francesco faccin transforms overlooked pedestals into sculptural protagonists

Francesco Faccin gives voice to the invisible support

At Francesco Faccin’s Piedistalli, the pedestal steps out from the background and claims its own presence. Presented at Galleria Giustini / Stagetti in Rome, the exhibition, the result of a long-term investigation, traces nearly two decades of research into the cultural, symbolic, and spatial role of the object tasked with supporting art. Rather than functioning as a neutral base, the pedestal emerges here as an active device that shapes perception, directs attention, and mediates the relationship between artwork and viewer.

For the Italian designer, the pedestal is never passive. Through height, materiality, proportion, and placement, it shapes the conditions through which objects are seen and understood. The exhibition proposes a poetic yet radical reconsideration of this overlooked architectural element, framing it as a threshold between the artwork and the world.

all images by Omar Golli, courtesy of Galleria Giustini / Stagetti

Piedistalli: twenty years of ongoing experimentation

Historically, the pedestal has long carried symbolic weight. From antiquity to museums and public monuments, elevated objects were granted reverence and authority simply through their removal from the ground plane. During Neoclassicism, pedestals reinforced ideals of order and formal discipline, while the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century began dismantling these hierarchies. Figures such as Marcel Duchamp and Constantin Brâncuși challenged the separation between sculpture and support, with Brâncuși in particular collapsing the distinction entirely by treating the pedestal as an inseparable part of the work itself.

At the center of Piedistalli is a collection of mostly unseen prototypes spanning different moments of Faccin’s practice. Works from the series Assemblaggi from 2000, Serial Planks from 2016, and Regina. Della Scultura from 2021 map the evolution of this continuing research, revealing the designer’s sustained fascination with the silent structures that frame objects and condition the gaze.

at Francesco Faccin’s Piedistalli, the pedestal steps out from the background

sculptural supports in iron, pyrex, and aluminum

Each pedestal proposes a gesture. Some encourage viewers to look upward, others downward; some isolate, protect, or elevate, while others invite intimacy or confrontation. Together, they choreograph movement through the gallery space, transforming display into a physical and perceptual experience.

Across the exhibition, Faccin works with a wide range of materials including wrought iron, cast aluminum, solid wood, galvanized sheet metal, Pyrex, and stainless steel. Every material introduces its own visual language and tactile tension, sometimes resonating with the displayed objects and sometimes sharply contrasting them. The resulting pieces operate simultaneously as functional supports and autonomous sculptures.

Positioned atop these structures is a curated selection of objects drawn from the designer’s personal collection alongside pieces from the Giustini/Stagetti archive. Historical works appear next to what Faccin describes as ‘objects of travel’, spontaneous or vernacular artifacts collected for their symbolic and emotional resonance. 

the exhibition proposes a poetic yet radical reconsideration of this overlooked architectural element

the point where an object becomes art

Rather than presenting the pedestal as an accessory to art, Piedistalli reframes it as the precise point where meaning begins to crystallize. The exhibition invites viewers to reconsider the invisible hierarchies embedded within exhibition design itself, exposing the mechanisms through which attention, authority, and cultural value are constructed.

In giving voice to what Faccin calls the ‘silent servant,’ the project ultimately shifts focus toward what usually escapes notice. Marginal elements are brought to the center, and the structures that quietly organize visual experience are allowed, finally, to speak.

a threshold between the artwork and the world

historically, the pedestal has long carried symbolic weight

pedestals reinforced ideals of order and formal discipline

at the center of Piedistalli is a collection of mostly unseen prototypes

revealing the designer’s sustained fascination

silent structures that frame objects and condition the gaze

each pedestal proposes a gesture

transforming display into a physical and perceptual experience

Faccin works with a wide range of materials

project info:

name: Piedistalli
designer: Francesco Faccin | @studio_francescofaccin

client: Galleria Giustini – Stagetti

project leader: Alberto Manca
photographer: Omar Golli | @omargolli 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: thomai tsimpou | designboom

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