Gothic Cube, Chiesa di Orsanmichele

Francesco Agazio lives and studies in Florence, Italy. He is an undergraduate student of Multimedia Arts at Istituto Marangoni Firenze.

Houses of worship have always had a didactic approach in their facades, seeking to capture a message that tells a straightforward, religious narrative in touch with the vision of the world of their times. Due to the social context of the Gothic art movement, it creates figures that symbolise God and his relationship with humans. Florence has been the epitome of Renaissance artistic movements and aesthetics. Yet, within its homogeneous architecture, one can find buildings that clash with this essence, enhancing the dialogue and creating a balance between different eras. Chiesa di Orsanmichele shows us the variety of Florence and how it can shine with beauty even outside the Renaissance.

Multimedia Art student Francesco Agazio chose this façade as the preferred setting to evoke the relationship between the church’s Gothic and the fashion events that filled its spaces in recent years.
Agazio created a cube as the artwork for Orsanmichele, inspired by Gareth Pugh’s 2011 Fall/Winter collection presented the same year in that church, unveiled on that occasion with a huge silver cube on the first floor.

The viewer can see a black and blue cube surrounded by spikes. Its overall construction reflects Pugh’s identity, who, coming from England, was inspired by English gothic architecture. Then on the cube’s surfaces, Agazio incorporated the arches surrounding the church’s windows, which define its gothic identity. 
Finally, the choice of colours – blue and black – reflects the same colour palette as Gareth Pugh’s collection. 

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