Crepuscular Green
In Rome, in the spring of 2014 Cardillo created Crepuscular Green, a work built for the Klaus Mondrian art gallery Mondrian Suite in San Lorenzo ward. Jeanette Kunsmann from Berlin said on BauNetz: “Light at the bottom, dark at the top: It is above all this reversal with which Cardillo not only creates a dramatic tension, but also a sensual, mystical atmosphere. With 40 square metres rather manageable, the architect has transformed the gallery into a sacred room — and created a courageous change from the eternal White Cube.”
Crepuscular Green is an interior refurbishment of an art gallery. The use of colour and texture is inspired by the opening scene of Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold, which describes a greenish dawn as seen from the depths of the river. This work was made on a low budget with one builder. The poverty of means applied here relates to the idea of architecture being a faculty to transcend the ordinary. Like a green golden grotto, a rusticated vault envelopes the upper part of the room, rendering a trilithon schema on the backdrop. Ahead, a rounded altar features a mirror arched bridge and a suspended slab above. On either side, two black flutes emit diffused lighting. Everything is painted in shades of green. Words of the space relate to each other a cohesive narrative, which aims to unfold the imagination of the inhabitants.
