Have you ever wondered what would it be like to enter into your favourite designer’s home? What would his chairs and tables be, what kind of lighting would he or she choose, what would the carpets, blankets or shelves look like? For his latest exhibition at The Modern Institute in Glasgow, one of our favourite designers, Martino Gamper, has showcased just that: a home.
Tired of the usual design exhibitions, which show isolated pieces of furniture, lonely objects displayed on pristine white tables, totems or shelves, so far away from their daily use and, unfortunately, oh so common for design shows, Gamper has decided to try a different approach. Titled Tu casa, mi casa, this exhibition presents itself as what may appear like a typical Gamper-ish house: colourful tapestry, colour-blocking room dividers, geometrically sharp and yet somehow spontaneous and slightly goofy furniture. Yet, as we all know, appearances can deceive and you should know better than to think that Martino’s objects are designed through sheer chance and improvisation. In fact, the sheer number of different techniques used to produce the objects specifically for the show – Carpentry, glass blowing, enamelling, parchment work, joinery, bronze casting, wiring, fusing glass, moulding, wood turning and anodisation – demonstrate a deep knowledge of craftsmanship and technical ability.
For this very reason, we cannot but snark when reading Gamper’s work described as “infused by spontaneity” or “improvisational”, since “incorporating faithfulness to the history of Italian design”, showing an “interest in the psychosocial connotations of furniture and use of space” and creating a “homage to craft, design and domestic functionality”, requires much, much more than sheer good spirit, spontaneity and a free mind.
