Inga Sempé's perfect home reveals our daily imperfections

Walking through Inga Sempé's perfect, imperfect house, reconstructed at the Triennale Museum in Milan, feels like an investigative exploration, a treasure hunt and an embarrassing invasion of privacy – all at the same time. Until September 15, 2024, the Milan Museum presents the exhibition “Inga Sempé. “La casa imperfetta”, curated by Marco Sammicheli. “The exhibition concept arose from the desire to continue experimenting with visitor-interactive exhibition formats,” he says. “After designing the gym with tools for the office and home with Riccardo Blumer for Alberto Meda’s solo exhibition, with Sempé we wanted to explore the domestic landscape in its rawest honesty.”

“Inga Sempé. “La casa imperfetta” at the Milan Triennale

The exhibition presents projects, objects and designs in a domestic environment similar to a film set, in a course designed by Studio A/C and directed by Alessia Pessano and Chiara Novello. “I’m tired of seeing the desire for perfection all around us,” says Sempé. “Purity, for example, has no effect on me.” I don't want to meet perfect people or things. In magazines, perfection is presented as a goal to strive for, with huge, empty houses and no everyday imperfections; The same goes for women who have perfect skin, excellent dishes and perfect children. A gigantic boredom. A general lie.'

The result is anything but monotonous flawlessness. A sports medal hangs on the studio bookshelf. On a shelf there is a bell, similar to those found at the hotel reception. Next to it is a deck of Neapolitan cards, a map and an entry ticket for a municipal swimming pool in Paris. In the bedroom there is a chess set next to the Eclisse lamp by Vico Magistretti. Bündner shoe polish and a shoe shine brush are kept in a basket next to the bed. Some candles are bent on the kitchen table and a white pot holder hangs alone between plastic baskets and a glass back wall. An outdated analog green telephone sits next to an espresso cup in the living room.

“I simply wanted to create a house that is not perfect, far from the museum environment where every object becomes a pseudo-masterpiece because it is on a pedestal,” explains Sempé. “I wanted to include all the things we all have at home, such as twisted and dried sponges, soap aged like old cheese, and administrative documents.”

The Casa Imperfetta is also intended to show visitors the complexity of Sempé's work and allow them to explore the products designed by the French designer and her idea of ​​​​restoring the tradition of anonymous objects. “Inga's aesthetic is based on the charm of the outdated, the simplicity of the function and the clarity of the way of use.” “All seasoned with a clever use of colors and different materials,” says Sammicheli.

Sempè is a connoisseur of materials and industrial processes: “Their catalog is extensive, so furnishing an entire house was not difficult.” “With the exception of sanitary ware and telephones, Inga has created designs for a wide range of products,” he points out. “The coverings, stains, layering, accumulations and combinations happen spontaneously, just like they do at home.”

Visitors can interact with environments such as bedrooms, kitchens, hallways, vestibules and outdoor areas. Anyone can sit in front of the desk or open a box on the shelf to reveal what is hidden inside: “A variety of forbidden actions can be carried out in the museum space,” confirms Sammicheli. “Highlighting them is a cultural challenge and a bet we want to take.” “Touching, turning on, lying down, testing and browsing become simple but novel ways to learn about the functions, textures and mechanisms underlying a design object lay.”