Alex Chinneck's Illusory Zipper Building at Milan Design Week

British artist Alex Chinneck (born 1984) unveiled a large-scale installation for IQOS, Philip Morris's smoke-free product, during Milan Design Week. The work, titled 'IQOS World Revealed by Alex Chinneck,' is presented within the Tortona Rocks format at Opificio 31, Spazio Quattrocento, from April 9 to 14. Chinneck transformed the entire building facade into an illusion of a zipper opening, revealing interior spaces with further zipper-like cuts in the concrete floor and stone walls emitting color-changing light. The zipper motif is a signature of Chinneck, who has previously applied it to abandoned factories and tanneries, and has created other urban illusions such as upending electricity pylons, flipping a house upside down, and making a brick facade appear to slide into a courtyard. The artist describes himself primarily as a sculptor, aiming to transcend the physical qualities of materials and create works that invite physical movement and entry, countering the trend toward digital art. The project was realized in just five weeks with a multidisciplinary team of about 100 collaborators in a German factory, a shift from Chinneck's earlier solo efforts. The installation is temporary, part of the Fuorisalone events during Milan Design Week 2019.