ANIMA ANIMALE is one of Andrea Branzi’s final projects, now brought to completion three years after his passing. The title stems from the shared root of the Italian words “anima” (soul) and “animale” (animal), introducing a reflection on the relationship between humans, nature, objects, and the symbolic dimension.

Architect, designer, artist, and theorist, Branzi shaped more than fifty years of Italian design culture, constantly bringing art, design, and architecture into dialogue. From the historic Animali domestici collection of 1985 to his later projects, the animal occupied a central place in his research, becoming a presence capable of restoring a more harmonious, emotional, and ancestral dimension to domestic and urban spaces.

In ANIMA ANIMALE, this research takes shape through jewellery, conceived by Branzi not simply as ornament, but as a symbolic and talismanic object capable of establishing a profound relationship between the body, nature, and imagination.

The collection originated from a dialogue between Andrea Branzi and Matteo Bonafede, master goldsmith and jewellery designer from Valenza, with whom the architect had previously collaborated. Conceived and discussed together before Branzi’s passing, the works were produced in 2026 by Bonafede based on the architect’s drawings and design instructions, combining traditional craftsmanship with experimentation.

The collection comprises 35 jewellery pieces, including necklaces, brooches, and earrings, some of which are produced as editions, bringing the total number of individual pieces to a larger number. Yellow gold, bronze, and brass give form to the animals drawn by Branzi, transforming them into small wearable presences suspended between the natural and the artificial, representation and symbol.

The opening of the exhibition also coincides with the major retrospective Andrea Branzi by Toyo Ito – Continuous Present at Triennale Milano, presented in partnership with Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. Through different perspectives and languages, the two projects testify to the complexity and enduring relevance of Branzi’s research.

With ANIMA ANIMALE, jewellery becomes a means of knowledge and a meeting point between matter, body, and thought. Branzi’s animals, transformed into wearable objects, reactivate a primordial relationship with nature and with that mysterious, deeply human dimension that has always accompanied the act of creation.