Costantino Dardi. Exhibition design as a relational action

This text explores the work and ideas of Italian architect Costantino Dardi (1936-1991), focusing on his approach to exhibition design and installation art. Dardi conceived of exhibition design as a dynamic interaction between art, architecture, and space, in which each exhibition becomes a unique event. The significance of installations as aesthetic and behavioral operations defines new relationships between artworks and their environments, highlighting the complexity and uniqueness of each installation’s spatial and temporal dimensions. Influenced by the neo-avant-gardes of the 1960s and 1970s, his experimental approach to architecture reveals a keen interest in the interplay between aesthetics and new architectural forms, which he explored through various exhi- bition projects. The text also discusses Dardi’s reflections on the dialectic between the ephemeral and the perennial aspects of art and architecture, illustrated by his exhibition projects in Rome and Venice. These projects represent a synthesis of space, exhibition setup, and artwork, blurring the boundaries between exhibition and installation.