Scenographic installations · private occasions · festivals and brands

Private installations.

From a wedding in Dubai to the Cannes Film Festival, from the Alberto Sordi Gallery to the replica of a sixteenth-century fountain — four stories of demountable scenography.

Story

Four stories

When a celebration
needs a set.

There is a scenography for the wide audience — the kind you see at theme parks, in films on the big screen, in prime-time game shows — and there is a more private scenography: the wedding of a royal family, the pavilion of a luxury brand at the Cannes Film Festival, the staging of a fashion event in the historic gallery in the centre of Rome. Same technique, same workshop, same care for the finish. Everything goes up and comes down over a few nights.

1. Dubai · the Princess Sissi Hall — for a high-profile private celebration in the Emirates, we recreate at full scale a Hall of the Viennese court: white walls with baroque gilded stuccoes, arched windows with stained glass in gold framing, gold-leaf Corinthian capitals, hanging candelabra. All in fibreglass and stucco, demountable, shipped by cargo from our workshops to Dubai.

2. The Fountain of the Four Moors — a life-size replica of the Renaissance fountain: four female caryatid figures holding up a pedestal with further full-round sculpted figures above, finish in weathered faux stone in antique grey. Monumental sculpture, at the original dimensions of the historic fountain.

3. The Galleria Alberto Sordi in Rome — the glass-roofed gallery on Piazza Colonna hosts a brand event. For the occasion we sculpt three full-height classical statues in white polystyrene — one with a flat heart, two in dancing poses — set against bright red R and A letters in faux stone, two metres tall. The neoclassical-pop contrast becomes the visual identity of the launch.

4. The Ionic columns for Cannes — four columns in faux onyx marbled white-and-yellow with Ionic capitals with volutes, bell-shaped bases, about three metres tall. Shipped to the Cannes Film Festival for a brand pavilion on the Croisette. The "marble" is sculpted polystyrene, stiffened in fibreglass, marbled by hand vein after vein.

A constant technique across the four jobs: carved expanded polystyrene, fibreglass reinforcement, stucco for the baroque details, lime finishes, gold leaf, oil marbling glazes. All demountable, modular, transportable by road or air cargo.

Full view of the Princess Sissi Hall rebuilt for a wedding in Dubai: white walls with baroque golden stuccoes, two large arched windows with gilded glass framing, Corinthian columns with gilded capitals on the sides, hanging gold candelabra, in the foreground a round wedding table with white floral decoration and a side chair — Dubai — the Sissi Hall installed

Installation for the Galleria Alberto Sordi: three white classical statues sculpted in polystyrene and fibreglass, one with a flat heart raised, two in neoclassical poses, set against bright red R and A letters in faux stone two metres tall, viewed in the workshop yard before delivery — Galleria Sordi — classical statues and pop letters

Four scenographic Ionic columns for the Cannes Film Festival in the Creation Art workshop: about three metres tall, shafts in faux onyx marbled white-and-yellow, Ionic capitals with volutes, bell-shaped bases, seen in a row waiting for transport — Cannes — the four faux-onyx columns

From the workshop to the details

The four scenographies
for private clients.

Four different clients, one single finishing workshop: gilded stuccoes, onyx marbling, weathered faux stone, hand-applied gold leaf.

Detail of the Sissi Hall in Dubai: Corinthian column with flat base, fluted shaft with gilded reliefs, richly worked capital with gold acanthus leaves; to the left an arched French window with white-and-gold frame inlaid with rocaille; lower mirror panel with baroque frame — Dubai — Corinthian column, detail

Side panel of the Sissi Hall: white wall with three baroque gilded frames in rocaille and acanthus leaves, a hanging eight-arm gold candelabrum above, two smaller gold candelabra on either side, in the foreground a temporary worksite table and chair — Dubai — panel with candelabra

Classical statue for Galleria Sordi during construction: three-quarter-view draped female figure, sculpted polystyrene patinated in light grey, a monumental red R letter behind her, in the background the industrial hangar of the Creation Art workshop — Galleria Sordi — single statue, in progress

The Cannes Ionic columns seen from the side: four white-and-yellow onyx-marbled pieces lined up in the industrial hangar, Ionic capitals with volutes, fluted shafts with soft relief, bell-shaped bases, a ladder to the right of the worksite — Cannes — side view of the columns

The life-size replica of the Fountain of the Four Moors sculpted in the Creation Art workshop: four female caryatid figures holding up a pedestal, three further full-round sculpted figures above in classical poses, weathered faux stone finish in antique grey, frontal view from below — Fountain of the Four Moors — overall view

Close-up detail of the Fountain of the Four Moors: the four female caryatids seen in the foreground, arms raised holding the pedestal above, finish in weathered stone grey with green moss accents sculpted in, modulated drapery — Fountain — caryatid detail

Behind the scenes

Four crafts together,
one single workshop.

Working for private clients, brand festivals and high-profile celebrations calls for a specific workshop capability: the same quality as cinema, tighter schedules, finishes that hold up inches from the guests' eyes.

Hand-applied gold leaf

For the Sissi Hall in Dubai the baroque decorations are finished with real gold leaf applied by hand: stucco base, mordant (size), beating of the leaf in squares, agate burnishing. It is the craft of classical gilding from the workshop tradition — four days to stucco and gild a single Corinthian capital. Beneath the hanging candelabra, real gold has a glow that "gold" paint cannot reproduce.

Onyx marbling

The four columns at Cannes are in faux onyx marbled in oil: the marble veins are painted vein by vein with a brush, starting from a straw-yellow base and modulating into yellow-orange and cream-white. It is the technique of historic marbling applied today as centuries ago, with oil pigments and successive glazes.

Weathered faux stone

The replica of the Fountain of the Four Moors is finished in weathered faux stone in antique grey: polystyrene carved with engravers, fibreglass stiffening, lime base with burnt-Siena earth glazes and accents of moss-green in the lower details. The patina of three centuries is the work that makes the monumental sculpture believable.

different clients: Dubai wedding, Galleria Sordi, Cannes, fountain

4 countries

destinations: United Arab Emirates, Italy, France · air freight and road transport

Historic

the technical grammar: gold leaf, oil marbling, lime-based faux stone

Tech sheet

All production data

Type: Four scenographic installations for private occasions, celebrations and festivals
Dubai — Sissi Hall: For a private wedding in Dubai — full-scale reconstruction of a Viennese court hall: walls with baroque gilded stuccoes, arched windows, gold-leaf Corinthian capitals, hanging candelabra
Galleria Alberto Sordi · Rome: Installation for a brand event at the historic gallery on Piazza Colonna: three full-height classical statues in white polystyrene + monumental red R and A letters in faux stone
Cannes Film Festival: Four Ionic columns in faux onyx marbled white-and-yellow for a pavilion on the Croisette · about three metres tall, capitals with volutes, bell-shaped bases
Fountain of the Four Moors: Life-size scenographic replica of the Renaissance fountain · four female caryatids holding up the pedestal above · finish in weathered faux stone
Techniques: Hand-carved expanded polystyrene · fibreglass reinforcement · stucco for baroque details · hand-applied gold leaf · oil marbling · lime-based weathered faux stone
Logistics: Everything modular, demountable, transportable · road transport for Cannes, Sordi and the fountain · air cargo for Dubai
Our role: Full production of the four installations — sculpting, finishing, on-site assembly
Second life: The Cannes columns, the Galleria Sordi statues and the fountain kept in our rental catalogue for further use · the Sissi Hall dismantled after the wedding night

Second life

Four evenings,
four stories.

Private installations share the same ephemeral nature as film premieres: the Sissi Hall in Dubai is dismantled after the wedding reception, the Cannes columns come back to the workshop after the Festival, the Galleria Sordi statues close the brand event. Each one lasts an evening.

The Fountain of the Four Moors had a different fate: the scenographic replica entered our rental catalogue and has been reused in several contexts in the years that followed — film sets, trade-fair installations, fashion brand events. Fibreglass does not expire, and a sculpted fountain does not lose its patina.

The four stories together say something precise about our work: private scenography is a craft of its own. The same techniques as cinema (gold leaf, marbling, faux stone), but with a different client and tighter schedules. It is a niche we will keep cultivating.

Private installations.

Hand-applied gold leaf

Onyx marbling

Weathered faux stone

Four evenings,four stories.

Four evenings,
four stories.