‘The Bisazza Foundation: Design. Architecture. Photography’ by Ian Phillips

The Bisazza Foundation is an 8000-square metre private, non-profit institution with a Permanent Collection that reflects the Bisazza family’s passion for art.

Once a factory for glass mosaics, the space has been converted to 21 rooms housing installations by designers like Jaime Hayon, Arik Levy, Richard Meier, Alessandro Mendini, Fabio Novembre, Ettore Sottsass, Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders; and artists Sandro Chia and Mimmo Paladino.

As author Ian Philips attests, “If Lewis Carroll’s quintessential Victorian heroine Alice came to life, pressed fast-forward and found herself slipping down a 21st-century rabbit hole, she’d no doubt feel quite at home if [her journey] culminated at the Bisazza Foundation…

“Sitting here she’d find a monumental multi-coloured chair that stands 3.2 metres high, a shimmering silver chandelier covered with thousands of mosaic tesserae weighing some 850 kilos, and a wonderfully wacky mosaic-clad car.”

The book concludes with ‘Architectural Photography’, showcasing the works of Berenice Abbott, Eugène Atget, Gabriele Basilico, Roland Fischer, Candida Höfer, Julius Shulman and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

“I believe the allure of this place lies in the spectacular oversizing of the works on display and the vaguely fairy-tale atmosphere that surrounds them,” says Rossella Bisazza, Vice President of the Bisazza Foundation.

‘The Bisazza Foundation: Design. Architecture. Photography’ by Ian Phillips
 With contributions by Jonas Tebib and Filippo Maggia, published by Rizzoli