NEWS & EVENTS > LIGHT OUR FIRE: DE CASTILLIA 23 LIGHTS UP WITH 1,100 SQ.M. KINETIC SCULPTURE CREATED BY STUDIO AZZURRO

LIGHT OUR FIRE: DE CASTILLIA 23 LIGHTS UP WITH 1,100 SQ.M. KINETIC SCULPTURE CREATED BY STUDIO AZZURRO

Urban Up| Unipol presents LIGHT OUR FIRE, a site specific kinetic sculpture created by “Studio Azzurro” to mark 2026 Milan Design Week; it will be visible from today to 26 April on De Castillia 23, the Group-owned building renovated by Urban Up | Unipol.

With LIGHT OUR FIRE, De Castilla 23 will play a leading role in “INTERNI MATERIAE”, INTERNI’s exhibition-event on international design and architecture, once again the official location of Design Week.

The Earth’s incandescent core will feature on the building’s facade, representing primordial energy and creative power to indicate Fire, the final element of the tetralogy which began 3 years ago with Water (2023), Air (2024) and Earth (2025). Humans have used fire for thousands of years for heat, to transform metal, make the first forays into technology and basically smooth the path of progress. Greek mythology tells us that Prometheus took fire from the gods to give to humanity. This sparked awareness and passion as it brought development while nonetheless demanding responsibility: power that gives benefits will always be accompanied by consequences and risks. This insight gave rise to LIGHT OUR FIRE. The image of the Earth’s burning core is therefore a call - never as urgent as the present - to reflect on energy, the future, our responsibility towards the Planet and to carefully fan the flame that burns inside. The Unipol Tower will be lit up in orange at the same time so that both Group buildings can “interact” to bolster the key message and call for reflection.

LIGHT OUR FIRE is not just an aesthetic work comprising 492 slim panels that rotate and vibrate with air and light, but a conduit through which the appeal is made to think and reflect. One of the most complex issues that touches on geopolitical, social, technological and environmental spheres nowadays is the question of energy. In its 2025 World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) defined the current period as one of the worst in past decades, predicting austerity scenarios in the near future that could match those of the 1970s. A number of paradoxes and contradictions have emerged over the past few months: despite the explosion in the demand for energy, partly to support the spread of digital transformation and AI, this technology can play an important role in reducing emissions and energy consumption. Even though billions of people have to fight for access to basic energy sources in developing countries (lack of power grids), access to power is guaranteed to everyone in advanced economies but energy poverty is on the increase: although households are hyperconnected, they cannot afford to heat their homes or provide sufficient lighting due to record high prices.

Massimiliano Morrone, Chief Real Estate Officer of the Unipol Assicurazioni said “we have used the Urban Up brand to renovate the buildings owned by the Group in urban and peri-urban areas in recent years since we believe that we can contribute towards economic growth and connectivity in cities by modernising our assets, sparing the land and encouraging a virtuous asset enhancing circle. Cities that consume between 60% and 80% of global energy and produce 70% of carbon emissions can achieve considerable economies of scale by increasing energy efficiency, provided that businesses and public entities play their part, including through infrastructural investments”.

The inaugural event of the installation which was held on the 22 April on the ground floor of the De Castillia 23, was opened with short speeches by Massimiliano Morrone, Leonardo Sangiorgi of Studio Azzurro, Silvia Pedrotti of Banco dell Energia, Marco Garofalo, photographer.

LIGHT OUR FIRE
LIGHT OUR FIRE is an immense modular sculpture, 37 metres in diameter and covering a total surface area of over 1,100 sq.m. The 492 slim red and orange panels comprising it are made of an innovative polycarbonate material deriving from a continuous recycling process that ensures 100% reusability. They are supported by 104 brackets set into the facade to which long steel cables are hooked enabling the panels to rotate and vibrate with air and light. The circular chromatic fabric reflects the earth’s core: oranges sparkle in the centre, surrounded by intense shades of red to resemble the pulse of an incandescent heart in the middle of the city.

Milan,
April 17 2026