COS has returned to Salone del Mobile with a newly installation designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. Taking inspiration from the COS Spring Summer 2016 collection, ‘Forest of Light’ explores ideas of interaction and perspective; the darkened space is illuminated by towering cones of light that are designed to respond to visitors’ movements. Specially-composed sounds, subtle fog and mirrored walls create an immersive, infinite landscape where the conical spotlights become abstracted trees in a shifting forest of light.
Built in the 1930s by Italian architect Mario Cereghini, the installation is located in Cinema Arti in Milan’s San Babila district. A former theatre, the now derelict venue has inspired the key aspects of Sou Fujimoto’s design and provides an expansive backdrop to the installation.
COS has been inspired by the work of Sou Fujimoto for many years. Often focusing on negative space and the concept of bringing the outside in, some of Fujimoto’s most well-known architectural projects such as the 2013 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion blur the parameters of space, with edges dissolving into their surrounding environment.
Martin Andersson, Head of Menswear Design at COS said of the collaboration, “Sou Fujimoto has really grasped the COS aesthetic, creating an installation that is so special in its simplicity and surprising in its approach.” Karin Gustafsson, Head of Womenswear Design continued, “It has been great working with SouFujimoto on this project, we have never had such a beautifully simple installation focusing on light and the effect is incredible”.
“The COS pavilion is the purest realisation of the forest concept. This forest is not static, but light and people interact with one another, this interaction connects fashion, space and forest as a form of architecture” explains Sou Fujimoto about the installation.
Open from 12th – 17th April, the collaboration with Sou Fujimoto marks the fifth year of COS installationsduring Salone del Mobile, and builds on the brand’s previous art and design collaborations with renowned global art establishments such as the Serpentine Galleries, Frieze Art Fairs and the Donald Judd Foundation.
all images courtesy of COS