Before becoming architecture, the column was a tree trunk. SELVA, the new installation by Edoardo Tresoldi created for Piazza Mignanelli in Rome, starts from this ancient image of dwelling. The work was commissioned by the Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti and brings to the heart of the city the lightness that has always distinguished the artist’s work.
The installation is made up of 16 columns rising over 6 meters high. Each one is a tree, and together they form a woodland. It is an essential form that connects the built environment with the context and the memory of the place.
As in Edoardo Tresoldi’s other works, the material is wire mesh. It gives shape to a presence that is both concrete and immaterial, one that settles into the space without erasing it and alters how it is perceived through transparency. Those who cross the square still see the city, but they see it through another architecture.
Selva reflects the Foundation’s vision of patronage. It means supporting existing works, of course, but above all creating the conditions for something new to emerge. Entrusting Piazza Mignanelli to an artist means offering freedom and trust, and giving them the opportunity to transform it once again into a meeting point. The place is deeply tied to the story of the founders, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, and today it is enriched by another artistic experience.
The square is also home to PM23, the exhibition space that hosts the cultural activities supported by the Foundation. Here the principle “Beauty Creates Beauty” finds one of its expressions, from the beauty that has been created to the possibility of creating new beauty. The project is also part of the well-established collaboration with Roma Capitale, and in particular with Municipio I, as an example of synergy between public institutions and the Foundation to enhance the city.
