Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, Milan – Italy
The exhibition Depero: Space to Space, designed by a-fact architecture factory for the Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, was conceived as a dialogue between eras, languages and ways of experiencing art. Rather than a traditional exhibition, it unfolds like a journey in which Fortunato Depero’s work inhabits the historic residence as a living presence, interacting with the space and transforming it.
The project stems from a shared vision: both the Bagatti Valsecchi brothers and Depero conceived the house as a total work of art. At the end of the 19th century, the former created a residence inspired by 16th-century Milanese houses; decades later, Depero dissolved the boundaries between painting, furniture, graphics and objects, transforming art into everyday experience. The exhibition brings these approaches together, allowing different times and visions to coexist.
The works of art are not inserted as foreign elements, but interact directly with the architecture: paintings temporarily replace historical pieces, drawings dialogue with domestic objects, and works appear in niches, cupboards and unexpected passages. Each room becomes a chapter in an immersive and progressive narrative.
The entrance features Il maggiordomo (The Butler), an ironic gesture of welcome, as if Depero himself were guiding the visit. The tour continues through the library, the frescoed rooms, the private and service rooms, alternating harmony and subtle disruptions, revealing new spatial interpretations.
Materials, colour and light play a fundamental role. Light structures, coloured backdrops and transparent supports allow the works to breathe without overwhelming the historic interiors. The design acts as a sensitive mediator between the architectural heritage and the futurist energy. The journey ends in the Exhibition Hall, redesigned as a living space inspired by Depero’s ViBi bar. More than an exhibition, Space to Space offers a form of museography that connects past and future, home and artwork, memory and invention, where space becomes the true protagonist.
Client:
Museo Bagatti Valsecchi
Location:
Milan (IT)
Program:
Exhibition
Status:
Built
Year:
2026
Ph:
Elena Datrino; Walter Vecchio
Project: a-fact architecture factory
Curated: Nicoletta Boschiero e Antonio D’Amico
Lighting design: LightScene Studio
