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Last days to visit the installation Le Stanze del Metallo (Metal Rooms), set up during Milan Design Week 2026 in the Courtyard of Honor at the University of Milan, namely La Statale, where it will remain on display until April 30. Designed by Alessandro Pandolfo – Creative Director of Secco Sistemi, a company that for over 70 years has contributed to the evolution of window and door engineering – the work is part of the exhibition-event INTERNI Materiae, offering an immersive journey that celebrates the encounter between architecture and metal.
Le Stanze del Metallo consists of four self-supporting cylindrical volumes – made of corten steel, burnished stainless steel, brass, and galvanized steel – arranged in space as presences in dialogue with the surrounding environment. Metal thus transforms from a simple cladding material into a living substance, within a place like La Statale, which for many years has represented the heart of Milan Design Week.
How did the idea for the installation Le Stanze del Metallo come about?
It stems from the desire to go beyond the finished product and bring attention back to the essence of matter from which everything originates. The project takes shape from the intention to make visible what animates the company I work for every day: attention to metals and the power of their transformation. The installation is conceived as a sensory journey into matter in its most authentic state – a narrative built through sounds and scents that amplify its identity and depth. Each room is dedicated to a metal used by Secco Sistemi – brass, corten, stainless steel, and galvanized steel – and explores its different expressions. Visitors are invited to enter, pause, and let themselves be immersed in the space and the sensations that each surface can evoke.
How does the work interpret this year’s Fuorisalone theme, “Essere Progetto,” and that of the exhibition-event Materiae?
As an immersive path, the installation invites visitors to engage with the material at the core of the project – a journey between architecture and metal, between technology and perception. Visitors are encouraged to rediscover the beauty of matter in its natural state, freeing it from the superstructures that usually “limit” it. In this context, metal is no longer just a technical component but becomes a poetic and architectural language that, in its circular configuration, invites visitors to linger in each space and experience the material fully, in a 360-degree way. Each metal tells its story through its materiality and the way it reflects light, accompanied by sounds and scents that enrich the poetic narrative.
Corten, burnished stainless steel, brass, and galvanized steel are the four metals featured in the installation, each with its own room: what are their distinctive aesthetic characteristics?
Each metal has its own identity and tells a different story. Corten is a material that has learned to defend itself against the elements that wear it down, transforming itself – turning rust into a protective armor that records the passage of time and defines its character. Burnished stainless steel invites silence and contemplation, holding light and conveying a sense of calm; its hand-burnished surface reveals itself slowly, layer by layer. Brass, noble and enveloping with its golden reflections, is warm like the sunset: it does not age but matures, becoming more authentic over time. Finally, galvanized steel, rigorous and austere, conveys a sense of precision, discipline, and balance. Covered by a thin protective layer, its beauty lies in its function.
What role do sounds, scents, drapery, and the shape of the metal sheets play in the installation?
They are the elements that, together with the metals, compose the sensory path, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a poetic narrative through direct contact with the materials, listening to sounds and recognizing scents specifically created to evoke different sensations depending on the material. In the corten room, for example, notes of patchouli, tobacco, and myrrh evoke transformation and the passage of time; in the brass room, a sense of enveloping and sumptuous familiarity is conveyed through notes of bergamot, amber, and cedarwood.
The circular layout and the drapery filter the environments, slow down the pace of the visit, creating a necessary moment of pause and an opportunity to connect with the material. The shape of the metal sheets, which form the rooms, serves a structural function while also replicating the production cycle of Secco products, where bending gives rigidity to the profiles. This configuration also acts as an acoustic insulator and allows the metal to reveal all its nuances, enhanced by an integrated lighting system that highlights natural finishes and burnishing.
What does Secco Sistemi’s presence in the spaces of La Statale – one of the symbolic locations of Milan Design Week – represent?
Taking part in the most famous design event in the world, particularly in its beating heart – the Courtyard of Honor at the University of Milan – represents the achievement of a long-sought goal. Receiving such a prestigious invitation has been a source of great pride, but it has also given Secco the opportunity to tell its story beyond its products, bringing to the Fuorisalone not only the Materiae it works with but also its industrial expertise combined with a strong sensitivity toward the world of design.
