GALERIE PHILIA AT MILAN DESIGN WEEK HIGHLIGHTED THE INFLUENCE OF RICK OWENS ON A NEW GENERATION OF ITALIAN DESIGNERS, INCLUDING DAM ATELIER, DRAGA OBRADOVIC & AUREL K. BASEDOW, LORENZO BINI, AGUSTINA BOTTONI, SAMUEL CONSTANTINI, CARA AND DAVID, PIETRO FRANCESCHINI, AND MORGHEN STUDIO. HIS WORKS WERE SET IN DIALOGUE WITH THEIRS, FORMING A DISPLAY DEFINED BY A RESTRAINED PALETTE OF BLACKS, WHITES, AND GOLDS, AND A FORMAL LANGUAGE OF GRIDS AND CONTROLLED CURVES. “MY FURNITURE IS MY COUTURE,” OWENS NOTED, “I USE RARE MATERIALS AND ARTISANS WITH SPECIALISED SKILLS TO CREATE UNIQUE, ONE-OF-A-KIND OBJECTS.”
WITHIN THIS CONTEXT, PIETRO FRANCESCHINI PRESENTED URANIA, A SCULPTURAL CHAIR IN MARBLE PRODUCED AS A LIMITED EDITION. THE PIECE CONDENSES HIS ONGOING RESEARCH INTO MASS AND DISTORTION: A COMPACT, CARVED VOLUME WHERE STRUCTURE AND SURFACE READ AS A SINGLE GESTURE. IN DIALOGUE WITH OWENS’S WORK, URANIA REINFORCES A SHARED ATTENTION TO MATERIAL INTENSITY AND CONTROLLED MONUMENTALITY, WHILE INTRODUCING A MORE COMPRESSED, ARCHITECTURAL PRESENCE WITHIN THE EXHIBITION.