Installation in black-painted metal
Presented at SaloneSatellite 2016, Milan
Part of the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection
Exhibited at Triennale di Milano
Supported by the Italian manufacturer Carlo Citterio
EDGE marks a pivotal moment in Gustavo Martini’s artistic trajectory, establishing a visual and conceptual language that continues to define his work. First presented at SaloneSatellite in 2016, the installation consists of a 9m2 framework built entirely from black metal lines—a spatial drawing rendered at full scale. Rather than enclosing the viewer, the structure defines architectural boundaries through minimal gestures: a wall is reduced to a single line; a room becomes a mental construct.
The project originated from a simple hand-drawn square—a mark that prompted questions about representation, perception, and the nature of form. Could a square be a door, a window, a volume, or a passage? From this inquiry, Martini developed a structural vocabulary rooted in the line as a tool of human rationality—a system we use to divide, define, and organize space. Within this skeletal environment, a series of essential elements—mirror, wardrobe, bench, and a removable chair—exist as fragments of a domestic landscape, embedded within the architectural grid.
Though widely cited in the design world and often referenced for its pre-Instagram visual clarity, EDGE transcends aesthetic trends. Its inclusion in the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection and exhibition at Triennale di Milano affirmed its institutional significance. More than a single work, EDGE became the genesis of a language: a spatial philosophy where function is dematerialized, and drawing becomes architecture. It stands as a reflection on the human need to formalize the intangible—an architecture not built to contain, but to provoke thought.
