The world of contemporary jewelry is an equilibrium of weights and measures, knowledge of materials and technical and artisanal skill. It is a sphere of jewelry-making in which the designer’s vision is worth more than carats or precious metals, and uniqueness lies in the formation of an idea, always without sacrificing the wearability of the work.
In fact, jewelry “inhabits” a body, living on its irregular and constantly-moving surface. It does so thanks to its structure, as is the case of architecture as well, and it is also animated by the dynamism of its wearer.
Jewelry and architecture are thus the two poles of a dialogue with two meeting points: the body in motion and structure. Albeit with different aims and dimensions, the two fields share a language that concerns relations, connections and proportions.
In the work of the six great contemporary jewelry designers presented here, the reference to architecture and the constructive analogy between small and large scales are fundamental elements of creation.
Giampaolo Babetto, David Bielander, Helen Britton, Monica Cecchi, Peter Chang and Philip Sajet were invited to dialogue with six artists present in the MAXXI Architettura museum’s collection: respectively, Carlo Scarpa, Maurizio Sacripanti, Pier Luigi Nervi, Vittorio De Feo, IaN+ and Sergio Musmeci. The jewelry pieces are displayed together with their preparatory drawings, testimonials of the construction process and excerpts from the design phase, juxtaposed with models, drawings and documentary materials from specific architectural projects.
The results are unique jewelry pieces that highlight links in terms of materials, process, conception and construction with the architecture of reference. Each jewel thus becomes an opportunity to get to know each artist’s lexicon and personal key to interpreting the world of architecture.

– Domitilla Dardi