MICHELE DE LUCCHI
Born in Ferrara, Italy, in 1951, Michele De Lucchi has been a leading figure in architecture and design since the 1970s. While designing masterpiece furniture and lighting for world-famous manufacturers, De Lucchi has also designed a number of architectural projects that are now cultural landmarks. In addition to being the founder of AMDL CIRCLE, a multidisciplinary studio with thinkers and innovators as members, since 2018, De Lucchi has been focusing on "Earth Stations," a future-sharing architecture that combines technological development and humanistic principles.
"Shingles are small wooden boards commonly used in the building of the roofs of Japanese traditional houses. The technique is based on surprisingly simple ideas. Although the origin of this technique remains unknown, shingles have been used and produced throughout the ages in different parts of the world.
For us architects, it is particularly rewarding to design with wooden shingles because they produce an effect of aesthetic and formal significance. The use of shingles allows us to design curved, spherical, and corrugated shapes. They make rigid surfaces seem soft. By adding gaps between shingles, the architect can play with space and distances, creating transparencies that are similar to the see-through effects of textiles and curtains.
We applied this idea to the SHIROIYA HOTEL, cladding the room with these curtains of shingles that, in their entirety, look light and soft. We wanted to bridge the gaps between sculpture and interior design to have a room that is also an art installation. To do so, we employed 2725 wooden shingles. Hotel rooms are usually identified by numbers, and in this case, our room has a special number: we called it the 2725 Elements Room.
The material effect of surfaces is combined with the choice of color and shades, a succession of dark tones in harmony with each other, conducive to a sense of calm tranquility, rest, and also good sleep."
Michele De Lucchi