TV show · Canale 5 · since 1998

Ciao Darwin.

For the show by Paolo Bonolis and Luca Laurenti on Canale 5 — on air since 3 October 1998 — we built the iconic Genodrome portal.

Story

One act

The portal
of the Genodrome.

Ciao Darwin debuted on Canale 5 on 3 October 1998 with Paolo Bonolis and Luca Laurenti. For the first editions the set was essential, a classic TV studio look. It was with the 2003 edition — the fourth — that the directors asked us for the piece that would visually redefine the show and become its signature for the next twenty years: the Genodrome portal.

A monumental orange ring — roughly three metres in diameter — frames the contestant's passage to the other side of the studio. Around the ring, sculpted in the round, two jungle tree trunks with tropical palm leaves. On either side of the portal sit two sculpted gorillas — the "Darwin" iconography taken to its declared evolutionary theme.

Below the ring, a twin staircase mirrored on each side climbs up and converges at the centre, at the crossing point. The contestant climbs, passes through the ring, comes out "on the other side" — it's the TV gesture that closes every episode of Ciao Darwin.

All in sculpted expanded polystyrene, stiffened in fibreglass, painted with the saturation typical of Canale 5 prime time. Walkable, safe for the hosts and for the studio audience. The form has been adapted, repainted and expanded edition after edition — but the portal you still see today is ours.

The Genodrome portal of Ciao Darwin during final construction: a large orange ring about three metres across at the centre of the TV studio, jungle tree trunk on the left of the ring sculpted in the round with green tropical leaves, twin staircases climbing the sides and converging at the centre, white-grey cyclorama in the background, technicians at work — The Genodrome portal — front view from the centre of the studio

Detail of the tree trunk sculpted in the round flanking the portal: faux-stone bark with reliefs, large green tropical leaves rising from the base, white staircase with handrail climbing alongside — The tree trunk, sculpting detail

Ciao Darwin set under construction: Genodrome scenography being built on the soundstage, technicians and materials — The set under construction on the soundstage

Act two

A scenography
that enters the language.

There are few Italian TV sets that have made it through twenty years of broadcasting while staying recognisable at first glance. The Genodrome portal is one of them. From 2003 until today it has been repainted, expanded and reworked edition after edition — but the silhouette of the orange ring with the two trunks and the gorillas has never changed. It has become a piece of popular television on a par with the desk of L'Eredità, the stairs of Quiz Show, the arena of Tale e Quale.

The rule for the Ciao Darwin set is simple: everything has to be prime-time saturated. Bonolis and Laurenti work on top of it — irony, shouting, jumps, controlled chaos — so underneath, the scenography has to shout too. The orange of the portal, the tropical greens of the leaves, the white of the twin staircase, the red of buttons and rituals: it all has to be dosed so that in a wide shot the visual impact is immediate, and in close-ups the details hold up under the zoom of the TV cranes.

The sculpted gorillas on either side of the portal are the detail that closes the iconography. Placed on the floor like two guardians, they have the texture typical of the Roman polychrome school: clay model, silicone cast, fibreglass, hand-painted finish. You see them at the opening of every episode — when the director frames the portal at the centre of the studio before the contestant crosses through.

Ciao Darwin set during a night build: an industrial yellow cherry-picker at the centre lifting a worker for high-level finishes, view of the Genodrome portal on the right with sculpted trunk and tropical leaves — **Night build.** Cherry-picker at the centre of the studio for the high-level finishes of the scenography

Another moment from the Ciao Darwin build: finishing work on the soundstage — **Finishing work.** The last coats of polychrome paint before the first episode

Ciao Darwin set: view of the finished portal — **Set delivered.** The portal ready for its broadcast debut

Behind the scenes

Three days of assembly
at Canale 5.

A Mediaset prime-time scenography is assembled in studio after the trucks arrive from Ivrea or Rome, with every piece calibrated to fit through the doors of the soundstage. What we make in our workshops gets fitted to measure against the studio cyclorama.

The sculpting in the workshop

The two jungle trunks are sculpted from block expanded polystyrene, stiffened in fibreglass with glass mat, and finished with bark in faux lime stone: reliefs sculpted one by one, burnt sienna earth colours in multiple glazes. The trunks are bolted from the floor to the ceiling of the soundstage — this gives the portal the architectural depth that the camera reads across the width of the frame.

The monumental orange ring

The portal ring — three metres across — is built in two half-circles that close up in the studio. Internal structure in wood and metal, outer finish in modular polystyrene sections for the curvature. The orange paint is chosen to exist under the lights: fully saturated with no tonal modulation, so the directors can rely on the ring as a constant visual marker in every shot.

The polychrome gorillas

The two gorillas flanking the portal are sculpted in the round, born in clay, cast in fibreglass and finished polychrome by hand. Grey-black fur in short brushstrokes, lacquered eyes, white teeth in faux ceramic. They are the citation point for "Darwin" in the set — the declared evolutionary iconography on which the show builds its team showdowns.

~3 m

the diameter of the orange ring of the portal

2003

the edition in which the portal debuts and joins the format

20+ years

on air · the same silhouette reworked edition after edition

Atelier

The build site
inside the Canale 5 studio.

Cherry-pickers, scaffolding, jungle trunks bolted from floor to ceiling. Three days of assembly before the first episode.

Front view of the inside of the Genodrome portal during the build: twin white staircases mirrored on each side, jungle trunks sculpted on either side of the portal with green tropical leaves, white balustrades, technicians at work, scaffolding in the background — Front view of the portal, twin staircase

Side view of one of the Genodrome staircases: white polished metal spiral staircase climbing the flank of the portal, sculpted jungle tree trunk on the right with large tropical leaves, orange ring of the portal visible at the bottom right — Side spiral staircase, flank of the portal

Night build of the portal with an industrial yellow cherry-picker at the centre lifting a worker for high-level finishes: sculpted jungle trunks on both sides, sculpted gorilla on the right climbing the trunk, orange portal ring, lighting from a single lamp top-left — Cherry-picker for the high-level finishes

Interior view of the portal with a central cherry-picker for finishing work: orange portal ring closed around the scene, trunks and leaves on the sides, twin white staircase at the centre, black studio backdrop behind — The cherry-picker at the centre of the passage

Tech sheet

All production data

Type: Scenographic set for a television show · Canale 5 prime time
Show: Ciao Darwin · on air since 3 October 1998 · Genodrome portal from the 2003 edition, reworked ever since
Hosts: Paolo Bonolis with Luca Laurenti
Iconic piece built: The Genodrome portal — a large orange ring about three metres in diameter, crossed by the contestant in the passage between the two "worlds" of the show · flanked by a jungle tree trunk sculpted in the round with green tropical leaves · twin staircase mirrored on each side, climbing up and converging at the centre of the passage
Techniques: Hand-sculpted expanded polystyrene · reinforcing fibreglass · saturated polychrome finish for prime time · walkable architecture sized for the hosts
Our role: Building the Genodrome portal — the iconic piece you recognise at the opening of every episode of the show
Second life: Same portal silhouette reworked edition after edition · repainted, expanded, reconfigured · the piece is still on screen after twenty years

Other TV shows we have worked on

Chi ha incastrato Peter Pan — Bonolis' transformer robot
Grande Fratello VIP 3 — the prehistoric Cave at Cinecittà
Rock Politik — Celentano's LED Manhattan skyline
Braccio e la Mente — the RAI game show with the Red Toy Factory
Topo Gigio Show — the big-top village of Gigioland
Cristina Parodi Live — the LED biomorphic sculpture for LA7

Second life

Twenty years on air,
and still the same silhouette.

Few Italian prime-time sets have had the longevity of the Genodrome portal. From 2003 until today Ciao Darwin has aired with pauses but has always come back — the most recent edition was in 2023, with Bonolis and Laurenti still at the helm — and the portal is always there. Repainted, expanded, reconfigured, but the silhouette of the orange ring with the two trunks and the gorillas is recognisable from the first frame.

For us that means one precise thing: the portal has entered the visual vocabulary of popular Italian television. When a format lasts this long, the scenography stops being a set and becomes brand: like the arena of Tale e Quale or the layout of L'Eredità, it is the device you recognise even with the lights off.

The techniques used here — polystyrene + fibreglass saturated for prime time, polychrome gorillas of the Roman school, modular ring in two half-circles — have become part of our standard repertoire for TV. We find them in several variants across our other TV show sets, from Chi ha incastrato Peter Pan to GF VIP 3.