The thread and texture between the sea and the hills, between city and metropolis, between inside and outside; sign and function, material and design, between the landscape and the city to come. Softness is an interweaving of stories and threads. The origin is i-Mesh: a vision, a material and a technology created in the Marche region of Italy, on Monte Conero in Numana, for systemic and adaptive radical architecture capable of projecting itself into contemporary design with Expo 2020 in Dubai. Its key words are lightness, transparency, resistance, flexibility and sustainability. The narrative develops on a journey of discussions with architects and designers, engineers and philosophers, academics and technicians, revealing new research processes with an eye to the fragile ecosystem of our time.

Through the expressive and technological evolution of this material, the film recounts a new model and a new way of looking at the culture of design. In conveying their visions, the creations, relationships and protagonists pose radical questions about the meaning of design and of living today.

Kengo Kuma and texture, Cristiano Toraldo di Francia and transparency, Benedetta Tagliabue and comfortable materials, Gabriele Mastrigli and the grid by Superstudio, Werner Sobek and the new construction technologies, Lucio Blandini and the experimental architecture of Frei Otto, Mark Gabriel and the performances requested by Expo 2020 Dubai, Ico Migliore and the nesting value of public places, Margherita Palli and the storyline on stage, Edoardo Tresoldi and the mesh that structures itself, Stefano Catucci and the emotional spaces of cities, Lorena Alessio and the 15 minutes city, Alberto Fiorenzi – who saw the future and invented i-Mesh.

The film unfolds reflections and stories related to the epos of thread – the enterprise and essentiality of the raw material; to the challenge of the design that must be timely and global – unique and at the same time exportable with each application; to material with a high value content – sustainability, creativity, quotation, innovation, uniqueness, seriality – and close to the sophisticated and exclusive culture of contemporary clients. Lastly to the material and the process, which incorporate the imagery and iconography of visual, religious, spiritual, cultural and artistic traditions.

A journey based on interviews and images of designs and places – Barcelona, Dubai, Milan, Numana, Rome, Stuttgart, Tokyo – a mark of a profound connection between communities, objects and spaces. Nomad, free, soft, light – within the same inspirations, threads of the same weft, inhabitants of the same nest. A long journey achieved in the midst of a radical experience such as the pandemic. A time when Nature reminded Man of the identity of a common and sustainable vision of the ecosystem. The need for respect and listening - indeed, for Softness.

A film by Cristiana Colli and Francesca Molteni
Produced by Muse Factory of Projects
Promoted by i-Mesh
Language: Italian / English
Duration: 42 minutes
Year: 2022