Neo-baroqueism
Presented at SaloneSatellite during Milan Design Week 2025, Neo-baroqueism received recognition from leading figures including Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile. The project later led to a collaboration with the Italian ceramics brand Bosa Ceramiche, becoming the foundation for the commercial collection Gemini.
Neo-baroqueism asks whether architectural ornament can continue to evolve as a living design language. Since the rise of modernism, ornament has often been dismissed or revived through nostalgia, treated as something to preserve rather than reinterpret. Instead of reproducing historical motifs, this project reconstructs ornament as an open geometric system that can be reorganized through contemporary fabrication and user participation.
The project begins with a comparative study of decorative vocabularies across cultures, including medieval rose windows, Byzantine floral motifs, and traditional Chinese wave patterns. Rather than copying these historical forms, their underlying geometries are deconstructed into modular hexagonal components.
Two contrasting tile types were developed. One carries fragmented ornamental curves derived from historical architecture, while the other consists of linear ribs that reference the modernist pursuit of abstraction and the absence of ornament. By combining these modules freely, users become active participants in generating new ornamental compositions.
During the exhibition, the project introduced an innovative interactive approach: the works were not only meant to be viewed, but also physically engaged with. Visitors were invited to assemble and recombine the modules, creating their own compositions directly within the exhibition space.