‘A kind future’ Exhibition

At Grand Hornu, the Circle presents the humanistic approach of his projects, which focus on human beings and their continuously evolving needs, with an exhibition divided into two itineraries that flow simultaneously and complementarily from experimentation to design and from vision to architecture.
For the first time, a continuous reading of the design approach of De Lucchi and his Circle is proposed: yesterday as today, imagining architectures and objects is not a passive activity but involves an active attitude towards an ever-changing reality in order to stimulate in man the reaction to evolution.

Design and experimentation: Produzione Privata in A selection of pieces from the past and present recounts the unique identity of Produzione Privata, the design laboratory of the Circle founded in 1990 by Michele De Lucchi and Sibylle Kicherer with the aim of ‘cultivating experimentation and encouraging craftsmanship’. They are pieces of furniture, objects and lamps born from creative processes that are independent of the mechanisms of the market and the restrictions of industrial production, and result from reflections on the human and cultural needs of individuals and society. To create objects that are ‘more human’, Produzione Privata endorses the importance of collaboration with artisans and revives the need for experimentation to enhance the elemental nature of materials through unexpected forms. As Michele De Lucchi writes: ‘The idea is to give value, prestige and a future to today’s world of craftsmanship. A craftsmanship that evolves and which, through the use of traditional techniques and some help from technology, manages to produce inspiration and a human quality that industry no longer knows how to create. For us as architects and designers, craftsmanship is the only field that is experimental’. The subdivision into laboratories, each dedicated to working with a specific material or design approach, reflects the way Produzione Privata operates and maps out the stages of a journey that takes place in an ethereal atmosphere formed of penumbra and silence. It is the objects, the appeal of the material and the authenticity of things made by hand that speak. The six laboratories featured in the exhibition are those dedicated to ceramics, metal, wood, blown glass, ready-made products and fabric.

Architecture and vision: Earth Stations. Since 2018, the research of AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi has been focused on the Earth Stations project, visionary buildings conceived to promote the wellbeing of people and the health of the planet. Located inside the Stables, the Earth Stations dialogue with a selection of completed projects in a dynamic narrative of videos and models, generating a truly sensual experience and revealing the fundamentals of the Circle’s architecture. Indeed, the Italian studio integrates the philosophy of the Earth Stations into the projects for its various clients, promoting human
interaction and an ethical relationship with nature, considering the environment as an educator capable of influencing people’s behavior and developing common spaces for happy and productive social cooperation.

Provocations and Paradoxes: Vertical Dwellings. The exhibition ends at the Crypt, where we discover the research of the young Michele De Lucchi, who had just graduated from the University of Florence in 1975. This looping conclusion proposes a narrative continuity of Michele De Lucchi’s conceptual approach: yesterday as today, imagining architectures and objects is not a passive activity but implies an active attitude towards a reality in constant transformation in order to stimulate the human being’s reaction to evolution.