Exhibitions & Events:
Daniele Basso "Special Guest" at "Saint Petersburg Design Week 2014". Saint Petersburg Design Week 2014 Special Edition Mirrror.
The "WinterPalace" mirror, manufactured on demand, available in two sizes and sequentially numbered, is designed to recall the windows decorating the facades of the Winter Palace, which are similar yet unique and different from one another, drawing upon their peculiar features, all in one shape.
The window is a connection joining two spaces separated by man. You look outside from a window, thus catching a glimpse of the other side, but you can also watch the interiors from the outside, intruding in the domestic privacy. The window thus embodies emotions, voyeurism and indiscretion. Going through it is an act of rebellion. The window is an invisible borderline that represents a metaphorical first step towards the wall to be overcome, shattering the prejudices that have built it.
Opening a window means letting air and light in. It is a revolutionary gesture, a sign of change.
This figurative product has a deep symbolical value, which is enhanced by the fact that the Winter Palace was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, an Italian architect, appointed by Peter II the Great himself, and creator of several monuments that still stand out in St Petersburg’s skyline nowadays. Theirs was a daring international cooperation for the time, arising from Peter the Great’s interest in trendy European taste in creating the new capital. Thus an astounding architectural masterpiece was created thanks to their joined effort, which freed creative power and embodied dreams, fancy and a project to shape the future.
The "WinterPalace" mirror represents the importance of intercultural cooperation. It is an imaginary bridge joining Italy and Russia and, what is more, reflects man and our ability to dream, imagine and design as the origin of all the wonders that the human race has created.
It is an encouragement to strive for a better future, where life defeats the savagery of fear. It is a metaphor of falling barriers, human cooperation and change in the world’s political, economic and cultural balance through communication. A call for tolerance is difficult to respond to and may seem utopian, a vain gesture among many. Bu I’d like to think that, by seeing ourselves in it together every day, all of us can do something about it.