Reference Library is an exhibition conceived by Apartamento in collaboration with Jil Sander.
It brings together 60 books from around the world, each chosen by someone whose perspective is admirable: writers, designers, artists, architects, filmmakers, thinkers, makers. Together they form a collection of personal references, books that inspired, obsessed, and accompanied. Presented together, they become something larger than any individual title: a portrait of curiosity, of influence, of the invisible lines that connect a reader to an idea, and an idea to the world.
The exhibition, with an installation designed by Milanese architecture practice studioutte, takes place at the Jil Sander showroom in the center of Milan and in the Store in Via Pietro Verri. Chrome lecterns stand in rows, each one pooled in a warm reading beam, their reflections carried back by a mirrored wall. It is a space designed for the pleasure of looking closely, of moving from one title to the next with nowhere else to be. Upon registration, with 60 slots available per hour, each visitor is invited into the library and given a pair of white gloves, a small ritual that changes how you handle something, how much care you bring to it. The books are there to be picked up, opened, and read. They stay in the exhibition, but the gloves are for each reader to keep: a quiet souvenir of time well spent.
Photography | Andrew Gough
