Art in Public Places

Mario Nanni is an artist, a designer of light you might say. His work can be seen in homes, offices, retail showrooms, museums to name a few. The lighting for the Armani showroom was designed by Nanni. But now his work can be seen by all on a grand scale.

Nanni's visual and musical installation on Milan's Teatro alla Scala is named "la luce della musica", a tribute to the opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet, which opened the theatre's opera season this winter.

The theatre, designed by Architect Giuseppe Piermarini, boasts beautiful images on the facade of the building by way of video projection and light. The fantastic view can be seen from an expansive plaza across the street. The scenes include people sitting on the eaves of the building, giant books stacked on shelves, light bursting from the windows and crimson theatre curtains drawn to signify the end of the performance.

Mario Nanni explains that the illlumination of this cultural building is "to live from outside a moment that is normally lived within", thus bringing culture to all.

This project is part of Milan's International Festival of Lights and

closes January 10th, 2010.

"The realization that the scale is seen like a container of all the culture
of our city" - Mario Nanni

-all photos courtesy of Mario Nanni