The Morandi-esque exhibition engages architectural acts of translation between two- and three-dimensional modes of representation, through the lens of Giorgio Morandi’s seminal still-life paintings. The work is shifted from a painterly perspective that the US architect Peter Eisenman describes as “merely a membrane, a line between a figure and ground” to an architectural “profile [that] is a three-dimensional formed container”. Morandi’s architectonic point of departure renders his subjects as abstract geometric archetypes, focusing on shapes and profiles as well as groupings that touch, conceal or crop. While this depends on an abstract reading, it does not categorize Morandi as an abstract painter, as he stated that “there is nothing more surreal or abstract than reality”. This legible correlation between representation and the represented, is inherent to the practice of architecture; between the drawing and the model, the drawing and building. The process attempts to give the objects a certain degree of autonomy, yet ensuring they strongly coalesce with their source. Therefore, the reproductions deploy rigorous tracing of the silhouettes through the use of arcs. These are then projected and constructed using their perspectival angles to prevent distortion to Morandi’s outline.
The gap in semblance produced between what can be construed as a speculation of the painter’s imagination versus their physical reality, can be understoodthrough the architectural historian Robin Evans description of drawings as “not dominate but always interacting with what [they] represent”. Morandi’s objects that exist in multiple guises are presented in multiple perspectives, allowing the audience to literally look past the surface.
Exhibition realized by House of ZKA for Bologna Design Week
Designer and Curator: Zaid Kashef Alghata
Exhibition Assistant: Tucker van Leuwen-Hall
Digital Production: Mohammed Adel, Yazeed Al-Amasi, Hissa Al-Hamer, Abdulaziz Al-Jasim, Yasmeen Al-Rumaidh, Hanan Al-Shehri, Batool Ebrahim, Alaa Janahi, Fatima Khamis.
Fabrication: LA-3D, Los Angeles, CA
Robot Lab Coordinator: Curime Batliner
Special Thanks: Cynthia Davidson, Executive Director of the Anyone Corporation, Saleh Buaneq, Bara’a Training Center, University of California, Bologna.
This project is made possible with the generous support of Tamkeen, Bahrain.

The exhibitions opens Tuesday, September 24 at 6 pm. INVITATION
During the Bologna Design Week (September 25-29), Casa Morandi will observe special opening hours from 5 pm to 9 pm. From October 4^th to December 1^st, the exhibit will be open by appointment on Fridays and Saturdays from 2 pm to 4 pm and on Sundays from 11 am to 1 pm.
The admission is free.