Tadashi Kawamata's Nests in Milan: Wooden Scaffolds Transform City Center

Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata (born 1953 in Hokkaido) has installed irregular wooden scaffolds on several buildings in central Milan as part of his urban project 'Nests in Milan.' Curated by Antonella Soldaini and promoted by BUILDING gallery, the installation covers facades of the Centro Congressi di Fondazione Cariplo, the Grand Hotel et de Milan, and the Cortile della Magnolia at Palazzo di Brera, as well as BUILDING's own building. The project launches on March 31, 2022, during Milano Art Week, and remains on view until July 23, 2022. Kawamata's practice focuses on engaging with urban contexts and social relationships; his nest-like structures have evolved since 1998 from abstract forms to recognizable nests. Previous iterations appeared in Bonn (2007), at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (2010), and at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (2013). The Milan intervention invites viewers to mentally reconfigure the architectural landscape and reconsider their relationship with everyday spaces. Kawamata's earlier work includes a 1987 installation for documenta 8 in Kassel, where he drew attention to a church destroyed in World War II that had been neglected during the city's reconstruction.