Aldo Rossi’s ‘Cabina dell’Elba‘, part beach hut, part wardrobe, is celebrated in Milan

The ‘Cabina Dell'Elba’, created in 1982 by the Italian architect and designer Aldo Rossi is an ode to fleeting time and freedom. Reminding us of summer, the beach hut-inspired wardrobe is simple and universal, resonating with Rossi’s vision of designing an interior space that harmoniously coexists with the outside. 

‘They appeared to me as a minimal dimension of living, an impression of summer,’ wrote Rossi in his Autobiografia Scientifica. ‘I had simply noticed the peculiarity and universality of the huts on the beaches. Not only on Elba. But seeing is not enough: you have to watch till you take possession of the image and through the image of the thing.’ Taking ownership of the beach hut as an image, but more importantly as an object, absorbing it and repurposing it, Rossi’s ‘Cabina’ shifts from a temporary item into an enduring one, inhabiting our homes.

After 40 years since its creation, Milanese gallery Antonia Jannone Disegni di Architettura presents ‘Aldo Rossi. Cabina dell'Elba’, an exhibition entirely dedicated to the transient yet lasting beach hut/domestic wardrobe (mine is blue and pink, and works as a food storage cupboard in the kitchen).

Rossi’s drawings and studies of the ‘Cabina dell’Elba’ will be accompanied by an edition of nine miniature cabins especially made for the show and reproduced according to the study model made by Bruno Longoni furniture atelier, which produced the wardrobes, together with Rossi. ‘It is always a great emotion for me to deal with the work of Aldo Rossi. I feel a strong connection to the “Cabina dell'Elba” project, because I had the opportunity to meet Aldo on the island [of Elba]. Rossi is a unique, interesting and very communicative designer,’ says the gallerist Antonia Jannone. ‘I hope with my re-editions to come just a little closer to the beauty he was capable of.’

‘Aldo Rossi. La Cabina dell'Elba’ is on view until 29 December 2022 at Antonia Janonne Disegni di Architettura

Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi, 125
Milan

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