We are honored to feature a post written by architect Paolo Cermasi about the booth he designed on behalf of Refin/DesignTaleStudio for the Coverings trade fair, beginning in Chicago on April, 17th.

The desert, a boundary of the human living and a metaphor of the mental abstraction, a nowhere-land for mystics, writers, artists and visionaries. “ Refin Ceramiche SpA “ installation, designed by Paolo Cermasi, is a small tribute to the extraordinary legacy of modern housing that a group of architects and designers built in the ’40 and ’50 in Palm Springs, California desert.

For 20 years, there has been experienced how the house could function in a very modern way within their environment. Amid volcanic boulders , in a fully mineral world, only steel, concrete, slate, glass and tiles could survive.

The desert demanded a new way of thinking how to live there. Fireplaces were called by winter nights, extensive fabric canopies were demanded for sun protection of the large tiled outdoors where people wanted to be when they were there. Under the massive flat roofs, wall divisions became thinner and fewer , making the houses transparent and weightless:

The western “desert architecture” opened the way to the most dominant character of the contemporany architectural research.

[tags]Chicago, Coverings, Paolo Cermasi, architecture, booth, stand, design, Refin, DesignTaleStudio [/tags]

I arrived in Chicago a few days ago to follow the setting of the stand DesignTaleStudio/Refin for Coverings trade-fair, and eventually I have found some time to write something on this blog.

It’s the first time I have visited the “windy city“, and I have to say that for those like me who work hand in hand with architects and designers it is really a magical place. It’s exciting walking along the streets where contemporary architecture started through the experimentation of new forms and building materials such as iron and glass, and the building of revolutionary works such as the Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, the apartments on 860 and 880 Lake Shore Drive by Mies van der Rohe, or the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill towers.

Selfishly, I would like more free time to visit the city but the fair is less than a week away and we need to rush around like headless chickens. Our stand is very ambitious and refined, designed by the Bolognese architect Paolo Cermasi, the creator of many concept stores such as Emporio Armani, La Perla, Furla and Mariella Burani. Here is a rendering of the stand supplied by the architect himself:

As always in times like these, we are facing hundreds of problems with the setting of the stand but we are doing our best and the situation is under control. After some initial uncertain moments on which procedure was the best for the assembly, today we have installed the complete structure and part of the base that we’ll finish off tomorrow after we have laid the electrical cables for the neon lighting around the seating area. Obviously, if we compare the rendering with this photo that I took using my mobile phone, the situation does not look promising but as the proverb says….well begun is half done.