Grcic Teams with Alcantara for New MAXXI Exhibit

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Feb 04, 2020, 10:00 ET

ROME, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Immaginazione al Potere, a new exhibit at Rome's National Museum of 21^st Century Art (MAXXI), explores the work of visionary architects and engineers from Italy and Lebanon.

Created by Konstantin Grcic, a well-known German designer, the exhibit relies on sustainable materials from Alcantara to explore an architectural vision of optimism and "a belief in post-war regeneration."

The third exhibition in the MAXXI's annual Studio Visit program, L'Immaginazione al Potere or The Power of Imagination examines the World War II era careers of Italian architects Giuseppe Perugini and Maurizio Sacripanti and the Italian engineer Sergio Musmeci in contrast with Bernard Khoury, a contemporary Lebanese architect.

Critics note that Grcic's exhibit flirts with the concept of utopia while exploring the relationships between architecture, technology, material and construction with faith in the potential for progress and change.

A multi-year Alcantara project with the MAXXI, the Studio Visit program each year challenges an internationally known designer to create an exhibit that reflects his or her personal interpretation of work from the museum's archives and permanent collections.

Alcantara, the Made-in-Italy lifestyle brand, was founded in 1972 with a positive vision for the future of its products.

Alcantara® results from an effort to create new, sustainable material with unrivaled sensory, aesthetic and functional properties. Visitors to the MAXXI will see that Grcic has juxtaposed the work of leading architects with Alcantara to create an aesthetic on the boundary between reality and the surreal.

The Konstantin Grcic exhibition will be open free-of-charge to the public at the National Museum of 21^st Century Art from February 7 through March 15.

Alcantara S.p.A. – www.alcantara.com
Founded in 1972, Alcantara® is a prime example of Italian-produced quality. A registered trademark of Alcantara S.p.A. and the result of a unique and proprietary technology, Alcantara is a highly innovative material that offers an unrivalled combination of sensory, aesthetic and functional qualities. Thanks to its extraordinary versatility, Alcantara is the choice of leading brands in a number of fields, including fashion and accessories, automotive, interior design and home décor, and consumer electronics. These features, together with a serious, certified commitment in terms of sustainability, make Alcantara a true icon of contemporary lifestyle: the lifestyle of those who want to fully enjoy their everyday life, while respecting the environment.
Since 2009, Alcantara has been certified "Carbon Neutral", having defined, reduced and offset all the CO₂ emissions derived from its activity. In 2011, the reporting was extended to include the entire life cycle of the product, including the use and disposal phases ("from cradle to grave"). To document the company's involvement in this area, Alcantara annually draws up and publishes a Sustainability Report, certified by BDO and available through the company website. The headquarters of Alcantara are in Milan, while its production site and R&D department are located in Nera Montoro, in the heart of the Umbria region (Terni).

The MAXXI is the first national museum dedicated to contemporary creativity. Designed as a large campus for culture, MAXXI was designed by Zaha Hadid, winner of an international competition, and is a great architectural work of innovative and spectacular forms. It produces and hosts art, architecture, design and photography exhibitions, as well as fashion, cinema, music, theatre and dance performances, lectures and meetings with artists, architects and protagonists of our time. The MAXXI Collection is exhibited with free admission from Tuesday to Thursday with rotating works. The MAXXI is much more than a museum, however: it offers a platform open to all the languages of creativity and a place for meeting, exchange and collaboration, a space open to all, a laboratory of ideas and of the future.

Konstantin Grcic (*1965) was trained as a cabinet maker at The John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Wood before studying Design at the Royal College of Art in London. He set up his own office in Munich in 1991. Today Konstantin Grcic Design is based in Berlin. The office is active in several fields ranging from industrial design projects, exhibition design and architectural collaborations. Amongst his renowned clients are Aeance, Authentics, Cassina, ClassiCon, Flötotto, Flos, Galerie Kreo, Kettal, Laufen, Magis, Muji, Nespresso, Plank, Smart and Vitra. He is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Compasso d`Oro for his MAYDAY lamp (Flos, 2001), the MYTO chair (Plank, 2011) and the OK lamp (Flos 2016). Work by Konstantin Grcic forms part of the permanent collections of the world´s most important design museums (a.o. MoMA/New York, Centre Georges Pompidou/Paris). Grcic defines function in human terms, combining formal strictness with considerable mental acuity and humour. His work is characterised by a careful research into the history of art, design and architecture and his passion for technology and materials.

MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo
www.maxxi.art - info: 06.320.19.54; [email protected]
Opening times: 11 am – 7 pm (Tues., Wed., Thurs, Fri, Sun.) | 11 am – 10 pm (Sat.) | closed Mon.,
Free entry for art and architecture students from Tuesday to Friday

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