Saturday 27 July saw the opening of Casa Italia Paris 2024 at Le Pré Catelan – the venue chosen by CONI – the Italian National Olympic Committee – to welcome the athletes of the Italy Team and its guests during the XXXIII Olympic Games in Paris scheduled until 11 August 2024. For the first time in the history of Casa Italia, the public will be able to enter and immerse themselves in a true exhibition, scenographic and emotional journey: a total work of art, architecture and design entitled Ensemble.
It was in this landmark building, a Napoleon III-style construction nestled in the Bois de Boulogne, the city’s largest park and a few steps away from the Champs-Élysée, that on the evening of 23 June 1894, the dinner celebrating the birth of the Olympic Games of the modern era, desired by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, took place.
For Paris 2024, Casa Italia creates a strong symbolic and, at the same time, concrete link with the ‘Father’ of the modern Olympics and with France, the closest ‘brother’ country since the age of the Roman Empire, which through its revolution initiated a process of awareness of community and democratic principles. Of the motto Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité that characterises the French Revolution, Casa Italia Paris 2024 focuses on Fraternity, the term most in tune with the founding values of the Olympic spirit and the most necessary in this era torn by new conflicts and pandemic threats, to imagine a new utopia and a new peace. As a matter of fact, fraternity implies collaboration, cooperation, common construction, but also the story of Italian identity, the result of centuries of encounters with other peoples, other cultures and continuous stratifications. Recognising in the other our brother, regardless of the differences that make each individual unique, is one of the great teachings of the Olympic movement and, likewise, in its uniqueness, Italy is a tangible example of how encounters with otherness create cultural wealth and development.
Developing, therefore, the Ensemble concept, Casa Italia Paris 2024 has transformed Le Pré Catelan – a building articulated in various rooms flooded with light, thanks to the many windows and the garden that surrounds it – in which nature, art, architecture, furniture design and light design are in close dialogue with each other. The revamping of the garden with the inclusion of essences belonging to the Italian landscape, the works of art, the setting up of the rooms and the design give life to a different space, inspired by the great interiors of our tradition, by the 20th century masters who have made Italian creativity famous throughout the world and given shape to that vocation for hospitality that has always distinguished us.
The itinerary is marked by the works of 19 leading artists of Italian contemporary art – Vincenzo Agnetti, Marco Bernardi, Giovanni Bonotto, Sergio Breviario, Claire Fontaine, Paolo Delle Monache, Alberto Di Fabio, Agostino Iacurci, Francesco Iodice, Margherita Moscardini, Matteo Nasini, Gabriele Picco, Julie Polidoro, Riccardo Previdi, Edoardo Tresoldi, Marinella Senatore, Stalker, Patrick Tuttofuoco, Fabio Viale – and the creations of 32 internationally renowned designers for 12 companies that constitute the excellence of Italian design. And we find: Francesco Binfaré, Fernando and Humberto Campana, Jacopo Foggini, Masanori Umeda for Edra, Marco Lavit, Patrick Norguet, Marcello Ziliani for Ethimo, Mario Bellini, Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola, Tokujin Yoshioka for Glas Italia, Ron Arad, Tord Boontje, Sebastian Herkner, Marc Thorpe for Moroso, Brodie Neill for Riva 1920 that have been the companies working alongside Casa Italia for several years. They were joined by: Monica Armani, Mario Bellini, Antonio Citterio, Piero Lissoni, Gaetano Pesce, Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia, Michael Anastassiades, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Piero Lissoni, Jasper Morrison, Barber & Osgerby, Marcel Wanders for Flos, Impatia, De Pas – D’Urbino – Lomazzi, Ettore Sottsass, Superstudio for Poltronova, Formafantasma, Nava+Arosio for Rubelli.
The architectural project is based on the link between the new and the existing, between artifice and nature; the first declination of the Ensemble concept is that of interweaving, already inherent in the Olympic Circles. According to sociologist Tim Ingold’s interpretation, the world – in this case the Olympic world – can be thought of as a mesh, a fabric of lines knotted together where the knots are the centre of things. It is the fabric that makes manifest the interweaving of threads, the idea of building together through bonds, and it is the fabric that is the main material of the Casa Italia installation. Conceived as a series of rooms within rooms, the House appears as a succession of new rooms installed in the 19th-century architecture of Pré Catelan through the use of a semi-transparent fabric, in a continuous process of mutual enhancement that also reverberates in the outdoor spaces.
This incessant osmosis also emerges in the furnishings, in which a careful selection of iconic design elements, both from the past and contemporary, emphasises a strong dialogue, both aesthetic and meaningful, with the context and the setting, through the choice of shapes, colours and materials.
Great attention has been paid to environmental sustainability. In fact, the predominant use of natural and recycled fabrics, which reduce the overall weight of transporting the fitting materials, thus cutting CO2 emissions, allows the project to be sustainable and reduce its impact on the ecosystem. Italian design objects are also used in the furnishings that are intrinsically sustainable, not only because of the commitment made by all the companies involved in the conception of the product life cycle with virtuous processes, but because they are destined to last over time and be handed down. Many design elements have been chosen or designed to express this ecological sensitivity through a strong aesthetic and material component: furniture in wood, terracotta, enamelled lava, raw fabrics, cellulose, recycled plastic. The press room of Casa Italia, for example, is zero-impact thanks to the protocol signed with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Safety, and the support of Federlegno and its member companies. Sustainability is a further landing place of the Ensemble concept because the climate upheavals and environmental disasters of the present and near future can only be thought of in a dimension of collective collaboration.
THE JOURNEY BETWEEN ART AND DESIGN
The exhibition, curated by Beatrice Bertini and Benedetta Acciari, begins outside the House with a copy of the sign “ITALIA” at the entrance to the historic Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, a tribute to one of the most important art events in the world. Behind it is the accreditation pavilion, a mirrored volume reflecting and amplifying the surrounding forest, corten-coloured to fit harmoniously into the context. The pavilion, made with Pratic’s bioclimatic modules, is an anticipation of the visitor’s experience inside the House: it is set up like a living room, with warm, natural tones. A Standard sofa by Francesco Binfaré with a set of Cicladi coffee tables by Jacopo Foggini in natural alabaster, both designed for Edra; a sinuous wooden counter, like a piece of furniture; Capitain Flint floor lamps by Micheal Anastassiades (Flos) in warm earthy tones, indicate to the visitor that Casa Italia is first and foremost a home, a place of welcome. Continuing along the exhibition, we are welcomed by the work Sacral created by sculptor Edoardo Tresoldi and inspired by the forms of the Renaissance baptistery, a true symbolic and physical gateway that, through an interweaving of metal meshes, transports us into the dimension of Ensemble. From here, walking along a monumental tree-lined avenue, the work of the Natura e Architettura studio, and enhanced by Massimo Pascucci’s lighting, we reach the space in front of Le Pré Catelan, reconfigured as a symbolic Italian Piazza, a space for meeting and welcome. This square is overlooked by the two pavilions dedicated to the Media Factory and the bistro, set up inside, as well as the garden it overlooks, with metal and teak furniture designed by Patrick Norguet, part of the Swing collection for Ethimo and, outside, with the Hut alcove designed by Marco Lavit for the same brand. The choice of natural wood as the dominant material in this area contributes to the creation of a relaxed and informal space. The façade of the main building houses a large site-specific work by Agostino Iacurci, entitled Ensemble, which is a reinterpretation of the Tricolore in his typical floral and abstract style, in which natural images and a reinterpretation of classical aesthetics are combined. Once through the entrance to the main building, the system of ‘rooms within rooms’ begins, where the layout, designed by the IT’S architecture studio, shows a structure of mutual enhancement. Here stands the Olympic medal collection, which will grow during the days of the competition, and is incorporated and embellished by the work Panorama Italia, a 30-square-metre tapestry by Giovanni Bonotto that covers all the walls, creating an immersive environment by highlighting the Ensemble through the cultural, historical, geological, landscape, gastronomic and linguistic variety of Italy, which makes it special in the world. The design was created with the help of Artificial Intelligence and the materials are yarns obtained from recycled plastic waste. Marking the entrance to the heart of the House is Marinella Senatore‘s luminous work We Rise by Lifting Others, which picks up on a famous quote by Robert Ingersoll, and which speaks of the power of helping others and the positive impact it can have on ourselves.
The Gallery’s spacious entrance is conceived as an abstract and elegant environment, lined with a semi-transparent Rubelli fabric whose yellow colour inundates the space with light, amplifying its physical and symbolic value. The visitor is taken in by a series of works, the first of which is by an absolute protagonist of the second half of the 20th century, conceptual artist Vincenzo Agnetti, who died in 1981, with the iconic work Tra me e te l’infinito inesistente, a rigorous structure in which the vague and elusive character of meaning can only be grasped through the complicity of the gaze of the questioner. Also in the Gallery, the work by French-born and Roman-by-adoption artist Julie Polidoro entitled Tutti i Paesi Grandi Uguali (All the Great Equal Countries) celebrates the Olympic spirit by cancelling the hierarchies between the countries of the world due to their territorial dimensions in a map in which the various nations become a multitude of shapes and colours. Another artistic connection between Italy and France can be found in Fabio Viale‘s sculpture Amore e Psiche (Cupid and Psyche), a contemporary reinterpretation of Canova’s Cupid and Psyche housed in the Louvre, in which Venus is rendered black by an integral tattoo, in a clear hymn to the love of diversity. The link between the two countries and between the dimension of sustainability and the Ensemble concept is also found in the painting We Are All Collaborating by the French-Italian collective Claire Fontaine, which draws attention to the issue of social, humanitarian and environmental emergencies, in which being together is understood as the necessary standing together to collaborate on the world’s important issues. The general concept of Casa Italia Paris 2024 becomes absolutely manifest in the large sculptural work by Margherita Moscardini, who in (Ou la mort) extrapolates the most neglected word of the famous French motto to make it the most important one and capable of also summarising the concepts of freedom and equality by repeating Fraternité, Fraternité, Fraternité providing a new paradigm of being together despite being different. At the centre of the Gallery space, a blue line formed by the modules of the iconic Camaleonda sofa designed by Mario Bellini and made by B&B Italia, accompanied by the Up armchair by Gaetano Pesce, another great name in design, who recently passed away, enters into dialogue with the works of art and the volume of the generously proportioned room.
In the spaces of the Gallery, the idea of relationship and bonding shifts to the double plane of the infinitely small and the infinitely big in Alberto Di Fabio‘s work, Vita Astrale (Astral Life), which introduces us to the mysterious and fascinating phenomena of Nature, making incursions into the cellular world as well as among the constellations, in a vision in which everything is a connection and synthesis of the universe. Among the most impressive works exhibited at Casa Italia is certainly the Tappeto Volante (Flying Carpet) created by the Stalker collective, together with the exiled Kurdish community in Rome, a group of activist architects, a Rom boy and one from Senegal, in which 41,472 hemp ropes with copper terminals reproduce the muqarnas of the ceiling of the Palatine Chapel in Palermo, symbol of a millenary culture of welcome that brings together Greek, Latin, Arab and Norman cultures. Underneath this extraordinary spatial work are two Sherazade sofas designed by Francesco Binfaré for Edra, which, with their freely configurable system of movable cushions, allow one to sit or lie down and look up at the work, contributing to the experience of viewing the work. Continuing through the gallery spaces, we find the Italian coloured bronze sculpture Italiana by Paolo delle Monache. The work makes express reference to Italy and its wonders, celebrating the uniqueness of our territory precisely from the variety of elements that make it memorable.
The artistic itinerary is punctuated by an absolute novelty that Casa Italia has the honour of hosting: the special equipment and accessories worn by the Corazzieri Regiment, a special unit of the Carabinieri Force placed under the authority of the Presidency of the Republic. The magnificence of the uniform on display consists of a cuirass, typical of the heavy cavalry for which soldiers were called corazzieri, a helmet and a sabre.
At the heart of Casa Italia, in the centre of the Gallery and surrounded by works of art, stands the Celebration Room, a cylinder, a true epicentre of Le Pré Catelan for the celebration of sport and Italy and its medals. Inside, the space, curated by InformaSistemi, is enveloped by screens and conceived as a contemporary amphitheatre where the celebration of the athlete is the ritual that marks the day. The rest of the time, however, it becomes the place where Italian excellence in all its aspects is represented: a visual explosion of digital works of art, images of the Bel Paese, and multimedia content that flow in sequence and convey the high value of Italy.
Not far away, we find the lounge with the second work by Paolo delle Monache entitled Serendipity, a column in which we recognise many Italian monuments, which envelops an inhabitant and protects him, supports him, constitutes him. This area is characterised by a long perimeter window separating the interior from the garden, and is imagined as a space dilated towards the outside, as if inside and outside were one, in which the only protagonist is the vegetation of the Bois de Boulogne. The interior design realised by Atelier Bianca E. Patroni Griffi, aims to reinforce this idea of annulling the boundary between inside and outside, and to recreate a real landscape inside, fluid and permeated by natural elements where colours become earthy and natural.
The landscape is delineated at the entrance to the lounge area by a circular bar counter on one side, and two ring benches on the other, conceived as atolls, islands with their own vegetation inside. The three elements were custom-made with an innovative material based on micro-fibres from recycled paper and FSC-certified forests, a sort of evolution of papier-mâché, developed in collaboration with the University of Salento in Lecce by Paper Factor, an Italian company based in Apulia.
In the centre of the lounge, two Standard sofas by Edra facing each other, reinforcing the central axis that dictates the symmetry of the room. Two compositions of Ribes sofas designed by Antonio Citterio in tones of red with Borea coffee tables (Piero Lissoni) in red enamelled lava, both for B&B Italia, accompany the linear development of the window towards the garden and create two mirrored lounge areas, accompanied by solid wood benches by Brodie Neill for Riva 1920.
Continuing with the intention of enhancing the osmosis between indoors and outdoors, a new axis of symmetry is established along the glass wall and, as in a play of mirrors, the Ribes sofas are found in the garden space, this time in colour green as are the Borea tables (Piero Lissoni) in enamelled lava. The islands of outdoor sofas are accompanied in the garden by the Crinoline armchairs designed by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia, while a series of multicoloured seats (Shadowy, Sunny and Modou) punctuate the garden like flowers, activating a relationship between the new outdoor rooms and the surrounding landscape, between the Mediterranean essences of Casa Italia and the local vegetation of the park. These armchairs, designed by Tord Boontje, and Ron Arad for Moroso, are distinctly graphic in their design and materials, playful and colourful in their chromatic arrangements. Also in the garden space is a second circular bar counter made to measure in Plastiz, a material derived from plastic waste and itself totally recyclable, whose production process uses only energy produced from renewable sources.
Returning inside from the Gallery, the visitor enters the Milano-Cortina room, where he is welcomed by an immersive experience dedicated to snow and ice. A series of seats designed by Jacopo Foggini that reproduce the shape of Milan Cathedral on the backrest, together with sofas by Francesco Binfaré – both for Edra – set up the space surrounding the mirrored volume that houses the installation. Outside we find the outdoor seats by Jacopo Foggini – also for Edra – whose transparent weaves evoke water and ice.
The monumental staircase to the upper floor of Le Pré Catelan is illuminated by the sculptural composition Arrangements designed by Michael Anastassiades for Flos, in a symbolic concatenation of luminous circles. Visitors are immediately greeted by Fun with Flags, a series of works by Riccardo Previdi in which the Milanese artist plays with overlapping and mixing different flags of the world to create unusual and colourful patterns. The exhibition continues with the diptych Time Capsule by visual artist Patrick Tuttofuoco, who insists on the theme of intertwining, in this case that of hands knotted together to become a universal symbol of brotherhood.
The first room encountered on the way up is the Sala Casa Italia, located on the mezzanine floor. It is an oval room from which it is possible to admire the avenue with Edoardo Tresoldi‘s Sacral work from inside the House. Here the space is furnished with ample seating from the Standard series designed by Francesco Binfaré, and with Cicladi coffee tables designed by Jacopo Foggini in alabaster in the colours green, white and red, in homage to the Italian flag (both products were made by Edra). Lighting is provided by floor and wall lamps from the Bellhop series designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby for Flos.
The continuous cross-reference between the interior and exterior of Casa Italia also marks the layout of the first floor of Le Pré Catelan, where the prevailing colour of the setting is green, enhanced by the lush vegetation visible through the large windows. The space is divided into a sequence of rooms, most of which are intended to house the Casa Italia Hospitality rooms. Each room, even though it is linked to the others, also has its own identity defined by the choice of furnishings and works of art. To the right of the staircase, the Hospitality room for the athletes is punctuated by iridescent Shimmer tables designed by Patricia Urquiola for Glas Italia, accompanied by Gilda B. chairs by Jacopo Foggini for Edra. A large, flamboyant On The Rocks sofa designed by Francesco Binfaré for Edra defines the border between the indoor hall and the outdoor terrace. Here, the sinuously shaped bas-reliefs by artist Sergio Breviario entitled Bianca and Marion are intended to highlight the extraordinary complexity of each individual, which should not be judged but welcomed with curiosity.
Adjacent to this is a more intimate room, where the prominence is given to the green/blue colour of the Ella chairs designed by Jacopo Foggini for Edra, around ethereal Hub transparent glass tables designed by Piero Lissoni and produced by Glas Italia. The room overlooks a small semicircular terrace, where the summer air can be enjoyed on two outdoor modules from Francesco Binfaré‘s Standard series. In this room, joy is expressed by Gabriele Picco‘s two canvases, Lasciarsi attraversare dall’arcobaleno and Nuotando nel cielo, in which it seems that, in both cases, enthusiasm arises from the breaking of isolation, as in the case of the human figure becoming a ‘condominium’ or the man crossed by a rainbow. The rooms are illuminated by the pendant lamps Viscontea and Zeppelin, the first an iconic design by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni from the 1960s, the second a design from the early 2000s by Marcel Wanders that reinterprets the design of the historic classic chandeliers (both produced by Flos).
The Hospitality rooms feature the Gina and Gilda B. chairs, with their translucent shells imagined by Jacopo Foggini for Edra, accompanying the Jabot tables designed by Mario Bellini for Glas Italia or the custom-made tables made of white plastic sheets with transparent inserts, derived from the prevailing recycling of old household appliances and produced by Plastiz. Illuminating the rooms are the iconic Teraxacum 88 suspension lamps by Achille Castiglioni and String Lights by Michael Anastassiades, both for Flos. Continuing the exhibition, for Francesco Jodice mutual support and collaboration are not an acquired condition, but rather an invitation, a hope, a tension that seems to explode from the photographic diptych The Surfers, in which numerous surfers, in the waters of a suspended and almost metaphysical sea, all wait together for the arrival of the wave, a metaphor for an unknown that can only be faced collectively. In the walk among the works of art we find Messa a Terra, a series of four fabric wall sculptures in which the artist Marco Bernardi, inspired by Masaccio, reinterprets the story of Adam and Eve as an archetypal form of brotherhood from which humanity will originate.
In the athletes’ lounge, dedicated to brotherhood, the layout evokes the “sky in a room”, becoming a metaphor for the athlete’s accomplishment, a blue sky characterised by soft and fluffy furnishings where the large Cipria sofa, a clear allusion to a soft cloud created by Fernando and Humberto Campana and produced by Edra, stands out in the room and the mirrored ceiling multiplies the depth to give a sense of suspension. The mediation between floor and ceiling is represented by the perimeter surface in degradé printed fabric made by Rubelli. The lounge is illuminated by Glo-Ball floor lamps by Jasper Morrison for Flos, which play into the image of the sky. A table football table created specifically for Casa Italia by Impatia is placed in the environment, intended to offer athletes a space for rest and lightness in a literal and figurative sense.
Closing the sequence of spaces on the first floor we find the Meeting Room, an oval room with a rich wall decoration in white on a blue background in which The Lost Garden, a work by Matteo Nasini, encapsulates the entire concept of Casa Italia Paris 2024, Ensemble, and the universalist values of the Olympic spirit: the coloured columns composed of woollen threads cite the theme of interweaving and make explicit how there is no possibility of construction without collaboration between individuals and without respect for the diversity of each. In this room, a large Allure O’ table with its Flair O’ seats – both designed by Monica Armani for B&B Italia – sets up the space with a play of contrast between the classic environment and the downplaying tone of the yellow furnishings.
Finally, a large longitudinal terrace accompanies the rooms that overlook the garden on the ground floor. Here we find the natural tones of the seats by Marcello Ziliani for Ethimo, with the teak structure and the seat made with a weave of threads in the colors sand, green and burgundy.
Continuing with the works of art, the work Panorama belongs to a series of paintings that Julie Polidoro creates by connecting natural cataclysms with the migrations of peoples. Of a completely different orientation is Monnalisa con barba di Van Gogh, an ironic work by Marco Bernardi: if the famous Mona Lisa is the symbol of the discord between Italy and France in the popular vernacular, in this work Leonardo’s masterpiece is reworked by adding the Van Gogh’s beard taken from the artist’s famous self-portrait. Taksim square, Istanbul, Turkey, 05.31.2013 and Innsbruck, Austria, 01.29.1964 by Margherita Moscardini are representations of collective moments in which the crowd, coming together, shows us the shape of places. In The Belle of The Ball, the title of a series of HB collages and pencil drawings by Sergio Breviario, nine works tell stories populated by awkward chivalric figures, presumed nobles engaged in duels and courtships or suspended scenes full of romance. Towards the end of this art and design itinerary we find the work Energie by Alberto di Fabio, a large tapestry with a vitaminic yellow cast. The artist’s cosmic inspiration is combined here with the thousand-year-old tradition of Italian tapestry and especially with the Arazzeria Pennese, one of the main tapestry production centers in Italy. In conclusion, we find Agostino Iacurci who, with the work Of My Abstract Gardening, two floral paintings with a black background, makes explicit reference to the tradition of the Roman horti picti, that is, the custom of painting landscapes directly on the walls.
design is light. Fabertechnica by Marco Frascarolo worked on enhancing the individual excellences, from the works of the artists to those of the designers, from the scenography to landscaping, weaving a unique canvas in a perceptive and narrative path, day and night, capable of capturing every single moment of the House, emphasising it in its entirety.
The collaboration between companies, craftsmen and the creative intelligence of designers enhances the primary value of Casa Italia, that of hospitality. Dialogue is established, in fact, first and foremost through care for the visitor’s functionality and experience, making them feel at home. Therefore, Casa Italia wants to be a domestic space for Italian athletes, but also for national and international guests who will be able to experience Italy and Italian sport also thanks to the original contents proposed.
CASA ITALIA OVER THE YEARS AND TOMORROW
Ensemble, is the concept behind the Casa Italia Parigi 2024 project, curated by Lorenzo Pellicelli (CONI) and Beatrice Bertini, a new stage in an evolutionary process that over the years has progressively transformed the athletes’ home from Hospitality House to an internationally recognised brand capable of narrating Italian culture and the Country System through its excellences. Ensemble is, therefore, the coherent and most recent landing place of this journey that started in Rio 2016 with Horizontal (the contamination between cultures), continued in PyeongChang 2018 with Prospectum (the Italian point of view in the encounter with different civilisations), then in Tokyo 2020 with Mirabilia (an edition under the banner of Wonder) and further on in Beijing 2022 with Millium (the journey as a metaphor of existential path), and finally culminating in Milan Cortina in 2026. Evoking images of harmony and consonance, the concept of Ensemble – a term also linked to music and fashion, two pillars of both French and Italian modern cultural identity – acquires further symbolic value on the occasion of the stage marking the return of the Olympic Games to Europe after twelve years.
CREDITS CASA ITALIA PARIS 2024
Direction of the project: Lorenzo Pellicelli, Marketing CONI
Concept: curated by Marketing direction of CONI and Beatrice Bertini
Artistic project: curated by Beatrice Bertini and Benedetta Acciari
Set up project: studio di architettura IT’S
Lighting project: Fabertechnica and Massimo Pascucci
Landscape project: studio Natura e Architettura
Technological project: InformaSistemi
Art Direction: Francesco de Figueiredo, Nero Editions
Interior design: curated by Atelier Bianca E. Patroni Griffi
Audio and video content: Stand By Me
Graphic identity: Leonardo Sonnoli
Project manager: Mariafederica Pacces Asti
Website: Nero Editions
INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC
CASA ITALIA
Le Pré Catelan
1 route de la Grande Cascade, Bois de Boulogne, 75016 Paris
Access, by reservation, exclusively online: casaitalia.sport
