Honey Factory, Milano
Francesco Faccin

8 September 2015

It’s not one of the pavilions of Expo Milan 2015, but it is producing sustainable and natural food during the six months of the fair: it is Francesco Faccin’s Honey Factory, with which the designer is proposing a system for the production of honey in the city. After the worldwide success of urban kitchen gardens, this large-scale hive offers the possibility of setting the insects to work making honey in city gardens. Faccin has designed a vertical structure, a sort of small wooden tower which the bees enter from the top. Following a special route, the insects reach the hive without ever coming into contact with anyone who might be passing by. The message is a decidedly green one: bees are indicators of the planet’s health, as their presence is a guarantee of environmental wellbeing, while their absence sounds a clear alarm about the level of pollution. A glass door allows people to watch the dance of the bees as they collect the precious nectar, offering a visual spectacle that is also an aural experience thanks to the subdued humming of the insects. Honey Factory is another piece in Faccin’s body of work, oriented toward a humanization of the product and the rediscovery of the fundamental elements of our tradition of making things. The prototype was commissioned by Marva Griffin and produced by Riva1920, a historic firm specializing in the manufacture of wooden furniture with a high content of innovation. Honey Factory will be at work in the gardens of the Milan Triennale, partner in the project, until October 31.

 

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani.

Honey Factory, Milano. Progetto di Francesco Faccin.

Francesco Faccin

Francesco Faccin. Photo: Mario Greco.


Domitilla Dardi

Torn between the history of art and the history of architecture, she came across design at the end of the last century and has not let go of it since. She loves to deal with everything that entails the use of ingredients, their choice, mixing and transformation: from writing to cooking, from knitting to design, from perfumes to colors. She is curator for design at the MAXXI and professor of the History of Design at the IED.


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