Apocalypse/Utopia

Traveling Exhibition, Milan, Italy, 1984

This furniture design and display environment was developed for the 1984 Triennale in Milan. It is based on the "positive/negative, either/or, inside/outside, apocalypse/utopia" themes that have been consistently part of SITE’s work since the founding of the studio in 1970. A wooden platform is divided into two sections. One half is a glass enclosure with a visible terrarium garden of earth, rock and plants – signifying SITE’s current affinities - while the other part is an open steel, glass, and masonry container, filled with fire-blackened artifacts that represent SITE’s past affinities. In the center of the two divisions, a slightly raised masonry plinth serves as the presentation base for a piece of wooden furniture entitled "Window Chair." Like the platform below, this chair is designed in two parts (back-to-back) with one side in charred wood and the other in natural wood. Both of the vertical chair backs include windows and shutters. The varnished furniture unit frames a view of the burned out pit, while the scorched chair window overlooks the garden.