This exhibition delves into all relevant aspects of the work of the Castiglioni brothers through the narrative of the catering setups designed between the late 1950s and early 1970s. For the first time, it showcases some architectures that no longer exist, allowing the public to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of those places and experience the brilliant spatial solutions imagined by the Milanese architects for seven catering projects   Chiara Alessi | Co-curator "To serve." And therefore to meet the needs and plural demands, to be useful, to function, to perform one's work. But also to serve, as in sports, meaning to make the first move, which starts the game. The work on catering is probably where we can best understand the integrated contribution of the Castiglioni brothers in all aspects: an intervention ranging from spaces to small and large furnishings, from the care of the image to that of the personnel flow, from air conditioning systems to lighting, from restroom pictograms to ashtrays. Serving, precisely, all the dictates: that of space and those who work there, that of the client and the public, that of the image to be communicated, and naturally, the function to be respected. Through the narrative of the catering setups designed between the late 1950s and early 1970s, the exhibition investigates how every detail of the dining experience is conceived as an efficient machine or ingenious device to serve the customer, serve the space, and serve those who serve.   And it finds its landing in many projects designed specifically to address the demands of a venue and then put into production by Italian design factories: the beer tap "Spinamatic" produced by Poretti, the "Splugen" lamp, later produced by Flos; two elements of the "I Servi" series, first produced by Flos and then by Zanotta; the "Spluga" stool later produced by Zanotta; and the glasses and bottle opener later produced by Alessi, all objects made for the Splügen Bräu beer hot table on Corso Europa; while the mirror, later produced by Kartell, and the "Castiglietta" chair, later Zanotta, were designed, along with tables and carts, for the Da Lino Buriassi restaurant on via Lecco. For the first time, the exhibition showcases setups designed to last but no longer exist, giving the public the opportunity to immerse themselves in the atmosphere, gestures, and consumption methods of those years and experience the spatial solutions imagined by Milanese architects, moving between the ephemeral and the ironic, between observation and design action.   Marco Marzini | Curator, graphic and exhibition design Exhibition design and content The exhibition design project considers several typical aspects of this place, the historical premises of the Achille Castiglioni Foundation. The first consideration to make is that it is a living, used, dynamic place, with an overlap of forms and materials that makes it unique and iconic. Here, the idea of the Construction site takes shape as a simple form, an "organism" that lives in symbiosis with the walls and furnishings present in the Foundation, which can become a fitted wall for display, while maintaining a neutral connection with the context. Wooden grates with wheels are designed to be moved, making the archive accessible and, at the same time, becoming load-bearing structures for the exhibited material. Other structures will adapt symbiotically to the spaces, maintaining and developing their ability to dialogue. Secondly, I considered the difficulty of narrating the content of the exhibition, which, in this case, examines architectures, spaces that no longer exist, which, for those not involved in the field, could be difficult to imagine, visualize, and understand their design richness. So, I designed the exhibition with cleverness to help the visitor immerse themselves in the Castiglioni's imagination to understand the main spatial characteristics of the projects on display. In the central room - called the technigraph room - there is a full-scale section of the 1960 Splügen Bräu venue on Corso Europa in Milan (image below). A completely white reconstruction, as if it were a model, an imprint, a plaster cast, something that has left its mark. From technical drawing to reality/fiction.