A temporary hotel room, suspended over Milan

In 1997, with the Hotel Interclone installation for the Istanbul Biennial, Diller Scofidio + Renfro examined the sense and the limits of the mono-cultural landscape of the hotel room, a prototypical and introverted format which is indifferent to the languages and specific aspects of the cities and worlds which surround it. Completely overturning this dystopia of interiors, the firm RMA (Roberto Murgia Architetto) has created a prototype of a micro-hotel in Via Bettinelli 3, Milan, which - on the contrary - externalises and emphasises the internal environment, rendering it (super)visible to the city.

Thus we have Faro Milano, a one-floor parallelepiped in steel and glass, transparent on all sides, that has transformed a tall 1960s brick tower, originally destined to house telephone antennas, into an urban lantern which rises above the Darsena in the Navigli area, the small historic port of Milan. The new message sent out by the building, which has evolved both in terms of height and importance, lies not only in the light it emits, which is visible to most of the city. Open to sharing and to a multitude of uses (as well as the three sample rooms, it has a kitchen, a co-working space, a living area and a sky deck, all free to use), Faro Milano is also, fundamentally, a reflection on the relationship between interiors - be they permanent or temporary - and the city.

While amplifying and externalising the theme of belonging, the project itself is transitory, despite appearing long-term in comparison to the standards of an average tourist. In three months’ time, the disappearance of its light may perhaps provoke an examination of the limits of places which are excessively bound to the concept of “time”, in an era in which “space” often seems to withdraw to a hotel room.