(IN)finite
design by Alfonso Femia / af*design
A handle does not only open a door. A handle does not open only one door. The gesture that accompanies the opening or closing of a door has to be part of the description of an emotion in the everyday dimension of time. That gesture possesses an invisible thread, though we have forgotten it, that unconsciously leads us into the room we open before our eyes or we leave behind us. We want to make visible that thread created by the handle as a moment suspended between two moments. The two-dimensional thread extends from the various borders of the door and forms the handle, then continuing its voyage in the imagination, towards the other side, then upward, then in another direction. It is a line that could host or sum up words, memories, dreams, emotions. The relationship between the surface of a door and its thickness thus becomes similar to a movement that is designed on that surface like a materic, empathic “soligram.”
Alfonso Femia
Born in Taurianova (Reggio Calabria), Alfonso Femia lives in a state of departure and return to Genoa from Milan and Paris. With a degree from the School of Architecture of the University of Genoa in 1992, he is a member of the Architects Associations of Genoa, Île-de-France and Switzerland. He has taught Architectural Design at Kent State University in Florence, and the Schools of Architecture of Ferrara and Genoa. He was a founder of 5+1 in 1995, and created 5+1AA in 2005 and 5+1AA Paris in 2007. He has won many international competitions, and has been a visiting professor at leading Italian and international universities. He develops “research on matter” that has led to design projects with international companies. His projects include the new BNL-BNP Paribas headquarters in Rome, the Docks of Marseille, the OGR in Turin. In 2017 he changed the name of 5+1AA to AF517, i.e. Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia
designer:
Alfonso Femia / af*design
material:
Brass
