Flos illuminates ‘Echo’, an immersive work created by Pezo von Ellrichshausen

Showcased in the Courtyard of Honour of Palazzo Litta, the installation is the prominent feature of the collective exhibition The Litta Variations / Opus 5 during Milano Design Week 2019.

Flos is technical partner of MoscaPartners for lighting Echo, the work created by Pezo von Ellrichshausen studio that is the key feature of the collective exhibition The Litta Variations / Opus 5 during Milano Design Week. The installation is hosted in the Courtyard of Honour of Palazzo Litta, an historical mansion in the center of Milan.

Echo is a mysterious structure that merges interior with exterior. Man is the centre of this installation, simultaneously the subject and source of contemplation. The exterior of Echo, covered with a mirrored surface, reflects the baroque colonnade and the two upper orders that make up the courtyard of the building. In contrast, the interior reveals the sky, a natural element isolated from the surrounding city. The result of this exploration is the definition of architecture perceived as a shared and reflective experience, at the same time imposing itself on and immersing itself in the setting. The installation establishes a relationship between art and architecture amplifying the surrounding environment through a visual echo.

Thanks to the specific knowledge of Flos Bespoke in the production of custom solutions and to the innovative technology of the Home, Architectural e Outdoor collections, Flos has developed a warm, discreet lighting project that perfectly integrates with the architecture of the Courtyard of Honour and the marvellous porch, thus contributing to the poetic essentiality of the work.

Piero Gandini, Chairman of Design Holding and CEO of Flos, strongly believed in the project from the very beginning. He personally acquired the work by the Chilean architects, committing himself to giving them design continuity. For the first time, the installation at the Main Courtyard crosses the spatial boundaries of the Palazzo and the temporal boundaries of Milan Design Week. Echo was conceived as a permanent work, intended to last.

Pezo von Ellrichshausen studio was founded in 2002 by Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen in the city of Concepción, in southern Chile. The studio’s existential matrix of interventions is inextricably linked to where it is based and reveals a contemporary dialogue between nature and architecture. In 2008, Pezo and von Ellrichshausen oversaw the Chilean pavilion at the Architecture Biennale in Venezia and went on to take part again in 2010 and 2016. In addition, they have exhibited their projects at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and their work is part of the permanent collection at the Art Institute in Chicago and MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Alongside their concept and design work, they have teaching commitments at universities across Chile and the United States, including Harvard and Cornell. Sofia von Ellrichshausen was also president of the jury at the last Architecture Biennale in Venezia.