Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room

Harnessing the scenographic language of film and theatre, Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room curated by Antonio Monda, consists of two relatively small, empty rooms, apart from the large central armchair equipped with tools for writing, drawing and painting and seven cylinders that connect it to the ceiling, a few niches with images – if not downright disturbing, unsettling at the very least – chosen by the filmmaker, a mirror and a clock. All around, an undulating curtain gives rhythm to the walls and marks the time, below one’s feet are slats like ocean waves, above one’s head a curved, gilded ceiling connected to the tubes and to the armchair by seven strands of light. The emptiness, however, is only illusory: the rooms are full of blue, of gold, of light and of silence. David Lynch allows us to pass through them and experience them – preferably in solitude – just before we come into contact with their very opposite: the crowd, the buzz, the multitude of projects being showcased at the fair. Why? Perhaps because an empty room can teach us how to become empty receptacles, yet ready, capable and welcoming. The ability to be in a room like this is to free the heart and mind, to cast opinions, assumptions and prejudices aside so that other spaces, other possibilities, can be revealed, new thoughts, perceptions, images and sensations can be welcomed. So, perhaps, these blue rooms prepare us for the next experience, that of the Salone, in a more conscious, profound and concentrated way.

Lombardini22, a leading group on the Italian architecture and engineering scene, designed the masterplan for the positioning and the architectural footprint of the curved perimeter leading to David Lynch’s work, devised in such a way as to give maximum scenic impact to the rooms whilst also guaranteeing good, close relations with the exhibitors, without impeding their visibility, for instance.     It is a soft waiting space, made up of carpet, velvet and seating, an intimate and spectacular backstage. Or, to take the formal notion of the egg further, it is a metaphorical place of comfortable amniotic fluid, in which to immerse oneself in order to access a state of suspension and cushion the dizzying experience of the fair, preparing oneself for the more muffled, cosy and reflective dimension of the rooms. Here, the signature shots by Alessandro Saletta and Melania Dalle Grave (DSL Studio) document the process of creating the Thinking Rooms.

The Interiors by David Lynch. A Thinking Room project was carried out in collaboration with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, which translated David Lynch’s fascinating imagery and artistic thinking into a material reality. 

Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Pavilions 5-7