Triennale Milano: Tribute to Ettore Sottsass with the Permanent Display of the Casa Lana

After Ettore Sottsass: There is a Planet, the major monographic exhibition of
2017, Triennale Milano opens the Sala Sottsass, on the first floor of the Palazzo
dell’Arte. The Sala Sottsass contains the reconstruction and permanent display
of an interior of the Casa Lana, a private residence designed by Ettore Sottsass
in the mid-1960s in Milan. It is now accessible to the public thanks to a donation
by Barbara Radice Sottsass.
A series of exhibitions and events, highlighting different aspects of the great
master’s works and ideas, are being put on around the permanent display of the
Casa Lana.
Alongside the various exhibitions, a number of targeted donations will form the
core of an important collection of works by the architect Ettore Sottsass Jr in the
permanent collection of Triennale Milano.
Stefano Boeri, President of Triennale Milano, says that “Today Triennale Milano
is giving the world a wonderful surprise: the faithful reconstruction of a part of
Ettore Sottsass’s Casa Lana, a ‘room within a room’ that Triennale has
dismantled and reassembled exactly as it was, thanks to the assistance of Iskra
Grisogono of Studio Sottsass and to conversations with the family of the original
owner. Milan is now home to an authentic time machine, created by one of the
international geniuses of the twentieth century.”
The central area of the Casa Lana, on display at Triennale, consists of a wooden
structure with sofas arranged in such a way as to form a protected place to sit
and chat or listen to music, while the space around it can be used for various
activities and purposes. The spaces are optimised because, by eliminating the
corridors, “a little piazza is created, where one can move and meet”, as Ettore
Sottsass himself described it (Domus, 1967).
The layout of the Sala Sottsass and its faithful reconstruction are the outcome
of a meticulous study by the Triennale Milano archive and restoration centre,
which saw the participation of Luca Cipelletti, among others, who oversaw the
reconstruction in the central space on the first floor of Triennale.
The display is accompanied by a series of exhibitions curated by Marco
Sammicheli with installation design and graphics by Christoph Radl.
Marco Sammicheli, Director of the Triennale Milano Museo del Design Italiano
says: “Starting from the narrative ideas of the Casa Lana, we thought up a series
of exhibitions that would examine some of the major themes of the great
master’s work.”
The first exhibition, Ettore Sottsass. Struttura e colore, takes from the title of
an article written by Sottsass in 1954. The display includes paintings, drawings,
photographs and objects that reveal his close attention to the relationship
between man and his needs, his rituals, and the space he lives in.
The second event, Ettore Sottsass. Il calcolo, set to run from May to November
2022, will examine the relationship between large numbers and technology, as
well as his collaboration with Olivetti. The third show, entitled Ettore Sottsass.
La parola, from December 2022 to April 2023, will open up to the narrative and
literary power of Sottsass’s work.
With its Museo del Design Italiano, Triennale Milano thus continues its mission
to promote the great Italian masters of design and architecture, while expanding 

its interactions with institutions, archives and study centres to implement
research projects that ultimately lead to exhibitions, publications and study
days.
The Institutional Partners Eni and Lavazza, the Institutional Media Partner Clear
Channel and the Technical Partner ATM are giving their support to Triennale
Milano also for this exhibition.