Matilde Cassani's 'Sunset' Installation Transforms Domestic Space into Artificial Landscape at Cantiere Galli Design

Matilde Cassani, an architect and artist known for her sociological approach to public space, has created 'Sunset' for 'Una stanza tutta per sé', a research concept space within Cantiere Galli Design in Rome. The installation, developed with Leonardo Gatti and Guglielmo Campeggi, uses archetypal domestic elements—table, seat, walls—as reflective, movable surfaces that evoke light reflections on the sea, while a curtain becomes an abstract form representing the setting sun. Curated by design historian Domitilla Dardi, the space has previously featured installations by Giuseppe Arezzi, Cristina Celestino, GamFratesi, and Andrea Anastasio. Cantiere Galli Design, founded in 2016 by Eleonora Galli, is an interior design center that promotes both emerging talents and established names in Italian design. Cassani, who gained viral attention for her colorful, carnivalesque rain installation at Manifesta12's opening in Palermo, describes her work as 'Architecture of the festival,' drawing inspiration from Baroque celebrations and site observation. She states, 'Places exist only in relation to the people who inhabit them, and through public interaction, space becomes shifting matter.' The installation explores the relationship between open, public space and private environment, reflecting on dwelling and the balance between humans and nature. Dardi notes that this relationship is 'complex and tortuous like the human soul and infinitely variable like the nature of things.'