Lighthouse, Piero Lissoni’s contribution to The Village, is a diminutive piece designed to house a small candle, transforming it into a lighthouse. Effortlessly elegant, it is also a symbolic object that reminds us to always seek light even in the darkest moments.
Architecturally, it is tall and slender, crowned by a pitched roof containing a pair of circular windows. The colour of the walls is intriguingly indefinable with the striking veining of sandblasted Grigio Versilia marble ranging in hue from pure white to cool anthracite grey, interrupted by large asymmetrical windows that allow the light to flood in.
This small but perfectly formed piece of architecture embodies the principles of an ideal small town in a way that could be considered metaphysical. Its very shape brings out the extraordinary characteristics of the stone it is made from, creating a piece of art that is centred around the material itself.
The Village is inspired by Gabriele Salvatori’s wish to explore the concept of home within the context of today’s global society and reinterpret it through the medium of design, whilst addressing fundamental themes of contemporary living. To recreate the rich and diverse structure of a typical village, we invited a select group of designers from around the world to share their idea of home, each bringing their own inimitable combination of outlooking, culture and background. The result is a fascinating and wonderfully eclectic collection of miniature houses, that, like the global village we inhabit, reflect an extraordinary array of styles and approaches. What links them, however, is the use of natural stone, that enduring and beloved material that has been used since time memorial to construct buildings, art and monuments that provide refuge and inspiration for mankind. From the very first rudimentary dwellings of cavemen and women, it has protected and enveloped us, the very same characteristics we still look for today when we choose our home, our haven. Designers such as Rodolfo Dordoni, Kengo Kuma, Elisa Ossino, John Pawson, Patricia Urquiola, Vincent Van Duysen and Yabu Pushelberg accepted our challenge, each contributing their precious and unique interpretation of the concept of home, expressed in a miniature piece of very special and absolutely original architecture. The Village is a natural continuation of Salvatori’s commitment to reinventing the concept of home décor by developing pieces that express “home” as a holistic experience that touches all our senses and nurtures our soul.
