Farola, which was built in 2007 in response to the passionate tenacity of the designer of the Parco della Scultura in Architettura, is a micro work of architecture, just 5 metres high and produced exclusively in corten steel. From the outset, the sculpture was influenced by the deeply emblematic nature of the park, home to works by Alvaro Siza, Aldo Rossi, Alberto Campo Baeza and many more, set among the typical lombardy trees, and by the limitations of the original brief and technical solutions given at the beginning of the project. The aim of this example of minimal architecture is to allow anyone who comes across it to see the world in a different way, to change their perception and encourage them to raise their eyes upwards. The client’s brief has given rise to this compact work of art, firmly anchored to the ground and positioned just off the main tree-lined avenue in the park; when a light breeze blows through the rows of trees, the sculpture twists ever so slightly, throwing it off balance, making it vaguely unstable. This natural tension allows farola to peek through the trees and connect from afar with the works of Siza and Rossi. From a distance the neat, dry geometry of the building gives it an impenetrable air but this sensation vanishes as you get closer. The complex arrangement of different triangular openings makes the skin of the sculpture a transparent fabric which, upon entering, reveals the magical dimension of the “artificial celestial vault”. The changing light and the passing time heighten the sensations at which the irregular geometry hints, in a complex effect of direct and projected light.
