Modernism has been "misread and simplified" says Formafantasma

Among the more experiential offerings at this year's Milan design week was a three-act play from design studio Formafantasma, presenting a critical perspective on modernism and its legacy.

The show, called Staging Modernity, was presented at Teatro Lirico in collaboration with Italian design brand Cassina to mark 60 years since the tubular steel furniture of Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand was put into mass production for the first time.

Rather than a pure celebration, Formafantasma founders Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin saw the play as an opportunity to reassess our "idealised conception of modernity".

"A lot of the ideas of Le Corbusier have been simplified and turned into a way of standardising everything, of reapplying modernism everywhere in the same way," Farresin told Dezeen at the opening.

"And so we have cities that look the same, everything is standardised. This is also an outcome of modernity."

Design is "stuck" in the past

The play was centred around the 1929 Salon d'Automne expo in Paris, where the pieces by Le Corbusier, Jeanneret and Perriand that would come to epitomise modernist design were introduced to the public for the first time.

Here, the furniture – and by extension the home – were presented as a "machine à habiter", a machine for living, that eschewed existing traditions and was instead perfectly calibrated to meet the needs of humans.

"Corbusier often talked about the machine for living, thinking about the house as a machine: functional, hygienic, perfect, somehow a shell that protected humans from the outdoors," Farresin said.

The idea of humans as separate from nature continues to pervade design today, he argues, despite what the worst excesses of this world view have meant for the planet and its other inhabitants.

"We're not critical of the work of these authors," Farresin explained. "But anything that is this successful is also misread and simplified."

"I love these pieces, they are tremendous objects," he added. "But it's also important to remember they were designed in 1929. They still look modern, which is interesting. The question is, why is that? Maybe we are stuck."

Play offers a species-inclusive version of modernity

Staging Modernity argues instead for a new kind of modernity that uses the same rational, functionalist approach to meet the needs of other species.

To communicate this idea, Formafantasma based the scenography on the layout of the Salon d'Automne but splintered it into separate fragments.

These were presented not just on Teatro Lirico's main stage but also on smaller podiums dotted across the stalls, to create a more porous vision of modernism, with plastic animals posed alongside the furnishings.

"We let what stays outdoors, what stays outside of the machine, the animals and the other species invade the space," Farresin explained.

The play itself, staged by Italian theatre director Fabio Cherstich, was based on three separate texts commissioned by Formafantasma that view modernism from the perspective of other species.

French philosopher Emanuele Coccia contributed a scene in which a chorus of animals pleads with the audience: "Open your modernity to us, we will make something even more beautiful out of it", while the Solitary Foxes monologue by TerriStories's Feifei explores how animals exist in the margins of our cities.

Finally, Spanish architect and writer Andrés Jaque looked at the perspective of materials, dramatising how modernist furniture introduced chrome-plated metal, originally developed to coat bullets during world war one, to the general population.

"At one point we were like: fuck, we're really crazy"

Staging Modernity marks the first time the Formafantasma duo – known for their research-heavy deep dives into topics from wood to wool – have turned their hand to theatre production.

"We tend to be much more cerebral," Farresin said. "And this had an element, which was also fun and emotional."

"It's interesting to see something that you started being interpreted by others," he added. "This is the first time, I think, that we let go so much."

"At one point we were like: fuck, we're really crazy."

The idea to stage a play for this Milan design week was born originally from Cassina's choice of Teatro Lirico as the setting and Formafantasma's desire to honour this historic venue, originally constructed in 1779.

But the idea ended up being in line with the cultural zeitgeist. Several other studios presented theatrical experiences at this year's festival, with American theatre director Robert Wilson staging the Object Chairs Opera at La Scala, while Dimorestudio crafted a theatrical set and performance for Loro Piana.

"I think performance and theater are the most relevant thing in this moment," Farresin explained. "I'm completely sure about that."

"There is so much production of visuals with AI and everything," he added. "But what is beautiful about a live gathering of humans and bodies is that it's right here, right now. It cannot be faked. It cannot be replicated."

"It just is what it is, with all the complexities of mistakes and all the rest."

The photography is by Omar Sartor.

Milan design week took place from April 7 to 13. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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