Backgammon Beauty is dedicated
to Raimondo,
my grandfather
He taught me that creativity and courage
make life exciting.
And last but not least…
He taught me to play Backgammon.
Valeria Molinari (Milan, 1994) is an architect and artist. Since 2022, she has been working on Backgammon Beauty, a project positioned at the intersection of art and play. Her work blends architecture, design, and artistic experimentation.
After completing her classical high school education in Milan, Valeria graduated in 2020 from the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, studying under Pritzker Prize winners Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.
In 2024, her project received funding approval from the European Union’s Next Generation EU program.
After spending lots of time abroad in the past few years…
in New Zealand for 6 months in (2010),
in Japan for 9 months (2014),
in Berlin for 1 year during my internship at Kéré Architecture (2017),
in Ciudad Abierta with EPFL, Chile (2018)
in Lausanne for 1 year during the Erasmus at the École Polytecnique Fédérale de Lausanne (2018).
The extraordinary circumstances of the 2021 lockdown
allowed the merging of passions,
the passion for playing,
the passion for art,
the passion for painting.
During the lockdown,
I was in Venice,
I had forgotten my backgammon board in Milan,
I missed playing backgammon,
so I decided to draw and paint my own.
IMPRINTS FROM THE WORLD
The power of nature.Where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean.Cape Reinga, New Zealand.
Dreaming barefoot. Bay of Island, New Zealand. She feels the power of nature and an attraction for the wild.
An Ethereal atmosphere. Osaka, Japan
She tends to have the Japanese attitude: mild manners, observing and try to get the non-verbal. The Japanese call it: read the air.
CHILE
She discovered the charm and the satisfaction of working with her hands.
In Berlin during the design process of the Serpentine Pavillon, 2017. She experienced for the first time, all the all the phases of the project, from the idea to the construction and the great results of team working.
Inauguration of the Serpentine Pavillon in London, the design team had to slide down.
VALERIA’S MENTORS
YVONNE FARREL AND SHELLEY MC NAMARA
Grafton Architects
Pritzker Prize 2020
«…Architects have the task to imagine alternative worlds…
Imagination leads to optimism; architects have to be optimistic».
Extract of the interview with Shelley Mc Namara for my thesis essay «Women, Meaning, Gravity».
FRANCIS KÉRÉ
Kéré Architecture
Pritzker Prize 2022
«..I am hoping
to change the paradigm.
Push people
to dream and undergo risk…».
During the design process of the Serpentine Pavillon in London, Hyde Park, 2017.