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A New Modernity
The Concept
The performance
THE RATIONAL MACHINE FOR LIVING EVOLVES INTO A NATURAL AND WILD ECOLOGY
At its core, Staging Modernity critiques the binary oppositions that have historically structured modernist discourse: the mechanized, the rational and the civilized on one side, and the natural, the organic and the wild on the other. What happens when we no longer adhere to these distinctions? What happens when modernity is confronted with a broader ecology—one that includes non-human actors, animals and ecosystems, as well as the forces of culture, industry and technology?
The fragmented presentation of Le Corbusier, Perriand and Jeanneret's work in Staging Modernity was not an abstraction but a reflection of the dissonance between modernist ideals and the contemporary world. While the mid-20th Century celebrated a clean break from tradition, today we find ourselves grappling with the unintended consequences, where the lines between the human-made and the natural are increasingly difficult to navigate. In this intervention, Formafantasma proposed a new lens through which to see modernism - not as a fixed, static ideology but as a continually evolving conversation with the present.
STAGING MODERNITY: THE LEGACY OF MODERNIST IDEALS IN A CONTEMPORARY WORLD
During Milan Design Week 2025, at the Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber, the Italian duo Formafantasma presented the theatrical performance and installation Staging Modernity, a thoughtful and provocative interpretation of the legacy of Modernism to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the production of the Le Corbusier®, Pierre Jeanneret®, Charlotte Perriand® Collection.
“This project aims to challenge the conventional narratives around modernity, domesticity and design while examining the deep cultural implications of these ideas today.”
Formafantasma
Staging Modernity took the floor plan of the ‘Salon d’Automne’, a milestone in the history of modern architecture and design, as its starting point. This historical moment sought to redefine the domestic environment as an industrial and functional machine à habiter (machine for living) and liberate it from the weight of tradition. By introducing their tubular metal furniture, Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret distanced their new modern aesthetic from the traditional wood workmanship of the time. This radical break was intended not only as a design shift but also as a symbol of modernity itself: a forward-thinking, industrial and rational world untethered from the past.
Rather than simply revisiting or commemorating this historical moment, Formafantasma’s Staging Modernity installation fragmented it by scattering elements across the space as if they were sketches or prototypes. These fragments, like pieces of a puzzle, evoked the idea of a vision once whole but now fractured, offering a lens through which to reconsider the idealized conception of modernity.
Le Corbusier, Perriand and Jeanneret’s work, deeply embedded in the philosophy of rationality and progress, was re-imagined by Formafantasma’s, not as a pristine vision of industrial perfection but as something more open and porous. The space was populated by animal reproductions, breaking down the divide between what is considered “human” and “non-human”, or between the modern and the wild.
THE THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE
Over the course of the week, theatrical performances directed by Fabio Cherstich and featuring professional actors were enacted as an integral part of the installation. Based on three commissioned texts by philosopher Emanuele Coccia, architect, writer and curator Andrés Jaque and architect and artist Feifei Zhou (terriStories), reflection on the ideological and material implications of modernity and nature were further explored, moving beyond the static and the visual to include the performative, the auditory and the embodied in a completely immersive experience for the public.
"I imagine a performance in which a chorus inhabits the space, interacting with objects in unconventional ways. The bodies explore its structural limits, adapting and redefining its function, to the point of dissolving any hierarchy between man, object and nature. As a consequence, the theatre, a typically conventional place, becomes a space for poetic sharing where everything can be transformed. A scenic utopia in which the physical presence returns to the theatre its most authentic evocative power."
Fabio Cherstich, Director.
For this occasion, Cassina upheld its mission to support and nurture young talent through the involvement of artists from local performing arts academies and Domus Academy students who were available to explain the project to the public.
AUTHORED TEXTS OF THE PERFORMANCE
Emenuele Coccia, Philosopher
Andrès Jacque, Architect, Writer, and Curator
Feifei Zhou, (terriStories), Architect and Artist
.jpg/jcr:content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.1500.1500.jpg "5 CASSINA Staging Modernity ph Omar Sartor (2)")
