Franco Bertoni
Art and Art Architectural Historian, International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza

DESIGN MINIMALISTA E CLAUDIO SILVESTRIN / MINIMALISTIČKI DIZAJN I KLAUDIO SILVESTRIN
MINIMALISM AND CLAUDIO SILVESTRIN

Journal 2/2006 (Museum of Applied Art), pages 91-106

UDC:
72 : 929 Силвестрин К.

Abstract (original language):
In ogni attività creativa, con il termine Minimalismo ci si riferisce, di solito, a una estrema scarnificazione dei mezzi espressivi e a una conseguente austerità formale.

Il Minimalismo, comunque, rimane qualcosa di diverso dalle tante tendenze che si sono succedute negli ultimi decenni. Prova ne sia la sua lunga durata (dalla fine degli anni Cinquanta, almeno) e il vasto panorama di discipline che a questa idea di semplicità hanno fatto riferimento: dall'arte alla danza, dalla musica all'architettura, dal design alla moda.

Claudio Silvestrin, con la sua architettura e con le sue opere di design, è uno dei protagonisti contemporanei di questa tendenza.

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Na svakom polju stvaralaštva pojam minimalizam odnosi se, obično, na krajnje ogoljavanje ekspresivnih sredstava i formalnu svedenost koja iz toga proističe.

Minimalizam ipak ostaje nešto različito od brojnih tendencija koje su se smenjivale jedna za drugom poslednjih decenija. Dokaz za to jeste njegovo dugo trajanje (najmanje od kraja pedesetih godina) i široka lepeza disciplina koje su uporište nalazile u ovoj zamisli o jednostavnosti: od umetnosti do plesa, od muzike do arhitekture, od dizajna do mode.

Klaudio Silvestrin predstavlja, svojom arhitekturom i dizajnerskim dostignućima, jednog od savremenih aktera ove tendencije.

Key words: (original language)
minimalismo, design, architettura, Claudio Silvestrin, A. G. Fronzoni / minimalizam, dizajn, arhitektura, Klaudio Silvestrin, A. G. Fronconi

Summary:
The term minimalism has been in use for fifty years to describe artistic phenomena based on formal simplicity and strictness. From American artists such as Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Robert Morris, Sol LeWitt, Richard Serra and Carl Andre to the theatre work of Robert Wilson; from graphics by A. G. Fronzoni to the music of La Monte Young and Terry Riley, all the way to Michael Nyman; from Raymond Carver's short stories to Giorgio Armani and Issey Miyake fashion; from the architecture of John Pawson, Claudio Silvestrin, Peter Zunthor, Tadao Ando, Michael Gabellini, Alberto Campo Baeza to the “London Minimum” design representatives.

These are areas of expression, which often do not communicate much, but which, in their complexity, are the proof of the creation and development, in different geographic areas and eras, of the trend that is based on the idea of utter simplicity, the origin of which should be sought in the earliest history.

The important forerunners were Luis Barragan in architecture, John Cage in music, Martha Graham in dance, Michelangelo Antonioni in film, suprematism in art, T-shirt in fashion, Max Bill and Dieter Rams in the area of design.

In the field of design, in the last few years, there has been present radical simplification, which, at first, even caused a crisis in major companies of the sector, which then had to adapt their production catalogues to the increasingly present need for simplicity, formal minimalism and clarity of expression linked to the prevailing use of natural materials (wood, stone...).

Claudio Silvestrin is one of the most prominent representatives of the phenomenon which expanded geographically and culturally to the entire world. Having formed in Milan with A. G. Fronzoni, Silvestrin graduated in architecture in London. In England, together with John Pawson, he contributed greatly to the creation and revival of interest in the basic values such as earth, air, fire and water, which were to become the main foundations of his architecture.

In the attempt to banish from everyday life everything that is considered useless or superfluous, Silvestrin coherently followed his personal vision of simple, but not simplistic, architecture, with broad philosophical and spiritual implications.

The first pieces intended for interior design that he crafted within the concept of his innovative architecture, were later elaborated and included in the production range by some of the leading European companies from the industry.

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