Antonino Cardillo
Antonino Cardillo is an Italian architect from Erice, Sicily, known for atmospheric interiors. He has discussed his interest in analytical psychology and Jungian ideas in a seminar at the C.G. Jung Institute Zurich.
Career
Cardillo began working professionally in the early 2000s. His early architectural projects gained attention in international design media, beginning with his inclusion in the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2009.Since 2009, Cardillo has also created temporary installations and commercial interiors for Wallpaper*, in collaboration with editor-at-large Suzanne Trocmé, including a boutique for Sergio Rossi in Milan. His collaborations with the magazine include the Postmodern Cafe, an entrance installation for the London [Design Festival], forming part of the Victoria & Albert Museum exhibition Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970–90. He also designed the Illuminum perfumery flagship shop in London's Mayfair — the brand whose fragrance White Gardenia Petals was worn by Catherine Middleton at the royal wedding — a project selected by LS:N Global among "the ten most innovative global luxury spaces" of 2015.
A significant project from this period is House of Dust, a domestic interior in Rome. The project was described by Dezeen as featuring a rough, grotto-like vaulted ceiling and a sequence of arches that create a cavernous spatial atmosphere. Architects' Journal described the interior as an essay in "design as theatre", noting how its setting on Rome's Via Veneto provides a springboard for architectural narrative and lighting effects. The Architectural Association described the interior as drawing on the atmosphere of caverns and grottos, noting its immersive use of pozzolana-based plasters and its modulation of light through spatial compressions and dilations. The project has also been discussed in academic literature for its exploration of materiality and perception.
Another project from this period is Min, a series of sculptural works exhibited at the Sir John Soane's Museum in London. The pieces were discussed by Ana Araujo for their exploration of ritual, materiality and the poetics of everyday enchantment.
Another significant work is Specus Corallii, the transformation of the historic Sala Laurentina, the oratory of Trapani Cathedral, into a coral-coloured, grotto-like oratory. The project has been noted for its symbolic motifs and allusions to Trapani's maritime heritage, as well as for its contribution to contemporary debates on inherent colour.
Cardillo has also designed the restaurant interior Paradiso in Rome, created as the intervention for the Off Club. He presented the project in a lecture at the Royal College of Art in London, and the project was later selected as a case study for the Architectural Review typology on nightclubs.