Paolo Balzanelli, the architect behind MUMAC, explains the details of the museum. Its curvy, enveloping shape is like steam from a coffee cup, while the trees symbolise the passing of time
In 2010, on the recommendation of his friend Valerio Cometti, the architect Paolo Balzanelli was commissioned by the Cimbali Group to design MUMAC. “The first thing I thought about was the sheer wealth of themes I could touch on in designing the museum,” says Balzanelli, owner of the Arkispazio studio. He certainly wasn’t wrong! “The shape is curvy and enveloping, like the fragrant steam rising from a cup of hot coffee,” he explains. “At its heart is a hi-tech heart in “Cimbali red”, while my take on the heat emitted from a coffee machine is visible at night, when artificial light shines through the slats, creating a lattice of light.” Balzanelli’s primary objective was to hit the brief from a practical perspective, taking into account the surroundings and “taking a poetic approach” to reinterpreting the themes that he and Cometti had identified.

Nature pays homage to the Cimbali Group

It was an undoubtedly complex project and a fascinating challenge, one that Balzanelli was able to tackle with total freedom. “The Cimbali Group didn’t interfere at all in the design process,” he reveals. “They gave us complete freedom of expression. The only catch was the delivery date: it was vital that the project was finished in time for the company’s centenary celebrations.”
The centenary is marked outside the museum with nine photinia shrubs with round foliage crowns and small green lanceolate leaves. “It’s a very hard-working shrub, a bit like the Cimbali Group ” continues Balzanelli. “In spring, it produces white flowers, then red berries. Finally, in autumn, the leaves turn a red-brown colour.” It is almost as if the photinia shrubs have decided to blend in with the “Cimbali red” colour of the museum’s façade. The nine shrubs divide a coffee-coloured wall into ten parts (one for each decade). The wall breaks up the monotony of the existing industrial gates, appearing from between the pillars of the bays and alerting visitors to the presence of MUMAC straight away.

A company with a romantic spirit

“The wall denotes the edge of the green space and turns towards the museum, inviting visitors to enter,” explains Balzanelli. “I’d like to underline the fact that an industrial organisation known throughout the world for its own technology enthusiastically approved the use of a small shrub to symbolise the passing of time and 100 years of success. In my eyes, that reveals the company’s romantic and even poetic spirit.”
Enveloping, charming, elegant: Balzanelli believes these three words encapsulate the design of MUMAC. “A museum has to be inviting,” he continues. “It has to clearly showcase its contents and convey the ‘theme’ through its architecture. There’s a big difference between designing a museum for coffee machines and one dedicated to natural sciences.”

Two creatives, one objective

For Balzanelli, sharing the project with Valerio Cometti and comparing his architect’s vision with Cometti’s as a designer was a very stimulating experience. It was thanks to this union of two creative visions that the inner layout of the museum came together without any problems. “I think the fact that the layout was devised by two designers with different skills but one sole objective was a real advantage,” says Balzanelli. “I'm convinced that the fluid design of MUMAC, from the facade to the graphic details of the logo, with its steaming mug, is one of the keys to its success,” he concludes.