Nitto ATP Finals
For the 2024 Nitto ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Finals in Turin, we were invited to design an installation that transforms movement into experience. Inspired by cosmic expansion, light, and the energy of competition, Starburst reimagines the Teatro Ragazzi e Giovani’s atrium as something more than just an entrance—it’s a portal to another dimension where galaxies collide, stars take form, and the ordinary dissolves into something far bigger.
Brief
Since 2021, Turin has hosted the Nitto ATP Finals, bringing the world’s top players to the city. For the fourth year, the tournament’s Tennis Family House (TFH) took over Teatro Ragazzi e Giovani—a former 1930s electrical substation, now a theater production hub—turning it into an immersive hospitality space.
As part of METACOSMO, an exhibition curated by Giorgio Galotti and Claudia Pignatale exploring the connection between the cosmos and reality, we were asked to create a bold, site-specific installation that would do more than fill a space—it needed to shift perception, creating a setting that feels both vast and intimate, like stepping into something unknown but full of possibility.
Architecture & Design
Walking into Starburst feels like crossing a threshold. The design plays with scale, depth, and perspective, turning the theater’s atrium into a space that moves and transforms as you pass through it.
A Stargate Effect – Two rows of arches stretch toward a crescent yellow moon, glowing against deep monochrome blue.
A Shifting Atmosphere – The dark blue backdrop acts as a void, letting the suspended galaxies above reshape the space.
Theater Meets Architecture – We borrowed from stage design techniques, using light and spatial layering to create a dreamlike transition.
A Cosmic Palette – The contrast of deep blue and yellow creates an illusion of depth, motion, and expansion.
Innovation & Technique
Light as Architecture – A monochrome space punctuated by celestial elements creates depth and shifts in perception.
Suspended Forms – Hanging galaxies create a floating, dynamic perspective, immersing visitors in a star-filled void.
Architectural Theatrics – Like a set change in theater, this space isn’t static—it moves with you.
The Experience
Stepping into Starburst is stepping into a space in motion. The installation unfolds like a moment of transformation—where the familiar shifts, perspectives expand, and the ordinary dissolves into something far bigger.
Like sport at its highest level, it’s about pushing beyond limits, chasing what seems just out of reach, and turning ambition into action. A reminder that movement, precision, and vision are what propel us forward—on the court, in design, and beyond.