Freedom, a MAD Architects project created by Eurostands and Ledvance.

Cortile d'Onore - Università degli Studi di Milano

Ma Yansong

On the occasion of Milan design week, the international architecture studio MAD Architects headed by Ma Yansong presents Freedom. Created with the support of the European office of the Chinese practice based in Rome, the installation is located in the courtyard of the University of Milan, and represents a seagull looking up at the sky, ideally ready to take flight. Closely bound up with the post-pandemic context, Freedom was created to represent the desire for rebirth to which the whole world aspires. The installation consists of metal profiles and tubes produced by Eurostands and covered with LED strips which – supplied by Ledvance – make it visible even in the absence of natural light. Intentionally set between the arches bounding the courtyard, midway between interior and exterior, as if to symbolize the uncertainty of contemporary humanity, the seagull, like the famed Jonathan Livingston, the protagonist of Richard Bach’s novel, is ready to find its freedom and self-determination through a continuous challenge to himself and the reality around him.