On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the production of the Le Corbusier®, Pierre Jeanneret®, Charlotte Perriand® Collection edited by Cassina, Formafantasma presents an artistic installation and a theatrical performance inside the Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber, paying tribute to the company’s avant-garde legacy.

This thoughtful and provocative intervention questions the dissonance between modernist ideals and the contemporary world, inviting visitors to reflect on an ever-evolving vision that moves away from the industrial and rational, embracing instead a wild, natural ecology.

During Milano Design Week, an immersive theatrical experience—an integral part of the installation—is brought to life under the direction of Fabio Cherstich. The performance is based on three original texts commissioned from philosopher Emanuele Coccia, architect, writer and curator Andrés Jaque, and architect and artist Feifei Zhou (terriStories).
 

‘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 present ‘Staging Modernity’, a theatrical performance and installation, that celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Le Corbusier®, Pierre Jeanneret®, Charlotte Perriand® Collection with a thoughtful and provocative interpretation of the legacy of Modernism.

“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’ takes 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 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 installation ‘Staging Modernity’ fragments it by scattering elements across the space as if they were sketches or drafts. These fragments, like pieces of a puzzle, evoke 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, is re-imagined in Formafantasma’s intervention, not as a pristine vision of industrial perfection but as something more open and porous. The space is populated by animal reproductions, breaking down the divide between what is considered "human" and "non-human", or between the modern and the savage.