Design, especially when moving on the border with artistic representation, starts from practical considerations, the result of observation of daily life, to interpret then in an aesthetic and often poetic key. Three Milan studies, Analogia Project (Andrea Mancuso and Emilia Serra), Giorgio Bonaguro and Marco Guazzini, collaborated in a project to present at Design Weekend 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is an installation, but also a workshop involving public participation, based on the “gatos”, literally “cats” in Portuguese, which is the term with which in Brazilian cities they refer to the often illegal power connections created in the favelas to obtain energy from public sources. The Gatos became a symbol, on the streets of Rio and Sao Paulo, of the relationship between urban space and spontaneous living contexts, creating a visual chaos which draws intricate maps of the spaces. This chaos has inspired the designers to create a large installation made of electric cables and copper that is inside them, through which visitors can move: shining chandeliers that evoke the base idea and enhance the value of a material and of a common object. As well as at the design event Made pop-up, the installation will take place in the flagship store of Casa Electrolux, where has been designed a huge copper waterfall: the source of raw material to create plates, glasses, bottles, etc., by using plaster molds as a reference. A philosophical analysis, starting from the observation of a reality, flows into a concrete project which aims to celebrate the territory and to provide new opportunities.
