‘I also thought about the contrast of coming of the
street and the insanity of Salone, and that you’d walk
into the space and be forced to be a little bit quiet,
slow down and maybe sit down and spend time
watching the sky. All of us as human beings recognise
that when we do that, we feel better and it gives us
a breath to remember what’s important.’
To realise the ambitious structure, Smith turned to
UAP, an international fabrication studio experienced in
bringing public art projects to life. (They recently built
Ai Weiwei’s Good Fences Make Good Neighbors in New
York City.) Each of the 34 chemically polished, stainless
steel panels and the enveloping concrete shell that
make up Open Sky were manufactured at UAP’s Long
Island City production facility before being shipped
to Milan and assembled on site.
Smith’s concept also extends into the palazzo’s
outdoor gardens, where a collection of smaller,
freestanding sculptures has been installed. Stemming
from his continued studies of how to distill the spirit
of his larger installations into singular, smaller-scale
works, these new sculptures latten and compress the
surrounding relections onto a singular corrugated
surface in a highly abstracted way.
Smith notes that the sculpture is remarkably true
to his original proposal. ‘All of COS’ eforts have been
to help me ensure that my concept gets built. We hope
for those kinds of clients, as designers, artists and‘What’s exciting is that, while it is a group experience,
when you step in, it’s about your experience only’
AN EXCLUSIVE RENDER OF PHILLIP K SMITH III’S
INSTALLATION IN SITU AT PALAZZO ISIMBARDI
Located in the 16th-century courtyard and garden of Milan’s Palazzo Isimbardi,
Phillip K Smith 111’s Open Sky is a site-speciic work designed to ofer each visitor
a unique experience that changes depending on time and location. It consists
of a concrete shell with 34 stainless steel, mirrored panels angled to relect the sky.architects. It’s almost like having a museum come to
you saying, “We have a space, we have a budget, we
believe in your work. Let’s do something.” Ultimately,
they want to support artists’ ideas. It’s clear that art,
design and architecture are important for Karin and
COS as they think about their projects.’
A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, with
degrees in both architecture and ine art, Smith uses
his practice expertly to straddle the line between the
art and design worlds. ‘I went to architecture school
in an art school. What I learnt was more about the
conceptual understanding of space and craft, and how
things are made,’ he says. ‘When you look at the scale
of the projects I’m working on right now, it is art
at the scale of architecture. I’m often dealing with the
same suppliers, engineers and city people that I was
when designing a homeless shelter. With each new
site, I’m able to [use my architectural training] as it’s
engrained in me to think about and respect context.
I still bring that to every project, and I’m deinitely
obsessed with detailing and how things go together
so that the concept and experience are both pure.’
Open Sky is an exciting distillation of where
Smith’s practice is today – an empathetic tribute to
the world around us viewed through a changing
temporal lens. He says, ‘Without COS’ involvement,
would this concept have come about? I may have
gotten there eventually, but it certainly would have
been done at a much smaller scale. To do it as an
architectural space that you can walk into and have
this experience is rare.’ ∂
Open Sky, 17-22 April, Palazzo Isimbardi, Corso Monforte,
Milan, cosstores.com; pks3.comSalone del Mobile
184 ∑
LEFT, COS’ CREATIVE DIRECTOR
KARIN GUSTAFSSON IN
THE COURTYARD OF MILAN’S
PALAZZO ISIMBARDI
PHOTOGRAPHY: PIOTR NIEPSUJ