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Material Home is the installation curated by Elle Decor Italia at Milan Design Week 2024 in the historic Palazzo Bovara. Seven living spaces, a garden and a materials library explore the relationship between different architectural materials, while colour and texture juxtapositions emphasise the close relationship between visual and tactile sensations. An ode to material, designed by Elisa Ossino Studio for the interior and exhibition design, Rossi Bianchi Lighting Design for the lighting and Studio Antonio Perazzi for the landscape design, which aims to highlight the complexity of the material itself, amplifying its subtleties and characteristics. As Elisa Ossino observed in her description of the installation: “Material is closely linked to human beings’ existence: it is extracted, transformed, enriched, decomposed and regenerated in a natural cycle that determines all our lives and journeys.” Finally, the rooms are designed with a focus on circular economy issues and the possibility of fully recovering the materials used at the end of the exhibition by disposing of any waste materials in a sustainable manner.
The Superfici room represents a large kitchen. It is not only the heart of the home and the place for intimate socialising, but also the testing ground for materials’ aesthetic appeal and performance. To highlight the importance of this room, Ossino chose to place a very visually striking large steel island in the centre of the space. The monolith is surrounded by ceramic materials from Marazzi’s Crogiolo range. Small-size tiles with a warm, handcrafted aesthetic contrast with the distinct geometric design and more minimalist atmosphere of the central island.
This effect is also clearly emphasised by the floor installation of the Confetto collection, positioned with both a herringbone and straight pattern, creating a central underlay with contrasting joints. From the 12 available shades, Ossino chose Azzurro, recalling the cold tones of steel which, in the Confetto porcelain stoneware, become a semi-matt, soft-touch surface. For the vertical floor-to-ceiling coverings, the Crogiolo Rice collection in the Natural colour was chosen: small rectangular tiles with a glossy finish and deliberately irregular surfaces that frame the built-in appliances, again emphasising this contrast between high-tech and handmade effects. The same concept underlies the covering of the large steel island sink, which also features Crogiolo Rice. As Ossino noted: contrasts and the co-presence of various materials result in unprecedented surfaces on sculptural shapes.
