Events, exhibitions, interior design: architect Daniele Chiocchio directs the relationships between architecture, art and public spaces with confidence and skill.
In 1999, my partner Valerio Gini, also an architect, and I founded Integra Studio, which later became Integra design and is based in Rome. Our activity runs on two parallel tracks. The first is that of major events. We have realised many of them and of different types, in Italy and around the world: automotive and sports events, corporate events for large companies, and art-related events, including large exhibitions.
The second track is that of the hôtellerie, which includes everything related to the hospitality and F&B sector, so not only hotels but also spas and wellness, restaurants and cocktail bars. Since 2012 we have realised many interiors for hotels, but not only. In fact, we take care of everything, starting from concept and preliminary design to executive design and art direction, right through to interior design in every detail.
So the your work is deeply connected to art…
Yes, certainly. You could say that we were born this way, in the late 1990s and early 2000s: we started with exhibit design and events, with exhibitions of great appeal, like the one on the Expressionists at the Vittoriano in Rome. Even with a different slant like those on Moto Guzzi, the Beatles, Fellini, and Audrey Hepburn at the Ara Pacis.
It is also to be said that along the way we have broadened and deepened our skills by teaming up with professionals who deal with light design, projections, technology at the service of large events, and for installations. Even art installations, so much so that we have worked on video mapping when they were still little known, in places such as Palazzo Vecchio, in Florence, or Montecarlo for Ferrari.
Let us therefore say that art, understood in its broadest sense, often comes into play in our work, in a transversal way.
In this sense, can you tell us about the experience of U-Visionary Venice?
The inclusion of artworks, or at least artistic images, within hotel structures is always a delicate matter. In the case of U-Visionary Venice, we had a strong theme: we started from the city’s role as a gateway to the East, with its history of travel and exchange. We were inspired by this for a whole series of interior design elements: furnishings, fabrics, details, quotations… Therefore we needed something exotic, in the broadest sense of the term: something that had somewhat evocative characteristics but that could be purchased in large numbers.
In a hotel, which on average has 30, 40 rooms, in most cases you can’t buy individual pieces for large numbers. This is why we found Cinquerosso Arte’s proposal very interesting, with its very high quality reproductions.
We have chosen three artists. One is Giulio Rigoni, with his dreamlike images, rich in exotic elements. In his illustrations, I found connections with Venice, both in the images as a whole and in the many iconographic elements. Then there is Icaro, with his Botales: photographs of batons representing half-human, half-animal figures. Recalling the mysterious and fascinating atmosphere of this city.
And then there is Luca Brandi, and in his case we chose works with geometric designs and palettes that perfectly match the overall design, but which above all have an interesting element. They are very “comfortable”, they evoke a feeling of calmness that also recalls Asian culture. I am thinking for example of Zen gardens with their lines drawn in sand, whereas here they are drawn in colour.
You were mentioning that the relationship between art and hôtellerie is rather delicate. What are you referring to?
Yes, it is delicate because you have to try to characterise the rooms but at the same time find the right balance with the other furnishing elements. The artwork has to be interesting and blend well with the design context, without weighing it down.
A hotel is not an exhibition space, it is not a museum. The artwork should not be the protagonist but fit in organically and harmoniously. So there is a question of relationship and proportion. Cinquerosso Arte, with its extensive gallery, allowed us to identify artists and pieces in tune with the concept, which would fit in and perfectly complement the overall design.
