Cardillo

Colour as a Narrative

Illuminum Fragrance, 41 Dover Street, Mayfair, London,  – 

The Colour as a Narrative is a project for Illuminum Fragrance in London. Conceived as a small grey grotto with rugged walls revealing the eroticism of ancient construction techniques, the design incorporates pozzolanic ash reflecting volcanic topography. A semi-circle of thirty-seven irregular glass forms, each suspended by a black thread, encloses invisible colours revealed only by the nose

Text

Has it been observed to what extent outward idleness, or semi-idleness, is necessary to a real religious life, […] And that consequently the modern, noisy, time-engrossing, conceited, foolishly proud laboriousness educates and prepares for ‘unbelief’ more than anything else?

 

— Friedrich Nietzsche, Jenseits von Gut und Böse (1886)

Behind a portal on a Georgian street in London, lives a small grey grotto. Its rugged walls, imprinted with gestures of the mason’s trowel reveal the eroticism which was conveyed in the act of construction by the ancients. The pozzolanic ash echoes the volcanic topography from where it was quarried.

As ‘chambers of light’ the three tall openings facing the street orchestrate the light and shadow. Onto a rough wall: the backdrop for a sweeping semi-circle of thirty-seven irregular glass forms each suspended by a black thread. Enclosed are colours. Invisible colours revealed only by the nose.

Data

  • Time: Design (Feb 2014 – Mar 2015); Construction (Mar – Apr 2015); Photography (Apr 2015); Demolished (Apr 2017)
  • Place: Illuminum Fragrance, 41 Dover St, Mayfair, London, UK
  • Area: 27 m² (single storey)
  • Typology: Shop

Images

Colour as a Narrative
Colour as a Narrative
Colour as a Narrative
Colour as a Narrative
Colour as a Narrative
Colour as a Narrative
Colour as a Narrative
Colour as a Narrative

Testimonial

2015


The most amazing space in London

The most amazing space in London in a while. It is not brutalist but beautiful and poetic.

[email], Wallpaper*, London, 30 April 2015. (en)

Anthology

2021 – 2015


It is a poem, an indelible experience that evokes powerful memories.

Retail and Service Experience Design for CCIs, DigiMooD MOOCs, Politecnico di Milano, 9 February 2021. (en)

There’s a nostalgic sense of the future about this structure, as if it had been envisioned for today’s world some time ago. It’s decidedly contemporary and abstract, but unlike the empty voids of other modern architecture, Colour as a Narrative is primitive and rich with the markings of human labour.

atelierlumira.com, Sydney, 22 January 2018. (en)

(FR)

This architectural work, however unexpected, reflects a certain dualism where the ordered shapes of the container collide with the imperfections of the contents.

detailsdarchitecture.com, Paris, 28 November 2016. (fr)

I regard my work as an inquiry into forgotten significances of the past, akin to a codex primarily based on notions of protection and eroticism. […] Consequently, these archetypes continue to inhabit our subconscious, admonishing us that there is more than the commonplace visions imposed by society.

Ed. Carol Junqueira, bamboonet.com.br, São Paulo, August 2016. (en, it, pt)

Somewhere on Dover Street, […] there lies a fairy tale grotto filled with tranquillity and calm.

Eclectic, no. AW15, Paris, September 2015, p. 160. (en)

(DE)

Perfumery Illuminum in London welcomes its customers in a shop that breaks with all the buying and viewing habits of the luxury class.

handelsjournal, no. 9/15, Düsseldorf, September 2015. (de)

Italian architect Antonino Cardillo has created a multi-sensory space for experiencing and buying fragrance by coating a room inside an old London building with volcanic ash.

dezeen.com, London, 6 May 2015. (en)

Exhibitions

2025 – 2019


C.G. Jung-Institut, Zurich, .

Antonino Cardillo will present the seminar ‘Depth Architecture—The Aesthetic Nature of the Psyche’ as part of the autumn 2025 Analytical Psychology Training Program curated by Julia Budai at the Carl Gustav Jung Institute of Zurich.

Museo Pepoli, Trapani, .

After an introduction by the anthropologist Rita Cedrini, Cardillo presents his constructed projects during the conference ‘Anthropology in Architecture’, part of the cultural events series of the Agostino Pepoli Regional Museum in Trapani.

DIA, Bauhaus Campus, Dessau, .

After an introduction by Professor Johannes Kister, Cardillo interprets seven images of his architectural works during the conference ‘A Synchronicity of Cultures and Civilisations’, part of the Dessau Talks series at the Dessau Institute of Architecture, Bauhaus Campus.

Publications

2021 – 2015 (selected)

Credits

  • Architecture, construction management: Antonino Cardillo
  • Olfactory glasses concept: Asakala Geraghty
  • Client: Illuminum Fragrance (director: Keith Hamilton; art director: Asakala Geraghty) via Suzanne Trocmé
  • Construction company: Italian Art Design Ltd.
  • Masonry: Adrian Paiunui Mihai, Fabio Di Monte, Gianmarco Di Monte
  • Carpet: Natural Elements Flooring
  • Glass making: Elliot Walker
  • Photography, text: Antonino Cardillo
  • Translation: Antonino Cardillo, Morgan Ferrar, Asakala Geraghty
  • Thanks to Suzanne Trocmé