For Milan Design Week, local studio 6:AM has turned the derelict basement of the 1930s Piscina Cozzi into a haunting exhibition titled *Two Fold Silence*, where Murano glass objects glow among rows of unfinished shower stalls. The installation—41 pieces ranging from delicate sconces to fragmented chandeliers—interrogates themes of incompleteness, history, and the poetry of abandoned spaces.
A Dialogue with the Unfinished:-
Designed by engineer Luigi Secchi, Piscina Cozzi’s basement was intended for hydrotherapy facilities, but construction stalled under Italy’s fascist regime, leaving raw concrete corridors frozen in time. 6:AM embraced this “unfinished” quality, placing glassworks in varying stages of completion—prototypes, experiments, and polished designs—along the stalls’ walls and floors.
*”This is not about discrete works, but the orchestration of moments and gaps,”* the studio noted. *”Each object is both a declaration and an omission, haunted by its own incompleteness.”*
The juxtaposition is deliberate: industrial glass shelving salvaged from construction sites sits beside handblown lattimo cubes from Murano, while a towel rail made of glass murrini rods dangles like an interrupted thought.
Tension Between Rationalism and Instinct:-
The basement’s rigid Rationalist architecture contrasts with 6:AM’s organic arrangements. A collaborative chandelier with architect Hannes Peer marks each corridor entrance, its form echoing the space’s interrupted legacy. Visitors weave through 14-stall rows, encountering pieces like the **Quadarto wall lamp**—a cluster of six glass cubes, each with a unique finish, including one etched with faint blue letters spelling *”6:AM.”*
*”We didn’t impose structure but responded to the space. Some pieces align with the architecture; others disrupt it,”* the studio explained. The result is a quiet tension between order and experimentation.
Murano as Metaphor:-
The use of Murano glass**—a material synonymous with fragility and labor—amplifies the narrative. A single *”Exit”*-printed cube glows in one stall, while elsewhere, a modular shelf of repurposed construction glass nods to utilitarian beauty. These choices reflect 6:AM’s broader ethos: **design as a conversation between past and present, perfection and imperfection.
Note: This article has been reviewed and edited by the archup editorial team to ensure accuracy and quality
