Milan Design Week 2019: Into The Future
One of the most important weeks of Milan is here: The Design Week! While Salone Mobile Milano - also known as Milan Furniture Fair- events typically piqué the interests of the sector’s operators, Fuorisalone events are off-site and open to the wider public. There will be numerous breath-taking exhibitions and installations scattered throughout Milan, but on a time constraint of only a week. Let’s take a look at three exhibitions, which will capture the highlights and the themes of this year’s Design Week.
1. Acqua, Leonardo Da Vinci’ Vision, by Marco Balich
This year hallmarks the 500th anniversary of Leonardo Da Vinci’s death. Various installations-such as De-segno and Leonardo in Greenhouse- are dedicated to the accomplishments of the great artist who helped Milan flourish in Renaissance. However, Acqua.Leonardo Da Vinci’sVision is undoubtedly the highlight of Fuorisalone. The Emmy winning creative director, Marco Balich, exhibits Milan’s Renaissance past and, more importantly, future of Milan that Da Vinci had envisioned. This installation celebrates Leonardo Da Vinci as a scientist and visionary. Balich constructed LED screen of future Milan at the end of large expanse of water in a former canal, Conca dell’ Incoronata. This venue holds significance as well because Leonardo Da Vinci is believed to have participated in the construction of the formal canal, especially the design of the golden door.
2. Conifera by COS
For those who deeply care for both aesthetics and environment, COS, Swedish fashion brand, presents Conifera. Trends in environmental movements have shifted from recycling to creating new circular materials. The architect, Mamou-Mani, constructed geometric 3-D printed mixture of bioplastic and wood brick in Palazzo Isimbard. The product of cutting-edge technology decorates the inside of the 16th century building. The contrast between the old and the new creates unbalanced aesthetics making this exhibition a site for ideal photo-ups. However, value of Conifera does not lie in the mere aesthetics. Its greater value lies in introducing the potential of bioplastic, which is biodegradable and renewable. This piece is an embodiment of modern environmental trends: advocating circular materials and using technology as means to enhance environment.
3. A Space for Being by Google
Technology seems to be a recurring theme in Design Week 2019. For A Space for Being, Google’s vice president of hardware design, Ivy Ross, and Reddymade Design Studio built nine rooms of different color, sound and scent, filled them with different furniture of the same line in Spazio Maiocchi. When visitors enter each room, high-tech wristbands collect physiological changes the visitors undergo. In collaboration with International Arts+ Mind Labs at Johns Hopkins, Google explores “neuraesthetics”- the study of how varying aesthetic experiences invoke different responses in brains- to find out how interior designs could contribute to providing better spaces for well-being and health. This experimental and interactive exhibition follows up last year’s trend of furniture that enhance well-being.
Milan Design Weeks 2019 is ongoing and available until the 14th. You still have today and the weekend to appreciate the aesthetics of these three exhibitions and have a preview of future Milan! For more details please check out: https://www.salonemilano.it/en