continuities. In order for the ephemerality of human life to coexist with the extraordinary power of nature, some relationship between architecture, people and nature is becoming increasingly essential. We grope towards new ways of living."

This exhibition provides a method for speculating on existing places, with an opportunity to pose this crucial question: what does it mean for a building to be healthy, and to assist people to coexist with each other, with cities and with nature.

* Logge is plural of Loggia (italian): a roofed area on the side of a building.

Gallery Talk "LET'S BE HAPPY"

Date

September 20 (Fri) - October 14 (Mon), 2024

Venue

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT Gallery 3

Closed

Tuesdays

Hours

10:00 - 19:00
* Special opening hours for Roppongi Art Night: September 27 (Fri.), 28 (Sat.) 10:00 - 22:00

Admission

Free

Project by

Michele De Lucchi

Special Sponsor

Miyake Design Studio

Technical Sponsor

UniFor

Website

https://amdlcircle.com/