The ‘Essere Fiume’ table is a large display surface, composed of 152 custom-made tiles that resemble fragments of the Adda River landscape. Created with composite materials developed by Studio Ossidiana and Carobbio, the tiles explore novel combinations, aggregates, textures and pigments, drawing inspiration from the colours and geology of the Adda.

The exhibition table takes the form of a petrified surface to be explored and touched, inviting the visitor to become part of it. The tiles are not mere supports, but narrative elements that tell the story of the river through different materialities. River coves of different shapes and materials give rhythm to the surface, identifying the four curatorial themes and offering multiple levels of interpretation. These coves, made of river pebble inserts, shards, shells and metal elements, accompany the observation of the contents on display. The table is a map-landscape, and the objects, photos and books open up to the public like spectators in a theatre.

In addition to its exhibition function, the project is conceived as a modular prototype designed for future installations, adaptable to different contexts thanks to its flexible structure. The tiles, in fact, offer numerous possibilities for reuse: they can become the flooring of a space, indoors or outdoors, on which to exhibit works, transforming the ground into a narrative device; they can compose a large civic table, a place for meeting and sharing, where debates, workshops or collective lunches can be organised; or they can be separated into elements of different sizes, allowing for new exhibition configurations responding to different curatorial needs.

Through this modularity and versatility, ‘Essere Fiume’ is not just an exhibition apparatus, but an open system, capable of adapting and transforming itself over time.