On the occasion of Milan Design Week 2018, Chinese office MAD Architects has been invited by the magazine INTERNI and by AUDI to envision an immersive art installation named “Fifth Ring”. The artwork, developed in collaboration with Artemide, is composed by a suspended luminous circle that invests the courtyard of the Arcivescovile seminary in Milan. The installation will be open to the public until April 28^th.

“Fifth Ring”  wants to create a new spatial dimension inside the courtyard of Milan’s historic Seminario Arcivescovile – a seminary built in 1564 for St. Carlo Borromeo, as a symbol of mankind’s continued search for perfection.

From above, the large suspended ring of light acts as the architectural fifth facade of the Seminario Arcivescovile. From the ground, the illuminated circle frames the sky, drawing the viewer to look upwards, “towards the infinite universe.”

Pools of water give off reflections, forming an “infinite perception” of space between the ring of light, the water and the sky, and give to the visitors the feeling they are walking amongst the clouds.

Text from the press release and MAD Architects. 

“Fifth Ring”, open from April 16^thto April 28^th, 2018.
Seminario Arcivescovile – Corso Venezia, 11, 20121 Milano MI, Italy
Design Team: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano, Marco Gastoldi, Andrea D’Antrassi, Casey Kell, Connor Hymes
Engineering: Maco Technology
Light Design: Artemide