Mosca Partners and DAMN° revisited Palazzo Litta during Milan Design Week, together with some of the most interesting protagonists in international design, with their exhibition A Matter of Perception: Tradition & Technology.
Berlin-based architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, born in Burkina Faso, transformed the courtyard of the Palazzo into a Courtyard Village.
“We wanted to create the feeling of an African landscape, so we did it with the floor which represents the communal ground for the installation,” Kéré during an interview on SKY Arte HD.
Courtyard Village by Diébédo Francis Kéré. Courtesy of DAMNº
Kéré successfully devised this feeling of Africa while remaining true to what his idea of architecture really is by using locally supplied wood and stone: “Architecture consists, when possible, to use what’s locally available and to use natural material to create something useful for people.”
He designed an elevated platform surrounded by a groundcover of wild grasses; three open, circular shelters made of stone on the platform; and a singular overhanging roof of bamboo.
His installation, a meeting pavilion that accommodated a series of talks and activities, was supported by Italian stone producers Casone and Mutti; manufacturer of structural elements Eterno Ivica; landscape builder Euroambiente; Italian leading lighting manufacturer Reggiani Illuminazione; and the leader in home appliances known for its pioneering role in innovation and design made in Germany, Gaggenau.
