Unicredit Pavilion, Piazza Gae Aulenti, Milano
One thing is for sure, there are no other nocturnal places quite like it in Milan, where deliberate contrasts between light and shade are part of a definite, precise design project, I would even say pre-calculated and studied. Everything was generated by the abstract visualisation of a developing wave, the reverberation of a pebble (the Pavilion) dropping into a calm pond, rippling the surface according to a diminishing musical rhythm. The lampposts are like pure stalks, 10 meters high and specially-designed. They are like bar lines on a sheet of music, their light is concentrated and precise, it doesn't diffuse, it indicates and punctuates. All this initial, fascinating theory led us to a giganic two-year project, and, obviously arduous, valiant battles in defence of technical decisions and optical equipment choices. The "architectural object" is in fact extremely complex and has a mutable skin, simultaneously both transparent and opaque, according to internal needs, requiring a very technical, studied approach.
