RovelloDue – Un viaggio Caleidoscopico

Politecnico, Milan. Over 150 years of history. Tens of thousands of works and projects
both created and still to be invented. A complexity and variety of thought which is hard to
express if not through the concept of a journey. The idea was given to us by Laura Curino
in the show Miracoli a Milano, in which each miracle is staged as a delicate and
indispensable act of transmission of consciousness with the journey as a metaphor,
the common thread and link.
Now, in the same way, this interactive installation sends us on a voyage of discovery.
The voyage becomes the selected category of works created as well as current
polytechnic research.
“A miracle, we say, every time we are wonderstruck”. With a feeling of marvel, we begin as
the pioneers did, we move among stories and we immerse ourselves in history. Full of
meaning, the shimmering walls vibrate and multiply. Kaleidoscopic effects make reference
to the etymological union of the words “see” and” beautiful” as well as to the rhetorical
figure of entrelacement, in a continuous interweaving of stories and outcomes.
They are generated through a number of visual motives created by Lucio Diana for the sets
of Miracoli a Milano, they are reiterated in tiny geometric forms, taking over the space,
transforming it and rendering it “sensitive” with their infinite variations. The visitor is
therefore given the possibility of interacting with the installation, activating the multitude
of content through their actions.
All one has to do is take the ‘right’ notebook, having been attracted by the title or intrigued
by the cover, open it and place it on the nearby lectern. By doing so, never-before seen
multimedia content is activated. The narration begins. Films and images come to life on t
he vertical surface. Changing the notebook changes the projection.
A few seconds of viewing and on to the choice of a different theme.
Photographs, often period shots, sketches, fragments of shows and original video
accompany us on a journey of knowledge, or a mixture of knowledge, discovery of
unexpected results, or research, in a stream of experiments and trials. A journey which for
certain aspects runs backwards through the life of the Politecnico and of Milan, while for
others is projected into the future, through potential scenarios of scientific experimentation
and social innovation. A real and physical journey, thanks to the means of transport and the
infrastructures created by figures tied to the Politecnico. A human journey, a journey
of passion, trials and experiments carried out by professors and students.
Past visions of the future connect the visible with the invisible, events and people who are
separated by both space and time. On the contrary, present visions of the future seek
to translate the invisible into the visible, creating innovation and hoping for improvement
in the near future. The precariousness of Francesco Brioschi’s journeys by carriage, the
charm of the Lambretta, the marvellously shapely Isetta, the Roman names chosen by
Lancia, the flying cars of the future, probable cars in kit form and possible vehicles made
out of fabric – this is just a selection of the content on offer.