The architects in charge of the German Pavillion at the Venice Biennale talk about how they met our company and the way the collaboration between us evolved.
Thank you for your post, Alex and Savvas!
ERMES PONTI: A CAREFUL AND INSPIRING COLLABORATION ON THE VENICE BIENNALE GERMAN PAVILLION.
By Alex Lehnerer and Savvas Ciriacidis.
We were very fortunate to have been able to work with ermesponti on the project “Bungalow Germania” of the German Pavilion at the 14th International Architecture Biennale 2014.
At first we were quite concerned about how to rebuild the Chancellor’s Bungalow in Bonn from 1964 here in Venice.
Then, only by chance we met Daniela and Paolo from ermesponti.
Our Italian friend and collaborator Eugenio Squassabia from Mantua recommended them to us as years ago he used to work for them.
We have already heard a lot about the exquisite craftsmanship of North Italian companies, but never really imagined what kind of enthusiasm and precision there is involved in their work since we met ermesponti.
Daniela and Paolo immediately went to Bonn themselves as they had to see the “original” and to have a close look at all the details of the wooden furniture of the Bungalow to be reproduced in Venice – all the way to the brass key holes of the cabinet doors, as shown in the drawing.
This analysis almost resembled an archeological project into Bonn’s recent past.
Paolo’s dad then went to Milan to get exactly the right kind of veneer for the built-in cabinets of the Bungalow in Bonn.
The result is stunning.
There was so much care and love involved that we almost feel guilty that after six months of the Biennale everything has to disappear again.
But before that you should go and see the exhibition yourself and how precise all the ermesponti furniture is crafted in the Pavilion.
We even started to tell people there: if they wanted to see how everything looks in 50 years, they should go to Bonn!
But maybe you should also go to Mantova and have a look at ermesponti’s workshop and listen to Paolo how carefully they choose and compose every piece of veneer by hand to get the right character of wood for every single project.
It is amazing and inspiring to still have people around today who care so much about what they do.