First impressions count, especially in Milano. In this unprecedented
photographic journey, editor Karl Kolbitz opens the door to 144 of the
city's most sumptuous entrance halls, captivating in their diversity and
splendor. These vibrant Milanese entryways, until now hidden away behind
often restrained façades, are revealed as dazzling examples of Italian
modernism, mediating public and private space with vivid configurations
of color and form, from floors of juxtaposed stones to murals of
minimalist geometry.
The collection spans buildings from 1920 to 1970 and showcases the work
of some of the city's most illustrious architects and designers,
including Giovanni Muzio, Gio Ponti, Piero Portaluppi, and Luigi Caccia
Dominioni, as well as non-pedigreed architecture of equal impact and
interest. The photographs for the publication were exclusively created
by Delfino Sisto Legnani, Paola Pansini, and Matthew Billings, each
evoking the entryways with individual sensibility and a stylistic
interplay of detail shots--such as stones, door handles, and
handrails--with larger architectural views.
The images are accompanied by outstanding written contributions from
Penny Sparke, Fabrizio Ballabio, Lisa Hockemeyer, Daniel Sherer, Brian
Kish, and Grazia Signori, together bringing a wealth of architecture,
design, and natural stone expertise to guide the reader through the
applied materials and fittings as well as the art-historical and social
implications of each of the ingressi. As much an architectural city
guide as an aesthetic study, the book provides the exact address and an
annotated Milan map for all featured entryways, as well as the architect
name and date of construction.
In the well-documented realm of 20th-century Italian design, Kolbitz has
stepped over the threshold and delivered a brand new area of inquiry in
Milanese modernism. With the rigor of its multifaceted research, poised
photography, and breadth of its featured hallways, this is an
invigorating new reference work and an inside look at the city's design
DNA across high to low architecture.
