The Connection between Planium and Water

Water is the force that tempers you

We all know the indispensable chemical value of Water, which allows life on the planet through a balanced functioning of the ecosystem. Its importance for man does not stop at its scientific value, even if it is the indispensable element in nature: there are many musicians, writers, poets, sculptors, directors, designers, painters who were inspired by the somewhat mystical force of this substance also present in astrology and which is difficult to describe precisely because of the consideration we have for it.

Planium has “taken care” of giving shape to Water with metallic creations, which are directly inspired and trace it with reproductions that are not only symbolic, but also materially inspired.

A creation of the Fuorisalone 2022 was dedicated to the dominant theme of water indicated by the DoT (Design Outdoor Taste) in Brera: Wave11. A work conceived by a couple of designers, Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancman, who have been collaborating for some time with the reality of Planium and TGroup in general.

“Wave11 is an object and an installation in which metal and emotion become a sculpture. A layering of metal elements with surfaces that testify to the interactions between materials. A diversity of timeless ‘textures’ that recall a coral reef teeming with life, lunar landscapes or delicate patterns similar to precious lace. Time and Energy are the fundamental factors in this experimental project, a project that tends to tell the transformation by fixing its moment ... what the Japanese call 'MU', a moment so close to nothing that it becomes everything.”

This is how the authors describe this work installed inside a “gallery” of oxidized stainless steel that recalls the features of lunar cartography. A real Wave of metal inserts in oxidized brass and copper, two top materials among the textures of Planium, which with its brightness arouses in visitors, already at meters and meters away, the curiosity and amazement that determines one of the highest influxes of the entire event.

And speaking of waves, water had already been the protagonist for the duo of designers who years before had conceived the ceiling of the restaurant of the Ducasse sur Seine project in Paris, a ceiling that is inspired precisely by the waves of the Seine; this restaurant is in fact positioned on a boat that is stationed right in the famous river, designed by the naval architect Gerard Ronzatti. The reported visual language takes into account the Parisian context that is historically located in those surroundings, therefore also of architectural elements such as Pont d'Iéna or Pont de l’Alma; therefore this ceiling takes up the theme of movement and shapes that pertain to water. In fact, the ceiling of the restaurant hall is made of 3,000 metal sheets of millimetre thickness in silver and gold tones (pre-anodized aluminum); the lighting is via LED system and this gives a lively effect to the whole.

Even the oxidations of the Planium projects are certainly not immune to the concept of water: this is not because there is a voluntary search for colors and shapes, but simply because by chance the oxidative process of the metal that leads to the Mavi, Mavi Calypso and Thetis collections goes to "paint" in abstract numerous scenarios that we find in nature, including the emerged lands with the oceans, the seas, almost often seeming like imaginary cartographic maps. Especially thanks to copper and brass: when they oxidize, these two metals sometimes if not often go to trace shades of blue or aquamarine that we could find in paintings depicting the seas, shades that blatantly orient themselves from nuances that go from turquoise to aquamarine green, from denim blue to cornflower, from verdigris to chlorophyll.

Thus the brand, which usually works to cover and floor the surfaces of the interiors with metallic textures, manages with custom artistic projects also to personalize the environments with a touch of creativity that goes beyond the scientific value alone.

Water is the force that tempers you,

in water you find yourself and renew yourself:

we think of you as an algae, a pebble,

as an aquatic creature

that the saltiness does not affect

but returns to the shore purer.

Eugenio Montale