From Trentino to Liguria, Michele De Lucchi investigates colours, their light and their power. On the one hand through the exhibits of the naturalistic collections of the MUSE and on the other by developing a chromatic project aimed at the redevelopment of the buildings in Rapallo

color from a natural point of view, primordial and cognitive, perceptive and sensorial. Color as an element of urban enhancement, from buildings to public spaces to architectural heritage.

There are various insights and plans of investigation undertaken in this period by Michele De Lucchi, together with his multidisciplinary study AMDL Circle, relating to the color spectrum and its power. We accompany you in a bath of colour, for a'total immersion, with body and mind.

Within color. Through matter and light at MUSE

Seven volcanoes – white, red, yellow, green, blue, purple and black – and over 100 finds from the naturalistic collections of the MUSE – Science Museum  of Trento mark the path of an experience dedicated to the different colours, the result of the thought and dialogue between Michele De Lucchi and the president of MUSE Stefano Zecchi.

The exhibition Inside the color – at Palazzo delle Albere from 26 November 2022 to 4 June 2023 – focuses on the theme of the physical and mental perception of color, described as the sum of matter and light, and its effects on individual personalities.

Colour itself does not exist

De Lucchi himself illustrates the concept around which the exhibition develops.“The color of itself does not exist”, explains the designer.“It is light, energy and vibration of particles. However, we are used to attributing it to matter. The whole exhibition revolves around this relationship between matter and light, between tangible and intangible, between reality and imagination”.

The wonders of MUSE displayed on colored cones

On the sides of large cones made with earthy and colored material, the pieces of the naturalistic collections of the MUSE are displayed, selected according to the shades of reference of the volcano. 

There are over 100 exhibits on display, each one in different chromatic variations representing the manifestation of life and nature in the zoological, botanical, mineralogical, petrographic and paleontological fields.

A bath in color with body and mind

The volcanic rooms host monochromatic sound and visual installations that promote a personal immersive experience, like a bath in color with the body and with the mind, where the light of the volcano is defined by a precise wavelength which corresponds to a sound of the same frequency. 

Visual and musical narratives, between perceptive illusion and amazement

The exhibition staging from matter leads to light. The symbolic crater of each volcano enchants with visions of sound images. Suspended, circular, hypnotic, in the dissolving of shapes and material bodies, the artistic videos reveal atmospheres between dream and reality, unconscious and consciousness. In a magical relationship between light and darkness, epiphany and prelude to life.

Collaboration with Boero

The careful selection of shades and the painting of the volcanoes saw the precious collaboration and contribution of Boero Group, a company that has been a reference in terms of color in the world of architecture and boating for over 190 years.

The Color Project for Rapallo

On 24 November 2022, on the occasion of the'meeting Rapallo city of the future, between architecture and color culture, moderated by the journalist Donatella Bollani, the City of Rapallo and Boero presented the Color project and redevelopment of buildings for some areas of the city, a rigorous study of historical colors to enhance the area and build the architecture of tomorrow.

In addition to the Mayor Carlo Bagnasco and Andreina Boero, honorary president of the Boero Group, the architects Giovanni Giardini, Rodolfo Orgiu and Francesca Salvarani, as well as Michele De Lucchi, special guest, already appointed by the Ligurian municipality for the design of works aimed at urban redevelopment but also for its expertise in'colors acquired thanks to the exhibition Inside the color. Through matter and light at MUSE.

Protect, preserve and pass on the chromatic heritage

The Color Project, drawn up by Francesca Salvarani and created with the advice of Boero, was born from the need to protect, preserve and hand down important testimonies decorative and chromatic linked to the history of Rapallo and provide the municipal administration with a tool that allows the offices to manage easier the extraordinary maintenance interventions on the fronts of the buildings.

A project to instill the culture of color and safeguard the material characteristics of the city's architecture.

The in-depth study and the nuances

The study analyzed 62 buildings which present typical features of Ligurian coastal architecture and which are in an advanced state of deterioration . The local colors were studied, in order to identify the ranges of colors linked to tradition, such as those found in the earth, clays, stones and other natural materials of the area, still legible today and keep.

We have therefore arrived at a synthesis of multiple and varied chromaticity, rich in nuances: about 58% of the colors of the buildings refer to yellows and in shades of the Terra di Siena family, while, among the minor colours, the greens (13 %), the pinks ( 8%) and the reds (5%).

A database for the chromatic design of historic but also contemporary buildings

The collaboration with Boero, a company with over 190 years of history and a long experience in the field which has created overover 80 Color Projects, including Bogliasco, Camogli, Finale Ligure, Serra Riccò, Imperia, Sestri Levante, Santa Margherita and Cinque Terre, supported by a work program and a range of products dedicated to maintenance and restoration.

The Color Project will make it possible to set up a database referring to all interventions on the fronts. An innovative tool, useful for the chromatic design not only of historical buildings, but also of contemporary ones.