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Lot Essay
In 1976 Studio Alchimia was established by designers Alessandro and Adriano Guerriero in Milan as a reaction to the Radical Design Movement. It was set up as an exhibition forum and as a place "to realize experiments on paper and theoretical studies into real products" without the pressure of modern industry. The studio wanted to break down the strict principles of Bauhaus and merge together design and everyday life.
Ironically enough they labelled their first collections, shown in 1979 and 1980, Bau. Haus I & II. The lot for sale here, bookcase Utopia, is one of the items of the second Bau. Haus collection. Made as products in crafts projects, only limited numbers of all the objects in the Bau. Haus collections were made.
With its use of plastic laminate in muted pastel colours Utopia relates to the reminiscence of the 1950's often employed by Studio Alchimia. The central figure of a caricature on Mickey Mouse incorporates the idea of merging everyday life into design. The figure was used in another project by Andrea Branzi for Studio Alchimia as well, namely Mussolini's Bathroom in 1982.
In this performance Branzi recreated the colossal bathhouse of Mussolini, but instead of placing a bronze statue in the centre he sited the metal Mickey Mouse statue in the middle, clad in Mussolini's outfit, meant as a warning against fanaticism.
For comparison see: Kazuko Sato, Alchimia Never-Ending Italian Design, Japan, 1985, p. 23, ill. 24
Ironically enough they labelled their first collections, shown in 1979 and 1980, Bau. Haus I & II. The lot for sale here, bookcase Utopia, is one of the items of the second Bau. Haus collection. Made as products in crafts projects, only limited numbers of all the objects in the Bau. Haus collections were made.
With its use of plastic laminate in muted pastel colours Utopia relates to the reminiscence of the 1950's often employed by Studio Alchimia. The central figure of a caricature on Mickey Mouse incorporates the idea of merging everyday life into design. The figure was used in another project by Andrea Branzi for Studio Alchimia as well, namely Mussolini's Bathroom in 1982.
In this performance Branzi recreated the colossal bathhouse of Mussolini, but instead of placing a bronze statue in the centre he sited the metal Mickey Mouse statue in the middle, clad in Mussolini's outfit, meant as a warning against fanaticism.
For comparison see: Kazuko Sato, Alchimia Never-Ending Italian Design, Japan, 1985, p. 23, ill. 24