Catasta installation

AMDL CIRCLE brings a wooden Catasta into the historic courtyard of La Statale in Milan on the occasion of Fuorisalone 2025. A stack is not a construction with a specific function, but “is valid for what it evokes”; it is capable of representing the value of the architecture. It is a way of reflecting on the poetry of a small architecture made of pieces of wood stacked one on top of the other. Stacking firewood is an art, you need to be able to choose pieces that are homogeneous in their shape and dimensions, and then to meticulously compose them into a solid, orderly structure. A stack cannot be made without skill, otherwise the result is unstable and dangerous, and its presence is chaotic and disturbing in the fabric of the landscape. This reminds us of the meaning and value of being designers. In constructing a new building it is important to find a balance between efficiency and aesthetic and symbolic value; it is necessary to satisfy functional and performance requirements, but also to find forms that can evolve with changing uses, with technological innovation, with the new demands of life.

Our Catasta is shaped like a small house with a large sloping roof that is reminiscent of an ancient temple and shelters the main body. It is a structure built of overlapping wooden boards, in one direction and then the other, forming a disciplined composition, structured by relationships of distance and hollows. The boards placed together allow the light to filter through, allowing visitors the possibility of looking through the construction, which is solid but penetrable, and inviting discovery. The zenithal light splits the space through an optical cone defined by the hole in the roof and attracts the curious eyes of visitors. A birds’ nest inhabits the internal void and chirping suggests their presence, preparing a light, poetic moment of intimacy.