For Milan, the second weekend of June is also the last of the Design Weekof the 2022 edition of the Salone del Mobile and also of the Fuorisalone, the set of events connected to the event.
Perhaps never like this year, the event was an opportunity to underline the increasingly decisive role that technology has in all fields related to designat the designto furnishings and in general to our relationship with the concept of inhabit. If this is what you want to deepen, below are 5 installations we visited in Milan, in some way related to the Salone, which are worth seeing.
google maps: where the installations are located
3d art
Zara and the New York store window that is not in the New York store
by Emanuele Capone
A-maze Garden
It is reminiscent of the Italian gardens of the late Renaissance and is an art installation curated by the Lissoni studio: following a path of mirrored walls and framing the QR Codes, visitors can discover a selection of furnishing accessories and home accessories available on Amazon (project leader) and some of the more than 100,000 Climate Pledge Friendly certified products. From the e-commerce giant they explained to us that “this project represents a precious opportunity to make ours known commitment to sustainability and demonstrate that by purchasing more sustainable products it is really possible to contribute to preserving the environment ”. In addition, it is also very nice to visit, which is good.
Where can you see: courtyard of the University Pharmacy, via Festa del Perdono 7 (until 13 June)
Hypernova
Another garden, but with greater attention to modernity and technology: in the Superstudio Lounge area, the designer Sara Ricciardi has created a remarkable installation in which nature and technology, uniqueness and multiplicity coexist and in the end coexist, even if they seem apparently opposite. The experience is somehow replicated in the Roof area, whose set-up is curated by the ToiletPaper collective of Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari and recreates an urban garden with a strong visual impact.
Where can you see: Superstudio Più, via Tortona 27
Electrolux GRO
It is a cuisine that, in the intentions of the Swedish producer, should “encourage people to eat in a respectful way of health and the planet “. The name derives from grow (to sprout, in Italian) and everything is based on appliances connected to each other and to the Internet and equipped with functions designed to direct people towards the Planetary Health Diet developed by Lancet. From what has been explained to us, “the GRO kitchen and the development of its appliances” take advantage of some principles of artificial intelligence and they are “entirely based on data and behavioral studies”: in short, the company has examined the habits of “thousands of consumers”, with the intention of trying to correct the wrong ones in the food sector. Above all by pushing towards more plant-based diets and with less presence of animal-derived foods.
Where can you see: Electrolux stand (H07 / L14) in hall 13 of EuroCucina
Haier
Washing machines, refrigerators, ovens: all smart and hyper-connected, of course. Organized in a space of over 1000 square meters entitled Home Switch Homethat involves the brands Candy, Hoover and Haier. And for those looking for surprise and emotion, at the end there is an installation to be seen: inspired by the Infinity Mirror Rooms by Yayoi Kusama, it is made with thousands of synchronized lights and mirror walls. Very nice, but watch out for the spikes while shooting the videos for Instagram.
Where can you see: Superstudio Più, via Tortona 27
Augmented reality
The metaverse of the real world according to the creators of Pokemon Go
by Francesco Marino
The self-destructing NFT
NFTs aren’t dead, but they are definitely not doing as well as they were a year ago. This does not mean that digital art does not yet have something interesting to say, as demonstrated by the 2MuchTV experiment as part of the Meta Waste initiative, dedicated to reflecting on the effects of pollution in the metaverse: it was creato l’NFT selfdestruct0x000000000000000000000000000000000000dEaD, which hides a self-destruct feature that will gradually erase its content, eventually making it unusable and not viewable. From the visual point of view, whoever looks green at a pixel-art loop of which some parts are obscured at each cycle, just as if the pixels died and disappeared.
Where can you see: Rossana Orlandi Gallery, via Bandello 14