Pet Therapy: Atelier Biagetti creates large cat lights

IMG © Alessandro Saletta

(Image credit: © Alessandro Saletta)

last updated 7 October 2022

Pets have long been recognised as a comforting presence in a home, but now they are also a functional one, thanks to playful new installations from Alberto Biagetti and Laura Baldassari, the duo behind Atelier Biagetti.

The Pet Therapy project, a site-specific installation, has been unveiled as part of Milan Design Week 2022. The collaboration with Labseventy, taking place inside Atelier Biagetti, at Piazza Arcole, encompasses pieces that aren’t as they first appear, adding a dreamlike quality to a domestic space. Innocent motifs from childhood are imbued with teasing traits, tempting passers-by, who can choose how they interact with them.

Giant cat sculpture and coconut tree lamp, part of Pet Therapy installation by Atelier Biagetti for Milan Design Week 2022 — *Pet Therapy*.

Giant cats, lounging around the space, are functional sculptures that double up as lamps. They recline next to seating placed under the shade of palm trees, surrounded by coconuts that light up the area. Design cues taken from a Fellini movie are encapsulated in pops of colour, with onlookers invited to perch on multicoloured spheres in a subversion of domesticity. Boundaries are further blurred with the inclusion of an NFT cuckoo clock created with Vitruvio Virtual Reality, a collective of designers and 3D artists, which brings a digital surreality to the physical space.

For Atelier Biagetti, it is the latest immersive environment that explores human behaviour and the eclectic interests of society, in a sideways look at the world. The pieces of Biagetti and Baldassari, designed to encourage users to re-evaluate the familiarity of a landscape, offer playful interpretations of classic forms.

The duo’s collaboration with Labseventy, a network of producers, for this collection was a natural one, thanks to a shared interest in investigating the possibilities of objects for both interiors and exteriors; these adaptable pieces debuted in Milan will bring a whimsical edge to any space.

Giant cats, part of Pet Therapy installation by Atelier Biagetti for Milan Design Week 2022 — *Pet Therapy.*

INFORMATION

The installation runs as part of Milan Design Week, taking place from 6 – 12 June.

atelierbiagetti.com

ADDRESS

Piazza Arcole 4

20143 Milano

Italy

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Hannah Silver is the Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*. Since joining in 2019, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury. She enjoys travelling, visiting artists' studios and viewing exhibitions around the world, and has interviewed artists and designers including Maggi Hambling, William Kentridge, Jonathan Anderson, Chantal Joffe, Lubaina Himid, Tilda Swinton and Mickalene Thomas.