Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus, hid it inside a hollow reed, and crossed the boundary between gods and men to deliver it to humanity. In that moment, humankind claimed the sovereignty of light—the power to command nature and shape space.
Through the passage of millennia, that flame has never been extinguished. Invisible yet enduring, it has evolved along the veins of civilization—flame became illumination, illumination merged with design, and design began to shape daily life. In the name of “light,” it returns to our hands as a new language, connecting city to city, person to person, perception to consciousness.
In 2025, The GILE once again partners with Italy’s authoritative design magazine Luce e design to present the upgraded “Design Aesthetics Exhibition II” zone, curated by Jean-Jacques Lanzo. Following last year’s industry-highlighted theme, “East Meets West,” this year’s exhibition centers on the narrative of ““A Tale of Two Circles” weaving together Guangzhou and Milan through light installations, material interactions, and immersive experiences. It creates a dual dialogue bridging tradition and future, function and aesthetics.
Enlightening East and West
Guangzhou and Milan represent two distinct yet resonant spirits—one masters the precision of light as a source, the other captures its emotional resonance; one excels in constructing order, the other leans toward poetic expression. In this circular narrative, the two cities meet as mirror images of each other, presenting a multidimensional dialogue between tradition and future, function and aesthetics, city and culture.
“A Tale of Two Circles”is not a conventional exhibition zone, but a continuously evolving theatre of the spirit. Two circular spaces echo one another, forming a layered structure of openness and enclosure, immersion and interaction. Like the ancient bonfires and plazas of early city-states, they become spaces where people gather to converse, share stories, and spark inspiration.
The first circle symbolizes the “origin of design”—the birthplace of light. It evokes the dawn of civilization and humanity’s newfound power to harness illumination. Here, light is ignited, flows, and generates responses in both vision and thought, extending into the second circle—an open, fluid space interwoven with the exhibition’s pathways. One is inward and ordered; the other open and dynamic. At their intersection lies a space of infinite, undefined potential—where East and West merge, and new possibilities are born.
Light radiates outward from the central stage, slicing through the core circle and extending into the surrounding environment. The floor—laid with deep gray and vibrant yellow carpets—echoes the Promethean flame at its center, spreading in all directions with a sense of continuous vitality. Here, viewers are no longer mere spectators; they become participants, collaborators, creators, and storytellers. As Jean-Jacques Lanzo envisioned, “Let imagination be born here, where diverse and contrasting elements spark inspiration through collision.”
Light Beyond Visibility
expression, and emptiness to evoke inspiration. Drawing upon one of the oldest architectural elements—the barrel vault—he constructs domed, arched structures through off-axis rotation, generating a delicate tension of shadow and light, stillness and motion, gathering and dispersion.
Each vaulted arch leaves behind a breathable “shadowed corner” within the space, inviting the viewer not merely to see, but to feel the movement of light within darkness. This is not only about functionality—it is about how we perceive one another, how light fosters mutual understanding through sustained dialogue, endowing it with the warmth of civilization.
From Guangzhou to Milan, from myth to modernity, this cross-temporal "Tale of Two Cities" carries the ancient fire across millennia, arriving at this very moment—not merely to illuminate design and space, but to reignite our enduring faith in the essence of civilization. It is a resonant echo between East and West, where oriental subtlety meets Western thought, and where the light of culture flickers across time with quiet strength.
