Christopher Filippidis

Theatre of Fragments

Fillippidis transforms Aldo Rossi’s residential project in Vialba into a dramatic exhibition of architecture at the MAXXI museum.

Fragments of Fillippidis earlier projects are brought together in a complex composition, which intensifies the rhythm and monumentality of Rossi’s work within the new context of the MAXXI. We see, for example, large columns penetrating into the museum walls, thus reframing the scale of the space, and introducing new dimensionality and depth to the wall surface. As the new insertions interact with the existing museum, the MAXXI finds itself diminished relative to the large scale of the fragments. The tall, flowing spaces of the museum are now mise-en-scene, shrunk into a smaller role while oversized letters, enormous curtains, and the aforementioned columns demand attention as the main performers.

Interestingly, form is not the sole device of communication in this exhibition: the presence of large text attached to fragments, denoting the program of their location, blare like neon signs and throw into sharp relief their more modest colleagues. Whether by these eccentric signs, or by elemental forms, the fragments of this exhibition work in concert to communicate the culmination of Filippidis’ architectural exploration of Rossi.

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-Review (excerpt) by Nan Hang Zhang