The Best of Milan Design Week 2022

Like many events this year, Salone del Mobile returned after a long, three-year break. The popular furniture fair and the design week, which is traditionally held in April were scheduled for later this year, taking place from the 7th-12th of June. Sharing the calendar with the upcoming Milan men’s fashion week, it’s apparent that Salone’s presence has added an extra buzz to the creative energy of the city this month, changing its rhythm as an influx of national and international guests flowed in. Visitors were greeted with a warm embrace of the Italian sun, the vibrancy maintained with a glass of Aperol spritz in the evenings, and after the absence of so many cultural events that define Milan in the past years, all its bustling chaos was welcomed at this year’s design week.

Now in its 60th edition, Salone has grown to become something more of a festival, covering all corners of the city and attracting international interest. It’s built its reputation as a platform for new talent, a cross-section for experimental relationships, sharing a common goal of pushing the boundaries of contemporary design. Each year, it features a list of exciting collaborators in art, fashion, design and architecture; a concoction of the very best in each creative sector that goes unrivalled in the world’s design events.

If art’s purpose is to inspire thought, design’s purpose is to propose a solution for it and naturally, at a time where there is an air of uncertainty about our future, the return of Salone del Mobile emphasised the positive impacts of good design and responded directly to these contemporary challenges. From the psychological to the practical; evolving design practice, experimental materials, technological developments, or simply, new perspectives, provided a stimulating exercise to reevaluate the interaction with our everyday surroundings.

TIMBERLAND x STEFANO BOERI INTERIORS ‘FLOATING FOREST’

Timberland and Stefano Boeri Interiors embodied this notion with the presentation of their new ‘Floating Forest’ installation. Resting peacefully along the river in Darsena, the experimental collaboration between the fashion brand and the renowned Italian architect Stefano Boeri brought together a conversation between psychology and sustainability in contemporary city living. The installation is inspired by Boeri’s famed ‘Vertical Forest’ project in Milan that introduced the concept of “urban forestry” as a solution to depollute cities, which has been adapted to cities around the world such as China, India, Switzerland, Albania, Egypt, Mexico.

The modular installation is dry assembled with sustainable materials, allowing flexibility in its construction and easy transportation. It’s also the result of three years of conceptualisation between Boeri and Timberland as it was first proposed for the 2019 design week, which was then postponed until this year. “Looking back now, I think it was a good thing because there was great experimental freedom at Timberland and it gave us the time to develop our concept further,” says Boeri.

Over 600 plants of more than 30 different species make the installation and walking through it, you realise the beauty of it lies in its simplicity. The scent of lavender is most noticeable as you enter the installation, and whilst making note of the immediate physical and mental release experienced, it makes one reflect on how instinctively unnatural our modern cityscapes have become. “For this experimental installation, we’re not using plants as decoration, but as a fundamental component. They clear the air, produce oxygen and more importantly, reduce heat. This is obviously the biggest advantage to the urban environment and the floating forest is a demonstration that it’s possible to implement these into our cities.” Boeri further adds, “after the last years we experienced, I think the psychological and emotional impact of greenery can’t be dismissed […] and there is an urgent need for conscious design and architecture. Of course, the floating forest isn’t the only answer, but one of the answers.”

And there is the practical side of things as he explains, “creating something alike is perfectly doable anywhere with water channels like Berlin or Paris and we often speak about the density in cities so  a floating space can afford more space for people where it’s needed.”

ALCOVA

Alcova is a platform highlighting independent design, founded by Joseph Grima, founder of Space Caviar and Valentina Ciuffi, founder of Studio Vedèt. The artistic platform curates exhibitions in various spaces across Milan, reactivating forgotten and abandoned locations as temporary exhibitions, installations and performance sites.

This year for Salone, Alcova curated an extensive international selection of emerging and established designers at Centro Ospedaliero Militare di Milano, an ex-Military hospital, which sits on the outskirts of the city centre. The venue is just as impressive as the curation, spanning over 20 hectares of indoor and outdoor space including 4 buildings named; Casa Delle Suore, Lavanderia, Tempio and open for the first time, E-Space, securing the bubbling scene well-hidden behind its military-guarded gates.

With the participating talents showcasing their latest experiments in technology, textiles, sustainable production and social practice in architecture, interior and urban design, it was interesting to note the interaction of the “new” and the unrenovated historic space that was still decorated with catholic symbols and imagery. Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis and OMA mesmerised the visitors at the entrance of Lavanderia light projected through 9 different types of onyx and similarly, every room across the 4 buildings was recreated in the context of the presenting studio which made the door-to-door visit a fresh experience and easily made Alcova the top choice for a mini-adventure outside of the usual design week hot spots.

DROPCITY

Back up in Central Milan, the latest in digital experimentation was exhibited at Dropcity. Founded by Andrea Caputo, Dropcity is a centre for architecture and design located inside the Magazzini Raccordati of Milan Central Station that covers 10,000 square metres, divided across 28 tunnels due to open publicly in 2024. The space will host exhibition galleries, production workshops, carpentry, robotics and advanced prototyping laboratories with the intent to support young professionals and promote research-based developments to alter existing ideas of urban space.

Creative studios, thinkers, authors and artists were invited to create a mockup of the space to “imagine what kind of cultural prototype the centre will embody” with the tunnels transforming into a performative and experimental playground filled with machinery, AR, sound, light and materials, giving us a glimpse into the possibilities of the future working space led by concepts from HPO in collaboration with Bill Kouligas of PAN, Studio Ossidiana, One Block Down, Ganko, Rashid Uri, Ekaterina Golovatyuk, co-founder of GRACE, Parasite 2.0 and including an exhibition on Ricardo Bofil curated by Apartamento Magazine, all on view until June 19.

SPAZIO MAIOCCHI

Nearby at Spazio Maiocchi, the gallery positioned itself as the intersection of art, fashion and design featuring multiple divided installations. Playing on the idea of volume, the sheer size of the three giant sculptural puppets of Carhartt WIP x Toogood’s “Re-Cut” installation was most striking, with each sculptural puppet wearing an oversized version of Carhartt WIP and Toogood’s capsule collection that sees designer Faye Toogood’s recutting Carhartt WIP’s classic styles such as the Michigan Jacket. “Carhartt WIP’s history of modifying historic workwear sits effortlessly with Toogood’s nod to trades and workwear, reimagined and sculpted with artistic freedom,” says Erica Toogood of Toogood Studio.

Formafantasma’s exhibition project “Cinema Tacchini” was on display alongside Tacchini’s re-edition of Mario Bellini’s modular sofa Le Mura sharing the large open space with StockX and Daniel Arsham‘s exhibition, “Art & Residence,” which comments on the merge between traditional design and hype culture, with design pieces no longer set by the bounds of traditional collectors and gallerists. Over to the next room, Rimowa’s touring exhibition, “As Seen By” in partnership with the art collective The Community was on view. The exhibition presented the iconic suitcase reimagined into new sculptural objects such as chairs, radio and wallet by a collection of artists that were provided parts to freely express their creative visions.

Outside in a smaller separated space, Braindead presented a remake of Tejo Remy’s Rag Chair (1993) with Amsterdam-based design studio Droog. The chair is made entirely of Braindead’s archive stock and the LA-based creative collective explained that the idea was born out of conversations on the negative impacts of the fashion industry, and how we can find new ways to recycle our existing materials. Finally, KALEIDOSCOPE magazine launched its new annual publication CAPSULE which investigates our relationship with desire and consumption through the lens of design.

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

A 360 immersive programme organised by Swedish non-profit project MISSCHIEF for womxn and non-binary artist initiatives took place at Fabbrica Bini, an ex-industrial building from the 1930s. The project gave a unique platform for feminist voices, encapsulating the punk spirit to critique stereotypes and femininity clichés through the views of artists and designers such as Anna Kraitz, Emma Marga Blanche, Maja Michaelsdotter, Kitty Schumacher, Anita Graffman, Farvash, Yngvild Sater, Nelcya Chamzadeh, Märta Mattsson, Ann-Sofie Back and Hanna Stansvik.

At Spazio RT, Call Me by Your Name (2017) director Luca Guadagnino made his public debut of his interior design studio, Studio Luca Guadagnino (SLG). The installation ‘Accanto al fuoco/By the fire’ recreated the space into a living room inspired by the mid-century Italian architect Carlo Scarpa that included SLG-designed coffee tables, fireplaces, and wood panelling as well as designs by FontanaArte, DeltaLight and Francesco Simeti. There’s no denying Guadagnino’s film background, the thoughtfully positioned furniture and lighting naturally guiding the viewer through the room in a cinematic experience.

On the note of cinematic, designer Phillip Starck‘s reinterpretation of Dior’s Medallion Chair was presented in a sensory experience, leading groups through a dark room, unveiling the chairs with a play with light and musical composition created for Dior by Soundwalk Collective (Stephan Crasneanscki, Simone Merli), inspired by Erik Satie’s works.

Louis Vuitton celebrated 10 years of Objets Nomades collection at the redesigned Garage Traversi, showcasing the works of 14 designers: Patricia Urquiola, India Mahdavi, Fernando and Humberto Campana, Atelier Oï, Raw Edges, Atelier Biagetti, Zanellato/ Bortotto, Andrew Kudless, Tokujin Yoshioka, Frank Chou, Nendo, Damien LangloisMeurinne, Barber & Osgerby, and Marcel Wanders Studio, from over the past decade. 5 new objects were revealed during Salone del Mobile and 6 of the pieces made their European debut.

Fendi constructed a temporary Fendi Bar, built with natural wood that featured laser patterned interlacing O’Lock logo and opened doors to a 700m2 upper floor revealing a moody ambience, decorated in modern Italian furniture elegantly designed by Fendi Casa. Ferragamo’s shop windows became stages for Acerbis x Salvatore Ferragamo that drew from each house’s archive collection to create new compositions such as Acerbis’ Med Chair in the multicolour characteristics of Judy Garland’s Rainbow wedge that was created by Ferragamo back in 1938.

Prada opted for a programme ‘Prada Frames’ of panel discussions together with FormaFantasma, that brought together scholars and professionals to examine the relationship between environment and culture and the role of design and science as agents of change.

Virgil Abloh x Alessi took a new spin on cutlery inspired by the imagination of the first tools used by humans to cut and eat, in a juxtaposition of utilitarian and fine dining, encouraging the reassessment of the everyday ritual of eating.

Modes Assembly x Gonzalez Haase presented a hybrid outdoor space at Piazza Risorgimento that features a dance floor, bar, and seating area to serve as a place of relaxation and regrouping during the bustle of the design week. Gonzalez Haase adds that the space is to reevaluate our understanding of ‘transit’ in a society that’s trained to rush from one place to another.