Header: Andrea Ferrari
Agape participates for the first time along with Agapecasa, a brand created to reissue the most emblematic projects of Angelo Mangiarotti, at the much-anticipated 3DaysofDesign festival in Copenhagen, which will enliven the city districts from June 12 to 14, with a site-specific installation for Design/Dialogue by Ark Journal.
In the spaces of Pakhus 11, a suggestive location created from a former port warehouse, the installation designed by architect Camilla Benedini plays on the contrast and dialogue between the post-industrial scenario and the intentional museum-like essence of the exhibition.
Agape: A Magnetic Vision of the Bathroom
High ceilings, original cement tiles on the walls and floors, and iconic projects displayed on simple cube elements exemplify Agape’s vision of the bathroom as an architectural space of well-being, conceived in its entirety with coherence and depth in all its elements. From bathtubs to washbasins, showers to accessories and fittings, lighting to mirrors, sanitary ware, taps, and containers, each project shows the passion with which the company, founded in 1973 by architects Giampaolo and Emanuele Benedini, has explored and continues to explore the bathroom in over 50 years of history. This exploration involves constant research and continuous refinement.
Timeless products that transcend the already seen through an exact and always original translation of function into form are highlighted by the exhibition’s magnetic presence. A comprehensive display that alludes to collaborations with numerous designers in a stimulating plurality of languages where Agape’s project culture, sincere and uncompromising, remains the consistent guiding thread.
Agapecasa: A Condensed Work of Angelo Mangiarotti
On display on geometric platforms are some particularly significant pieces by Angelo Mangiarotti, who is among the most versatile and interesting masters of 20th-century design and architecture. Iconic furnishings for their original synthesis of material, form, and technology, and thought that, having been out of production for years, Agape decided to reissue with philological rigour, creating the Agapecasa brand.
The sculptural power of the Eros tables and consoles, enhanced by the ingenious gravity-based joint, stands out. The charm of wood emerges in the essentiality of Cavalletto, a brilliantly versatile furnishing system based on a single construction principle that allows the modules to be assembled with extreme ease. The Club 44 armchair also exhibits expressiveness and character, with an explicitly architectural construction. The exhibition is completed by the CAP53 series of vases, authentic sculptures where Mangiarotti’s experimentation with forms and materials is expressed in the bronze, working with the ancient lost-wax casting technique, a blend of art and design.
A dialogue almost suspended in time yet very contemporary, that between Agape and Agapecasa, is centred on the culture of the project and the search for new and timeless forms, which the 3DaysofDesign public is invited to discover.
Some details: This exhibition will be held at Pakhus 11, Dampfærgevej 2, Copenhagen, from June 12 to 14, 2024.
