Casa Mollino: European Design Stories

Casa Mollino offers juxtaposing views of a bucolic rose garden and the Po river on the one hand and a busy, tram-lined highway on the other. The space is the restored apartment of the Italian architect, photographer and acrobatic pilot. The apartment-cum-museum is dedicated to Carlo Mollino’s work. Toni Cordero was partly responsible for the rediscovery of the icon and tasked Fulvio Ferrari with mounting Mollino’s first retrospective in 1985. That sent Ferrari on a voyage that would reconnect all of the scattered pieces of this mysterious figure’s life. After ultimately arriving at the architect’s former apartment, Ferrari and his son Napoleone chose to found the venue there in 1999. Designed as a living portrait, the space reflects Mollino’s existential understanding through symbols rather than through the coined “Mollinian” style: plywood furniture. Thanks to this endeavour, the duo discovered something of a philosopher’s bastion. Mollino believed that our bodies are life. Therefore, he maintained that the world’s materials should remain in the hands of architects. Casa Mollino reveals the story of a man who has often been overshadowed by his own oeuvre.

Today, visits to Casa Mollino are by appointment only. The museum targets interested individuals rather than the general public. Growing numbers of researchers, artists, architects and designers have come to the museum as the late icon’s fame has grown. The likes of Ed Ruscha, Juergen Teller, Samantha Roddick, Chris Dercon, Blonde Redhead, Patty Smith and other well-known figures have all made pilgrimages to the restored apartment. Seminal theatre director Robert Wilson visits often simply to dream and relax. The Ferraris continue to find new ways to promote the life and work of Carlo Mollino. To this day, they remain the foremost experts on the topic.

Text by Adam Štěch, adapted by TLmag editors

Photos: Matěj Činčera