Dekton's 'Deep Words Light'

Called Deep Words Light, the installation consists of four steles, two black and two white, that were inspired by Andrea Palladio's Teatro Olympico and arranged to create an outdoor theater in one of the courtyards of the University of Milan. The installation is part of Interni's "Energy for Creativity" event, which takes place from 13 April to 24 May and therefore acts as a bridge between the Salone del Mobile and the Expo Milano 2015 opening on the first of May.

Cosentino describes Dekton, which was unveiled in 2013 with an exhbition and sculpture designed by Daniel Libeskind, as an "ultracompact surface ... a mixture of raw materials that is used to manufacture glass, porcelain materials and quartz surfaces." The four triangular steles in the courtyard measure nearly 3 meters long and 10 meters high (9'-3" x 31'-6"), each made from 15 slabs of Dekton measuring 142 x 320 cm (4'-6" x 10'-6"), roughly the largest size available for the product. An internal steel structure supports the large slabs that sit upon a platform with its own internal structure that distributes the weight and stabilizes the steles.

Although from certain angles the installation recalls the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the words engraved into Deep Words Light lend the abstract pylons some literal meanings. According to Citterio, the words are a way to narrate Milan's history and culture: "There’s a need to abandon sophisticated communicative languages aimed at sector professionals, and reach out to make the extraordinary world of international creativity and a production system on a European scale accessible to a different, non-habitual audience, which we attempt to persuade thanks to the miraculous continuity our city is able to generate between its history and the most extreme frontiers of modernity." The text was engraved with an "innovative milling technology developed by the Cosentino R&D department," per a statement from the company.

The last element of the installation is the LED lighting built into the platform that illuminates the lower portions of the text engraved into the steles and contrasts with the red light bathing the 17th century portico that serves as a backdrop for Deep Words Light.

Interni's "Energy for Creativity" exhibition at the University of Milan also includes installations by Daniel Libeskind, Speech Tchoban & Kuznetsov, Alessandro Mendini, Annabel Karim Kassar, and other architects/designers, all on display until 24 May.