Photos: Personal Archive
A whole week in which the city stops and breathes design. This is Milan Design Week! In yet another edition, now returning to the tradition of taking place in April, the event surprises in its three spaces: Salone del Mobile, Euroluce and FuoriSalone.
At the Salone del Mobile, located in the Fiera Milano exhibition center, you can find the latest from different brands and their indoor and outdoor products, as well as lighting and appliances. Fuorisalone, which takes place outside the salon as the name suggests, occupies different neighborhoods in Milan for exhibitions, installations and events parallel to the Salone del Mobile.
And a novelty in 2023: Euroluce. The space has a single level where solutions and designs dedicated to light, architecture, art and science are presented. The focus here is sustainability.
Those who follow me on Instagram know that I covered several super interesting brands and installations during all these days. Therefore, I decided to also bring this content to the Blog, and present here what I found most surprising, unusual and thought-provoking at the fair. Besides, of course, beautiful photos for you to feel the atmosphere of the biggest design event in the world.
University of Milan
At the University, Interni Magazine launches its Re-evolution event, in which several brands invite major design offices to sign their installations.
Many of the exhibits are interactive. In this sense, the Cabinet of Curiosities is entirely made of acrylic plywood and you “scale” its structure to be able to visualize the University from different angles. The Skyline by Jacopo Foggini, another construction also made of acrylic, surprises with its bright colors that reflect sunlight.
The “Macchina Impossibile”, an ingenious structure by Piero Lissoni with San Lorenzo Yacht, interprets the quest to work with neutral carbon and clean energy. It is worth checking!
Alcove Milan
Alcova is a project that walks around the city. Last year, it occupied an old military hospital, and by 2023, an abandoned slaughterhouse. The idea is to revitalize these spaces with a lot of art, bringing new designers to exhibit their pieces.
Among the highlights, an installation by Crafting Plastics drew attention. It is made with polymer pendants that change color according to the intensity of solar radiation that enters them, so we know whether or not we can go out in the sun and with adequate protection.
Designer Jonathan Bocca brought lamps made using the papier-mâché technique. The idea came about as a warning about the excessive use of the material, since Jonathan comes from one of the cities that produce the most in Europe, and that’s why he decided to use recycled paper in his compositions.
Maarten Baas e G-Star RAW
Among the unusual ones, this plane made with jeans positioned inside a church!
The project is by designer Maarten Baas and thought for G-Star RAW, a brand that works with jeans and sustainable solutions. Therefore, the exhibition focused on the theme “More or Less”, to rethink consumerism in the world and how it affects us.
The plane is made from recycled jeans, collected at the brand’s store, and a biodegradable material binds the fabric together. The church, however, lost its religious character years ago and belongs to the city of Milan, which eventually rents it out to house facilities like this one.
Lose
Gubi is a brand known for its reissue of 20th century furniture. The chosen space was Bagni Misteriosi, a cultural space that has large swimming pools built in 1930.
The location was chosen to present the brand’s novelties for the internal area and also for the external area. Part of the scenography was built with thick curtains that separate one environment from the other, in addition to the cabin aesthetic that I have seen a lot during Design Week.
Cassina
Here, a very unusual installation! Cassina showcases its most iconic designs inside the vault of a decommissioned bank.
The vault was opened for the first time to receive the exhibition, which also features original letters sent to renowned designers suggesting the re-edition of their designs by the brand.
The curatorship is by Patricia Urquiola and has very interesting pieces, including in its collection the Zig Tag chair designed in 1934 by Gerrit Rietveld. This design revolutionized the market by presenting a chair without back legs and yet incredibly firm.
And many other designers and their designs!
The variety of names is enormous, and I would like to invite you to follow my Instagram profile to check out all the highlights of the Milan Design Week.
Remembering that I already published a video in which I comment on the Week, with several practical tips that can help you better understand the event. Just click here to access the article and the video!