Milan Design Week 2025: Discover the Latest Trends from Fuorisalone to Salone del Mobile

Milan Design Week 2025: Discover the Latest Trends from Fuorisalone to Salone del Mobile

From April 7 to 13, the Milan Design Week 2025 transformed the city into an open laboratory, where architecture, art, and design engaged in dialogue across historic palaces and industrial spaces.

We explored some of the most remarkable installations from Fuorisalone 2025, featuring visionary concepts, innovative materials, and spectacular set designs. At the Salone del Mobile in Rho Fiera, this year dedicated to Euroluce, we discovered a wide range of products interpreting light as a physical element capable of shaping space.

Here is our selection of must-see projects from Milan Design Week 2025

Louis Vuitton – Objets Nomades at Palazzo Serbelloni

At Milan Design Week 2025, Louis Vuitton once again captivates audiences with a collection that blends art, design, and experimentation. The exhibition at Palazzo Serbelloni explores the Home Collection through five thematic chapters — Objets Nomades, Signature, Play, Decoration, and Art de la Table — each interpreted by internationally renowned designers and architects. The pieces on display stand out for their formal elegance, refined use of color, and meticulous attention to detail.

Among the most iconic creations are the High Tea Trunk, a storage piece with retro flair, and a playful take on design through foosball tables and pinball machines — where precious materials and soft hues elevate the game into a true work of art.

The exhibition path also includes a tribute to Fortunato Depero, featuring textile objects inspired by his archive, and concludes with an immersion into Brazilian culture. Four suspended seats evoke mythological Amazonian creatures, turning materials and colors into a poetic, dreamlike narrative.

This exhibition confirms the brand’s ability to explore new frontiers of living, where each piece is both functional furniture and a unique story waiting to be told.

In the courtyard, a tribute to Charlotte Perriand recreates a living space with minimalist, functional furnishings in chromed steel and textile inserts. These fabrics echo Charlotte’s nature-inspired graphics, with a special focus on alpine environments.

Milan Design Week 2025 Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades 05
Milan Design Week 2025 Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades 01
Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades 02
Milan Design Week 2025 Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades 03
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Milan Design Week 2025 Louis Vuitton Fortunato Depero 01

Elle Decor – ALCHEMICA at Palazzo Bovara

Elle Decor presents ALCHEMICA, a theatrical and immersive project exploring the theme of contemporary living, staged within the elegant setting of Palazzo Bovara during Milan Design Week 2025. The rooms unfold like scenes in a play, creating a sensory journey that invites reflection on the evolving identity of domestic spaces.

The experience begins in the vestibule, where modules in vegan leather cover dark, textured walls, leading into a dramatic gallery lit by theatrical lighting and featuring faux fur-covered seating. The transition becomes increasingly dreamlike with a red corridor illuminated by ceiling neon lights and CC-Tapis’s iconic arrow carpet.

At the heart of the exhibition, the symbolic figure of the Philosopher’s Stone guides the narrative, weaving together mythological references and material transformations. Each space represents a stage in the alchemical process: from the Nigredo kitchen, defined by sculptural black stone and onyx volumes, to the ochre-toned bathroom, where glazed lava stone surfaces conceal cutting-edge integrated technology.

The final phase of the transformation is embodied in the suspended, light-filled relaxation area, culminating in an enchanted garden that concludes the immersive experience.

With ALCHEMICA, Elle Decor offers a vision of living that transcends pure functionality — a sensory, almost spiritual narrative where light, material, and symbolism interact in perfect harmony.

Milan Design Week 2025 Elle Decor Alchemica 01
Elle Decor Alchemica 02
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Elle Decor Alchemica 04
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Milan Design Week 2025 Elle Decor Alchemica 09

Marie Claire maison – La casa dell’architetto at GAM

Within the historic halls of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Marie Claire Maison presents an intimate and contemporary interpretation of living for Milan Design Week 2025. La casa dell’architetto unfolds across four rooms designed to center the individual and their well-being, through sensory stimulation and reflections on everyday gestures.

The entrance, bathed in light and draped in yellow fabrics, welcomes visitors into a warm and enveloping atmosphere. Next is the Tinder Room, a reimagined bedroom concept: two single beds connected by a symbolic thread of lower fringes express a new way of sharing space, while honoring the quality of individual rest. Green tones and an undergrowth-inspired setting create a calm oasis and a connection with nature.

The bathroom becomes a space of regeneration: mirrored walls and soft pink hues shape an immersive environment where self-care is translated into architecture. The experience concludes in a dedicated relaxation area — a space for pause and introspection, even at the height of the busiest week in Milan’s design calendar.

A home that welcomes and protects, where architecture becomes a tool to enhance the quality of everyday life.

Milan Design Week 2025 Marie Claire casa architetto 01
Marie Claire casa architetto 02
Milan Design Week 2025 Marie Claire casa architetto 03

EDRA at Palazzo Durini

The Edra exhibition at Palazzo Durini captivates with its sparkling elegance, reinterpreting the brand’s traditional models through the use of fabrics inspired by the natural world. Stones, gems, and minerals such as amazonite, white quartz, and onyx transform into precious coverings for upholstery, creating a veritable Milky Way of vibrant colors that capture the light. Silver, gold, and light gold give the furniture an intrinsic luminosity, with reflective effects that make them almost luminous sculptures.

The outdoor space also takes center stage, with fabrics that evoke nature, perfectly complementing the greenery of the climbing plants decorating the portico of Palazzo Durini. The contrast between the natural tones of the upholstery and the surrounding environment generates a visual harmony that highlights the organic and sophisticated beauty of the collection.

In summary, the Edra exhibition represents a fusion of aesthetic research and natural elegance, turning furniture into works of art that enchant with their beauty and the quality of the materials used.

Milan Design Week Edra Palazzo Durini 03
Edra Palazzo Durini 04
Milan Design Week Edra Palazzo Durini 05
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Edra Palazzo Durini 01
Edra Palazzo Durini 02

STAGING MODERNITY – Cassina, Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber

With Staging Modernity, Cassina celebrates the 60th anniversary of its iconic collections by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand, offering an immersive experience during Milan Design Week 2025 that embraces all forms of art. This tribute invites reflection on the dualism between modernism and contemporary design, and the contrast between artifice and nature. The theatrical performance, conceived by Formafantasma and directed by Fabio Cherstich, takes place in the evocative setting of the Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber, blending music, texts, and reflections by philosopher Emanuele Coccia, architect and curator Andrés Jaque, and artist Feifei Zhou.

At the heart of this exploration are not only the actors but also the Cassina furniture itself. The revolutionary decision to replace wooden frames with tubular metal in the past becomes part of a deeper analysis of living spaces and the dialogue between the industrial and the natural. The result is a fragmented, dynamic scene where the stage space extends between the auditorium and elevated balconies, with actors sharing the stage with animals and the iconic Cassina seating.

Hermès at La Pelota

For Milan Design Week 2025, Hermès presents a bright, minimalist environment curated by Charlotte Macaux Perelman and Alexis Fabry. The simple, squared geometries, covered in white plaster-effect fabric, seem to float above the white floor, with vivid lights gently fading into infinity.

In this suspended atmosphere, pieces from the Hermès Home collection stand out as isolated points of color. Special attention is given to artisanal craftsmanship, with a preference for transparency. Among the highlights is the Pivot side table by Tomás Alonso, crafted from curved Japanese cedar, seemingly floating in a circular and translational motion, with a colored glass base that plays with planes and interlocks.

The vases and glasses from the collection, combining the traditional glass-making technique with stitched leather, also stand out for their artisanal precision.

Hermes La Pelota 01
Hermes La Pelota 02
Milan Design Week 2025 Hermes La Pelota 07
Hermes La Pelota 08
Milan Design Week 2025 Hermes La Pelota 09
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Milan Design Week 2025 Hermes La Pelota 06

La prima notte di quiete, Dimorestudio x Loro Piana at Cortile della Seta

La prima notte di quiete is an immersive experience that begins in the foyer of a vintage cinema, where the muffled atmosphere invites silence and creates a respectful detachment from the outside world. The performance unfolds in a darkened space, gradually revealed by a theatrical dance of lights that guide the visitor through rooms designed to awaken the sense of touch.

Loro Piana Interiors textiles are the undisputed protagonists, with luxurious materials such as Altai wool and cashmere fabric, cotton velvet, and mohair defining each setting. The night zone—featuring a bathroom, dressing room, and bedroom—is followed by a reverse journey that explores the living room, dining area, and finally the entrance.

The installation includes standout pieces like the Snooker sofa in cashmere, the Quarona coffee table in walnut burl, and the Valsesia dining table paired with Sciura chairs in undyed cashmere. Attention to detail, from brass inlays to the refined choice of materials, shapes the identity of each element.

La prima notte di quiete is more than a design exhibit—it’s a sensorial journey that must be experienced to be fully understood. Undoubtedly, it stands out as one of the key installations of Milan Design Week 2025.

Milan Design Week 2025 Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 04
Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 05
Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 06
Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 03
Milan Design Week 2025 Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 01
Milan Design Week 2025 Dimorestudio Loro Piana Interiors la prima notte di quiete 02

Bamboo Encounters, Gucci at Chiostri di San Simpliciano

Gucci celebrates bamboo at Milan Design Week 2025, paying homage to its enduring connection with the Maison and its “timeless legacy.” The installation reinterprets this material through the hands of artists and designers, creating a series of works that convey lightness, elegance, and savoir-faire. The installation comes to life through the wind, which gently moves the tails of kites and interacts with the bamboo canes, animating the PASSAVENTO screen and fragmenting the stream of water in the sculpture 1802251226.

Bamboo—already iconic in the curved handles of the Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag—is reimagined through seven contemporary works. Scaffolding by Laurids Gallée explores the duality between the material’s lightness and strength, while Hybrid Exhalations by Dima Srouji combines bamboo with hand-blown Palestinian glass, creating a delicate yet profound encounter. Engraved by Sisan Lee reflects on the Korean aesthetic of subtraction, while bamboo assemblage no.1 connects the natural essence of bamboo with the industrial era, creating a dialogue between past and present.

Milan Design Week 2025 Gucci Bamboo Encounters 01
Gucci Bamboo Encounters 02
Gucci Bamboo Encounters 03
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Milan Design Week 2025 Gucci Bamboo Encounters 04

Frozen, Tokujin Yoshioka x Grand Seiko at Palazzo Landriani

Frozen is a poetic, multisensory installation that celebrates nature and time—two deeply intertwined elements. Conceived by Tokujin Yoshioka, a Japanese artist known for blending art, design, and the natural world, the work aligns seamlessly with the aesthetic and values of Grand Seiko, a brand synonymous with precision and refinement.

At the heart of the installation is the Acqua Chair, a continuously transforming seat that changes its appearance throughout the day, responding to light, wind, and nature itself. Made entirely of ice, each of the eight chairs becomes a unique sculpture shaped by natural forces—melted by the sun and carved by the breeze—highlighting nature in its most raw and authentic form.

Inside the adjoining room, the meticulous attention to detail inherent in Japanese culture is showcased through a selection of Grand Seiko timepieces, crafted by takumi—master artisans whose work embodies the timeless bond between craftsmanship and the passing of time.

Milan Design Week 2025 Tokujin Yoshioka Gran Seiko Frozen 01
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LOEWE Teapot at Palazzo Citterio

For Milan Design Week 2025, Palazzo Citterio hosts a refined passing of the torch between two fashion giants: from Dior to LOEWE. The new protagonist reimagines the tea ceremony as a creative ritual with the project LOEWE Teapot, featuring the work of 25 international artists, designers, and architects.

At the heart of the exhibition is the teapot, transformed through unexpected forms and traditional materials such as porcelain and stoneware. Each piece on display is the result of both formal and conceptual exploration—teapots are shaped, reinterpreted, and decorated to become true functional sculptures.

More than a style exercise, the exhibition is a reflection on ergonomics, craftsmanship, and material experimentation. Everything is displayed on a long, minimalist white table that runs through the main hall, providing a stark, clean stage to highlight each creation to its fullest.

Milan Design Week 2025 Loewe Teapots 01
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HYPER PORTAL, Michela Picchi x Glo For Art at Palazzo Moscova 18

Color takes center stage in a fluid, dynamic, and ever-changing form in the immersive installation by Michela Picchi for Glo For Art at Milan Design Week 2025. This is an installation that actively engages the audience—the artwork itself is born from the viewer’s interaction. A constantly evolving flow of color transforms at the user’s touch.

The theme of connected worlds, shared by many installations in the Brera Design District, is here interpreted through a portal, whose access creates a bridge to the digital realm. By becoming a co-creator of the work, the viewer establishes a bond with the virtual space, modifying and shaping it to their own desire.

Milan Design Week 2025 Michela Picchi Glo For Art Hyper Portal 01
Milan Design Week 2025 Michela Picchi Glo For Art Hyper Portal 02
Michela Picchi Glo For Art Hyper Portal 03

Light as Matter at the Salone del Mobile, Fiera Milano Rho

Milan Design Week 2025 isn’t just Fuorisalone — it’s also the Salone del Mobile in Rho Fiera, in a year entirely dedicated to light! So, what did it gift us?

Hinpan is the sound-absorbing solution designed by Mandalaki Studio for Luceplan. A soft, cloud-like form that feels light and enveloping, it integrates a diffuser that distributes light evenly — making it perfect both as a spotlight above a dining table and as ambient lighting for an entire room.

Davide Groppi brings a playful, poetic take on lighting. With RACE OF LIGHT, he invites us to return to a (mindful) childhood. It’s a racetrack for toy cars — but also a modular, electrified rail that unlocks creative freedom. The cars are colorful light sources, magnetically fixed and ready at the starting line for their brightest race yet.
Groppi also reimagines MAGIA with a new suspended version: a lamp where light and transparency merge. The light source is hidden behind a convex lens that creates an optical illusion, leaving behind only its luminous trail — a concept meant to intrigue and delight.

At the Foscarini booth, Ferruccio Laviani curates a luminous narrative. Here, Francesca Lanzavecchia creates Tilia, a chandelier that plays with mathematical and physical principles observed in nature, such as the Fibonacci sequence and fractal structures. The result is a poetic yet precise object. The use of satin opaline borosilicate glass diffusers ensures a soft and diffuse light despite their compact form, while the ramified structure subtly nods to organic forms.

Luce5 unveils HYLEtech, a highly refined integrated lighting system derived from research into recycled aluminum. This ultra-thin profile (just 10mm wide) emits light without exposing the light source, showcasing not only exceptional design and technical prowess but also a firm commitment to sustainability.

Lucaplan Hinpan 01
Lucaplan Hinpan 02
Davide Groppi Race of Light
Foscarini Tilia
Luce5 HYLETech

Bye bye Milan Design Week 2025

Milan Design Week 2025 revealed an increasingly emotional, intimate, and conscious way of living. At the heart of it all, not just the object — but the atmosphere it can create. Materials become a space for experimentation, light takes on a physical presence, and color becomes a vehicle for emotion.

In this weaving of aesthetics and storytelling, each installation offers a different way to interpret the present and imagine the future.

As the spotlight dims on this year’s edition, we’re already looking ahead to the next — set to illuminate Milan once again from April 21 to 26, 2026.
Until next year!

In the meantime, why not take a journey through the recent history of Milan Design Week — exploring both Fuorisalone and Salone del Mobile from the 2024, 2023, and 2022 editions?

Design Week 2024

Design Week 2024

The Design Week of this year, just concluded, left us with eyes full of wonder and inspiration, eager to share with you all that we have discovered. In this article, we will try to recount our experiences both from the Salone and the Fuorisalone, although the crowd that filled the stands and the streets of Milan prevented us from seeing everything we would have liked.

This year’s Design week was a real magnet for designers, architects, and design enthusiasts from around the world. Every corner of Milan exuded a fascinating mix of cultures, charm, and originality, making the experience even more engaging. The fair at Rho managed to gather in its countless pavilions the production of Italian and foreign design. This year, unfortunately, the luxury sector was absent, but EuroCucina and the Salone del Bagno shone in the forefront.

As in the past editions of 2023 and Design Week 2022, the leitmotif of the event was sustainability, technological innovation, and functionality, themes that also found resonance in the new approach to digital design. Furthermore, the important role of circular economy, reuse, and sustainability of processes and materials was emphasized, underlining the importance of conscious practices that promote efficient use of resources and minimize environmental impact.

Orac materials

Clever Lamps by iGuzzini and materials by Orac

BATHROOM

The bathroom appears in a never-before-seen guise: ceramic, traditionally candid and discreet, has transformed into a palette of vibrant colors, embracing pastel shades like delicate pink and refined pearl gray, but also bold colors like seductive bordeaux. The washbasins, true design jewels, oscillate between circular and ovalized shapes for countertop models, while those recessed maintain their elegant rectangular geometry, offering a variety of options. Materials such as fragranite and transparent crystal emerge as undisputed protagonists of the contemporary bathroom, adding transparencies and chromatic plays that confer modernity to the spaces. The plumbing stands out for a variety of finishes and colors, with a decrease in stainless steel in favor of bronze coatings, pale gold, and rose gold. But the real revolution occurs in the sanitary ware, which embraces artificial intelligence and home automation with innovative solutions. Companies like Rocha present automated models capable of anticipating our every need, from the autonomous opening of the lid to the cleaning of the bowl, offering an unprecedented experience of comfort and practicality inspired by Japanese culture. The simplicity of old-fashioned sanitary ware thus transforms into a sophisticated fusion of design and technology, reflecting the evolution of needs and desires.

boredeaux  washbasin
stand alone  washbasin
intelligent wc

Washbasin Arbi Bathroom, stand alone Washbasin Sanycces e Intelligent Wc by Kolher

 washbasin terrazzo
tap finishes
 radiators Tubes

Washbasin tops in terrazzo, new finishes of taps and vertical furnishing radiators Tubes

KITCHEN

 

In the kitchen, island and peninsula continue to reign supreme in our favorite environment, the one that indulges our palate and allows us to relax while cooking. More and more space is dedicated to storing utensils, which are proudly displayed or discreetly hidden behind elegant glass doors, revealing both their contents and the intricate details of the kitchen.

modulnova
kitchen shelves displayed
modulnova

Once again, the enthusiasm for terrazzo finishing is palpable this year, with its rich range of earthy tones captivating the senses. However, we still encounter resistance in convincing clients to fully embrace it. Hopefully, it will finally establish itself in the collective imagination.

Kitchen terrazzo rho
terrazzo finish

Solid top or HPL countertops, adorned in uniform hues, and marble, whether natural or reproduced on ceramic surfaces, remain steadfast choices. Additionally, kitchen spaces are enriched with elegant metallic finishes or claddings in satin-finished iron or steel, aimed at infusing the kitchen with subtle metallic reflections.

kitchen metallic finish
interior of metallic finish kitchen

For those nostalgic for the ’80s, the comeback of bullnose kitchen countertops, with pronounced edges, is a joy like no other. Even the snack counter embraces softly, with few linear surfaces and many with rounded forms, enveloping the kitchen with gentleness and harmony. Dining tables follow this trend, with few sharp-cornered examples and many gradually rounding off to become almost oval, making room for round tables, true protagonists of the kitchen space.

calligaris table
rho kitchen rounded
bullnose
kitchen details
wall units glass

Thus, we witness a vintage revival in the kitchen, juxtaposed with increasingly advanced technology, as exemplified by TFK – Technology for Kitchen. In household appliances, new features emerge, with vibrant touchscreen displays allowing us to entrust the oven with selecting the optimal cooking settings for our dishes, all while it cleans itself with remarkable efficiency, as seen in the brand-new Bosch oven. The trending finish for appliances proves to be black stainless steel, a matte anthracite shade so deep it verges on black.

 home appliances
black stainless steel

HOME ENVIRONMENT

 

Exploring the world of home furnishings, we encounter a wide range of intriguing options. Sofas, the true protagonists of living spaces, appear increasingly imposing and enveloping, with circular shapes that embrace the surrounding environment, delicately hovering just above the floor without revealing a hint of legs. The bouclé cream upholstery, despite requiring some care in cleaning, remains a beloved choice for its softness to the touch and elegant appearance.

Minotti
Minotti

Living Room by Minotti

Hommes
Hommes

installation Hommés at Casa del Manzoni

As for materials, wood in its natural tones and reeded wood maintain their prominent role, both in their raw and varnished form. Finishes diverge from stainless steel, opting for softer and more vintage tones like bronze and pale gold, imparting spaces with a touch of refined elegance.

Garofoli Group
reeded wood

Living Room by Garofoli Gruop e reeded wood detail

De Castelli
De Castelli
De Castelli

Metallic finishes by DeCastelli

The current trend increasingly favors exposed elements over those hidden behind doors, with symmetrical bookcases alternating with metallic supports and wooden backings.

The motto of modern homes, especially for those who inhabit them, is order. Orderliness is sought in open bookshelves and increasingly transparent wardrobes with fewer usable shelves.

However, it should be noted that this aesthetic pursuit may sometimes compromise the actual practicality of spaces. Current trends lean towards larger, freer, and lighter homes, which can detract from actual living volumes, inversely proportional to the prevailing trends.

Moooi

Moreover, bold, vibrant colors, along with enveloping textures, transform walls and furniture into true works of art, with daring graphics that stimulate the mind while evoking a sense of dream and wonder.

Pedrali
Driade

Sofa by Pedrali e cabinet by Driade

Magis
Magis

Stand di Magis

Moooi
Moooi
Moooi

Wallpaper and furnitures by Moooi at Salone dei Tessuti

FASHION

 

Fashion is increasingly merging with the world of interior design, creating a unique blend of personal style and home environment. The influence of colors and materials worn is reflected in furnishings, fostering a harmonious synergy between fashion and design. Renowned brands like Hermès and Loewe utilize leather not only for bags and accessories but also for lamps and magazine racks, seamlessly blending fashion and home decor into a singular expression of style. Additionally, raw and natural materials such as bricks, stones, and wood harmoniously coexist with fabric textures and colors. The concept of “vintage” intertwines with the contemporary, creating an intriguing ambiguity between what is past and what is current. Fashion knows no age.

Hermes
Hermes
Loewe
Loewe

Objects by Hermès – Lamps in leather and paper by Loewe

LUXURY

 

The concept of luxury in interior design has evolved to encompass not only elegance and opulence but also a relentless pursuit of exquisite materials and unique craftsmanship. Even though luxury products may originate from industrial processes, they must still embody a spirit and execution of artisanal craftsmanship. Every detail matters, down to the hinge of a wardrobe, which must be custom-made. The more challenging the transformation of materials into forms, the more excellent the result, and the more luxurious the object becomes.

The brands that consistently meet these expectations are the major automotive-associated houses. In Bentley and Bugatti, a synesthetic relationship is formed between the vehicle and the furnishings, creating an almost indissoluble and recognizable bond between the two. The clean lines and bold curves seen in automotive design are translated into furniture, with leather inserts found in both cars and desks, and fluid surfaces echoing the natural world.

 

Bentley Bugatti
Bentley
Bentley
details Bentley
Bugatti
Bugatti
Bugatti library

THE HOUSE BY ELLE DECOR – MATERIAL HOME

 

Exploring the home according to Elle Decor is a sensory journey through seven distinct environments that reflect our vision of domestic life. Among the standout materials, we find cement, lime, and terrazzo, derived from the mixing, cooking, and recomposition of powders, seamlessly blending with metals, woods, and leather. This creates a play of reflections and material illusions that capture the gaze and stimulate the senses. The colors, initially soft and muted, intensify as we move through the different rooms, giving rise to a crescendo of visual emotions.

 

materials elle decor
kitchen elle decor

Within these spaces enveloped by light and shadow, we find iconic design pieces that lend an aura of elegance and sophistication to every area. Light itself becomes a key element, enveloping and delineating the furnishings, giving them dimensionality and depth. The surfaces, transforming, adapt to the surrounding environments, becoming soft and enveloping in the bedrooms, while wall coverings create cozy and relaxing atmospheres.

surfaces
curved surfaces

Finally, a nod to our connection with nature, with walls clad in materials such as hemp, ash, and cotton canvas, prompting us to reflect on the sustainability of resources and the future of construction, inviting us to create spaces that harmonize with the surrounding environment.

Elle Decor
Elle Decor

The restaurant area, a creation by Elisa Ossino, stands out for its creative use of geometries and the thicknesses of hand-glazed lava stone. The walls are adorned with decorated terracotta paneling adorned with circles, harmoniously interacting with a diamond-patterned floor. Refined, tactile fabrics with a suggestive painterly effect are used for perimeter draperies and as upholstery for sofas, poufs, and armchairs. The tableware also stands out for its mix of materials, while the lamps precisely illuminate tables and seats.

 

Restaurant elle decor

PALAZZO LITTA AND STATALE

 

Palazzo Litta stands tall as an embodiment of dreams, where dreamlike installations and artistic performances harmoniously blend with design works, transforming this excellent location into a journey through aesthetics and innovation. Its majestic Baroque structure, imposing and captivating, surprises and enchants at first sight, welcoming visitors into a world of wonders. At the entrance, one finds oneself enveloped by a light installation, “Extraordinary,” which evokes the gracefulness of clouds, conveying sensations of air and warmth with suggestive power. In one of the rooms, the gaze is captured by the iconic mouth-shaped sofa, a lively and dynamic work conceived by Gufram and MotionItalia, which seems to come to life and smile like a real mouth. In the subsequent rooms, projects unfold around three fundamental pillars: aesthetics, functionality, and sustainability.

 

Palazzo Litta
Bocca Sofa
Palazzo Litta
interiors palazzo Litta

In the vast spaces of the Università Statale, works by various designers alternate in an artistic and conceptual play, ranging from the luminous spheres by Cyril Lancelin to the chandelier created by Faggini. A particularly evocative installation is “The Amazing Walk,” conceived by MAD Architects studio, which transports the visitor into a world of suggestions, with a mountain reflecting on a water mirror, traversing a suspended path in the void, a metaphorical symbol of journey and exploration of deeper artistic dimensions.

Amazing Walk Statale

CONCLUSIONS ON THE DESIGN WEEK

 

We declare the death of white. No longer its pristine brilliance on countertops, in cabinets, nor even in bathrooms. As a white enthusiast myself, I admit it was a blow to the heart, but I will strive to broaden my perspective and imagine a new universe without white, not even on the walls. Natural colors, like rope or brick, are emerging as the new pillars of contemporary aesthetics, becoming a canvas on which to paint our creativity.
Wood continues to dictate the rules, confirming its eternal dominance in the realm of furniture and design.
We conclude with this reflection: the trend of recent years is moving towards an increasingly green future, with a growing focus on sustainability as the cornerstone of the creative and design process. This will be our guide and our responsibility towards the future.

SALONE DEL MOBILE 2022

SALONE DEL MOBILE 2022

SALONE DEL MOBILE 2022

We left last September full of expectations towards the Salone del Mobile 2022 and, after visiting it, we can say that it has amply satisfied them. The central themes of this edition were sustainability and ecological transition, it was interesting to discover how the world of serial production approached them.

INTRODUCTION

If last year Milan was ready to restart and to repopulate itself, in the latest weeks we have witnessed a real migration towards the pole of Italian Design. We were able to ascertain that Milan has not only flourished again and the machine of the Salone del Mobile has begun to march at full speed but the demand, which had remained silent in the last years of restrictions, has turned out to be hungry for novelty. The streets of the city were full of people and was a long time that we have not been on crowded subways, in noisy stands talking without fear and without masks about something that was totally linked to our work. I have to admit it was unexpected but cool.

salone fiera rho

MIXED REALITIES

Spaces and objects seem to have taken on a new meaning in these years of resilience. Our habits have changed and rooted within the home, it is as if several levels were superimposed in the home space containing all the activities that were previously external, from work to leisure. Interesting and excellent starting point was Huawei‘s immersive installation: Tomorrow Living, in which new mixed-reality living scenarios are shown. Here, intelligent technology allows us to experience the home intensely, reconnecting it with nature, optimizing consumption and space in an environment that is not only more sustainable but also more habitable. In favor of a psychophysical well-being, our home does not become our cage but a circumscribed environment in which it is possible to live in harmony, with ourselves but also with the neighborhood, creating small permanent communities.

Huawei tomorrow living

SUSTAINABILITY

From a Green perspective, on the recovery of goods and raw materials without waste or unnecessary scraps of materials, objects lose their transient essence and become long-lived. Tom Dixon in his installation Twenty, in addition to celebrating the two decades of activity, reflects on the complexity of sustainable objects, showing some ideas on which the studio is working. Among these is their symbolic project, Flamecut, a chair as an example of this design theory that survives over time, which will be able to overcome plagues, natural disasters, but above all, the passage of time unchanged.

Tom Dixon Flamecut
Tom Dixon twenty

A LIFE EXTRAORDINARY

Objects not only become long-lived but are also enriched with cognitive synapses. The new AI, that we also see in the Home Smart Automation devices, responds to our every desire and becomes a real life partner. Moooi on the wave of technology and in Partnership with LG and IDEO presents in its A Life Extraordinary at Palazzo dei Tessuti, Piro, an intelligent scent diffuser. Piro is able to dance to the rhythm of music, follow you with a motion sensor, change the color of its internal LEDs and, if deemed necessary, spray a delicate cloud of perfume in the air.

Its structure is the one of a mechanical arm used for automated productions, decontextualized, covered with a shiny and colored shell and programmed to become a sentient household object. The home itself becomes an extraordinary experience in Moooi’s Vision, including soft fabrics, upholstery that make you dream and refined and elegant objects. We thanks Marcel Wanders, the founder of the brand for his ever visionary creations.

Moooi chair and table
moooi walpaper
moooi sofa

THE TRENDS OF THE SALONE DEL MOBILE

The noble themes of this year arise from questions related to the future of living. Raw materials are constantly running out and have become, especially in recent years, a source of economic speculation. The central installation at the Salone, Design with Nature, a project developed with Mario Cucinella, aims to become a table for discussions and insights on the themes of the circular economy and reuse. The city could in fact become the reserve of the future, where to find most of the raw materials useful for construction in a virtuous ecosystem.

KITCHENS AND MATERIALS

In fact, two new areas in the pavilions were created from this cue, those related to FTK, that is the new Technologies for Kitchen, appliances capable of reducing their consumption from a home automation and intelligent point of view by raising the level of their performance. The new household appliances are multifunctional and professional, even if in the kitchen is tending to hide them from the view. We have noticed that in most of the new proposals of the oven column, doors are packaged laterally in ingenious systems with hinges and side guides that in a few centimeters house the door at rest and close themselves.

hidden kitchen

Valcucine with advanced motion sensors makes the kitchen a fluid mechanism capable of closing, opening or changing functionality with simple soft hand movements.

Valcucine Mendini
Mendini closed

Instead, the working space is highlighted and is further equipped in the rear part with modules dedicated to all the useful tools in the kitchen. From the knife holder, to the spice rack, to the cutting boards, to the paper roll, everything is tidy and accessible.

equiped rear kitchen
kitchen back
closed back kitchen

The work area is well lit and characterized by non-toxic and antibacterial materials. The main material of this Salone del Mobile is Lapitec. Green, resistant to thermal shock, scratches and is also a conductor of heat, has in fact patented the first invisible hob. The use is simple: equipped with magnetic sensors and a hidden coil, by placing a special silicone pad on the top, the touch controls are activated that allow the system to be switched on from two or four burners. Without the pad, the induction hob and its controls are inactive, safe and impossible to accidentally turn on. The top therefore remains completely free, distinguished only by a display and small engravings that emphasize the full-body nature of the material. This will not only helps in cleaning operations, but also allows the worktop to be used for other activities, from food preparation to welcoming convivial moments.

Lapitec chef

Together with Lapitec there are, again for the kitchen top, ceramic and stoneware materials, with veins printed on the surface reminiscent of trendy marbles or solid colors. The finish of the materials goes from Soft touch, velvety and soft, to rough and irregular surfaces. In fact, even the new Neolith production tends to emphasize the tactile inhomogeneity of their slabs.

Neolith texture
Marble effect top

From an aesthetic point of view, the Kitchen top is presented in two thicknesses, the very thin 12mm, which was so fashionable last year, a half size of about 6cm and a 12cm which in many cases, ingeniously, is equipped with drawers containing crockery and small kitchen items. Is also nice the play created with the voids, the undertop groove of the recessed handle (always in trend) and then the departure of the front door.

equiped top
Kitchen medium top in wood
kitchen stone drawer

The internal frames of the classic-style doors have been slightly changed in honor of modernity (here an insight into the reference style). The bands become almost three-dimensional and knobs or handles disappear in favor of hidden pushes.

kitchen modern frames
frames details

NEW COLOR PALETTE, MATERIALS AND DELICATES

We rediscover the terracotta color, elected color of the year 2021 in a more delicate shade even in the Solid tops and then taken up again in the laminate or lacquered doors. The visual connection that is thus created between different materials but united by the same shade is very nice. The Blue Klein color is striking in a very strong shade used for walls and day furniture, this fades and is found, in a more delicate powder-colored version, in the kitchen. Also for the tops we find the sage green, which with the marble Verde Alpi is back in vogue and many shades of gray.

color terracotta
color dust light blue
Color Blue Kline
Silestone proposals

Anthracite gray is also introduced in the finishes of household appliances, taking the place of glossy black in the new Smeg proposals.

smeg anthracite

RIBBED AND MILLED WOOD

With its vintage soul, very elegant and established trend, it is the ribbed wood, which we are also using a lot. So wood is back but with a different dress, in uniform strips in natural or lacquered color. We found it on the doors of the kitchens, of the day furniture, in the sleeping area and also as wall paneling.

ribbed wood
ribbed wood
ribbed wood
ribbed staircase

The raw materials are then shown with textures and intertwining, the marble is milled in subtle geometries that expand the movement of the veins. The stones, on the other hand, fit together in mosaics capable of creating excellent visual dynamism.

trame di pietra
trame di pietra
trame mosaics

Even the glass is no longer a smooth and clean extra-clear crystal but is found in its fluted form, sometimes with a mirror back.

fluted glass
fluted glass

FORMS

A Salone del Mobile that looks to the past to take inspiration, both in materials and shapes. The rounded lines are back, mainly in the stand-alone furniture and in the living area, in the kitchen the snack top or the convivial table in the living room are softened.

rounded forms
rounded furniture
rounded furniture green
rounded ribbed furniture

FINISHES

Here we decree that stainless steel has lost its charm and has been replaced with many different finishes. As we have seen in recent years, the satin brass color and rose gold are the stylistic guides of the fashion industry, which, albeit indirectly, dictates the rules and also influences the world of design. In fact, we find metal profiles with these finishes in household appliances and in taps, if we do not want stainless steel we have the possibility to exclude it from any element for a valid alternative. These include the matt black, which can also be found in the matching preformed washbasins.

finishes taps

THE LOCATIONS OF THE FUORISALONE

The Salone del Mobile is also an opportunity to discover the wonderful buildings in the city center that open their doors and become an exhibition venue. Tom Dixon presented himself at Palazzo Serbelloni, while Palazzo Bovara welcomed, as last year, Elle Decor. Within the settings that describe and define the various areas through objects of timeless design. In the house we live in, objects, lamps and furnishings are arranged without apparent temporal and functional hierarchy, becoming interchangeable based on the activity carried out within it.

Palazzo Bovara
Palazzo Bovara restaurant
Palazzo Bovara Elle Decor

At Palazzo Citterio, the Maison Dior collaborates for the first time with Philippe Starck, inviting him to reinterpret the Médaillon chair, a symbol of the Louis XVI style, dear to Christian Dior.
The result is Miss Dior, an elegant chair that emphasises the lightness of aluminium in three variants, two finishes (polished and matt) and four colours, including chrome, copper, gunmetal and gold.
Here is the link to last year’s article, in which the same chair was reinterpreted by many different designers in even bizarre designs.

Dior and Stark
Dior rose gold

At Palazzo del Senato Kohler presents a world preview of a large-scale immersive art experience, entitled Divided Layers, in collaboration with one of the greatest artists on the contemporary scene: Daniel Arsham, who also created Rock.01 for the company, a 3D printed sink.

palazzo del senato
arsham

The alternative exhibition venue was instead the vault of a former bank in Piazza Affari where Pulpo‘s exhibits seemed even more precious.

Pulpo caveaux
Pulpo caveaux

STATALE UNIVERSITY

Statale University was totally occupied by over 40 projects that aim to reflect on what design could do for a better future. Regeneration, redevelopment, recovery and rebirth through eco-sustainable and dreamy installations. In the courtyards of the university, the theme of the labyrinth is chased, such as The A-maze Garden by Lissoni Associati with Amazon, or even Labyrinth Garden by Raffaello Galiotto. In the central courtyard stands the Sideral Station telescope tower, created with Whirlpool and signed by Michele De Lucchi. This is how he explained his project: «It is a tower to look up and imagine alternative visions of tomorrow. The immersive experience inside, where emotional spaces are explored, is designed to amaze and push the visitor to continue dreaming of a tomorrow worth living “.

statale main yard
statale labyrinth
statale idra
statale aula magna

HERMES, FENDI AND LOUIS VUITTON

The large space of the Pelota was, once again this year, the exhibition site of Hermes, which presented its latest collections dedicated to Home Decor. With extreme delicacy, the totems that contain the displayed elements, also divided by color ranges, are characterized by a light structure in wood and rice paper. Always the natural paper, structured in volumes of different heights, it is an exhibition venue for ceramics, leather containers and small bamboo objects.

Hermes ceramics
hermes leather
hermes small objects
hermes ceiling structure
Spazio Pelota Hermes

Fendi Casa presents its timeless home in a splendid building in Via Monte Napoleone. References to the past, new eco-sustainable materials such as bamboo, classic and modern shapes embrace each other in a sophisticated and attention to detail production.

Fendi Bar
Fendi home
fendi home details

The Luis Vuitton Objets Nomades exhibition is geared towards creative innovation, in which famous designers imagine experimental but functional furniture. The objects in the collection are characterized by an explosion of color, the beautiful Bulbo armchair by Fernando and Humberto Campana opens the collection and, during the visit, we were also lucky enough to immortalize Patricia Urquiola with her Overlay Bowl.

object nomades
object nomades louis vuitton
patricia urquiola
object nomades

THE BOLD INSTALLATIONS BY LEE BROOM, ALCOVA AND NILUFAR DEPOT

Lee Broom in the Brera Design District presented his Divine Inspiration, a series of six ethereal lamps that arise from the exploration of monumental design associated with religious architecture. A spiritual journey that transforms environments and evokes feelings of reverence and contemplation.

lee broom
lee broom
Lee broom
lee broom

Nilufar Depot presents Innesto, three floors of rich installations and a particular and exclusive type of design, which we could also define as unique. Because it arises from personal curiosity, from contamination, the appreciation of heterogeneity and the fusion of apparently distant worlds.

nilufar depot
nilufar bed

For the third consecutive year, Alcova confirms its attention to the evolutions and developments in the world of design, to offer a stimulating cross-section of it. In each room a different exhibition in which different projects alternate established professionals with young emerging talents to explore new frontiers from the point of view of technology, materials, sustainable production, social practices and any other current direction of design.

alcova portal
alcova window
alcova textiles

Interesting and inherent to the theme of reuse were the presentation of recycled materials from disused appliances.

home appliance

THE SALONE DEL MOBILE 2022 IN CONCLUSION

Production would never be with zero environmental impact, sustainability and ecological transition are therefore difficult issues to perform but at the same time interesting challenges. In the hope that we can really create a virtuous ecosystem on reuse to limit the large waste of our society, we give you an appointment at the Salone del Mobile in 2023!

Milan Design Week 2021: between the new Supersalone format and the fuorisalone districts.

Milan Design Week 2021: between the new Supersalone format and the fuorisalone districts.

Milan Design Week 2021 has finally arrived, exploded in all its energy!
Last week Milan brought back the ever-moving machine of the Salone del Mobile, in an extraordinary version, accompanied by the districts of Fuorisalone threatened in the urban fabric of the capital.
The long-awaited autumn edition has aroused an ever more tangible ferment, which was followed by a positivity and acceptance by the whole population. A clear message of restarting a Milan that is rediscovered in all its energy and desire for innovation.
The digital edition in April has also increased the desire to return to the presence, between stands and creative installations!

We also looked around the Supersalone stands and the fuorisalone exhibitions, looking for ideas and inspirations, for a continuous update on trends and design ideas.
Here is our balance of this autumn edition between considerations and personal selection!

Milan Fuorisalone Modulor map

KM covered

hours

location

calories burned

Between Fashion and Interior Design: care of visual

Over the years, the Fuorisalone has always been recognized for its thematic installations, on the edge between art exhibitions and immersive installation. In recent years, brands from the fashion world have been increasingly recognized.

In 2019 the most successful is certainly Cos at Palazzo Isimbardi with its unstructured portal in 3D printed volumes. Accompanying him, Hermès at the La Pelota complex and his attention to the handcrafted product, but also Missoni with Home Sweet Home staging a textile world permeated with saturated colors.

During the just ended Milan Design Week 2021, high fashion brands are once again recognized for their exhibition methodology and amazing sets. Hermès, Antonio Marras, Dior and Gucci certainly among the most nominated of this edition.

Hermès Milan design week 2021 La Pelota

Hermès, Collection for the Home – La Pelota

The French haute couture house returns to Pelota with a dreamlike setting: 5 display totems hand-decorated by the scenographers of the Teatro alla Scala, reinterpreting the concept of “home”. Internally, divided into different themes, Objects from the Home collection that enhance the materiality, the artisan imprint and the meticulous work of the handmade. An installation that strikes and remains impressed not only for its aesthetic impact, but also and above all for the values ​​transmitted and the emotionality of the space. To admire the obsessive attention to points of view, the architectural lines and the seriality of the graphics, the tactility of the materials enhanced by the objects that want to be touched and felt.

Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La Pelota totem detail 01
Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La pelota totem detail 02
Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La Pelota totem detail 03
Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La pelota totem detail 04
Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La Pelota totem detail 05

Dior, The Dior Medallion Chair – Palazzo Citterio

The theatrical installation commissioned by Maria Grazia Chiuri comes to life at Palazzo Citterio. The protagonist is the iconic Medallion Chair, in Louis XVI style, chosen by Christian Dior as the essential emblem of the French Maison for its elegance and its “Parisian style”. 17 artists and designers were thus invited to reinterpret the original chair, giving life to objects at the mercy of fantastic creation, conceptual and graphic reinterpretation. Provocative, witty, haughty, deconstructed, impossible. An installation that fully enhances the various chairs, making them the protagonists of a masterful staging.

Milan Design Week 2021 Dior medallion Chair
detail Dior Medallion Chair 01
detail Dior Medallion Chair 02
detail Dior Medallion Chair 03

Left: Ma Yansong, Meteor
Center: India Mahdavi, Swan
Right: Seungjin Yang, Blowing chair for Dior

Alcova – Former Military Hospital

The charm of abandonment enchants visitors to Alcova, creating interesting conceptual and visual contrasts with the design works. Among exposed systems, peeling walls and sinks with rusted pipes of the former Military Hospital, contemporary design takes center stage.
Here settings with a sophisticated and immersive scenographic impact meet exhibition environments with a highly expressive concept.

An example is Brassless, curated by Studio Vedèt for Nilufar Galley, whose stated goal is to accelerate the end of the brass trend. Extremely used material from 2017 to today, whose diffusion has been emphasized by the fast distribution of the internet and social media, the exhibition does not want to sanction the end of brass, but rather a denunciation of the decadence of trends.
With this logic, 13 talented designers, deliberately extraneous to contemporary trends, were selectedwhose objects experience the ductility, resistance, aesthetics and technical properties of metals. From gold, to pressed aluminum, passing through nickel and copper, but also silver and steel. Transparent Landscapes by Studiozero, on the other hand, investigates the theme of transparency, declined in a sensorial set-up, between visual and sound, and in the presentation of three iconic objects: a mirror, a carpet and a floor lamp.

On the upper floor of the Laundry building, instead, one finds oneself projected into the surreal atmosphere of A Clockwork Orange through the revisited reproduction of the Milk Bar curated by HEAD.

Milan Design Week 2021 Nilufar Gallery Brassless
Milan Design Week 2021 Nilufar Gallery Objects of common use

Nilufar Gallery, Brassless e Object of Common Use, Alcova

Transparencies Alcova
Transparencies Alcova 02

Transparent Landscapes, Studio Zero, Alcova

Clockwork Orange Milk Bar Alcova
Clockwork Orange Milk Bar Alcova 02

Korova Milk Bar, HEAD

Turri, Supersalone

Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 03

La Casa Fluida, Elle Decor

Senato Hotel Milano Aqva
Senato Hotel Milano Aqva detail

ACQVA, Senato Hotel Milano

Ferri Mobili Supersalone

Ferri mobil, Supersalone

Supersalone DeCastelli
Kerakoll Design Milan design week 2021

Left: De Castelli, Supersalone
Right: Kerakoll Design House, Kerakoll

Supersalone Connubia Milan Design Week 2021
Luigi Ghirri Mutina 2021

Left: Connubia, Supersalone
Right: Between the lines, Luigi Ghirri, Mutina

Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe
Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe 02
Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe 03

Studiopepe per Mohd Milano

Between reflections and suggestive ideas: the importance of the concept

In this Milan Design Week 2021, the care of the concept and the message conveyed are undoubtedly given greater importance to the most successful installations. In addition to the aforementioned exemplary installations by Hermès and Dior, Nilufar Gallery by Alcova and La Casa Fluida by Elle Decor also find a double positive response.
The latter, already mentioned for the chromatic setting of its interiors, is even more appreciable because it is flanked by the development of contemporary themes.
The fluidity of domestic rooms gives light to some of the increasingly aware needs that the pandemic has left us.
11 environments decline these needs with increasingly flexible solutions and food for thought for the new domesticity.

Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 03
Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 01 Milan Design Week 2021

La Casa Fluida, Elle Decor

Living Corriere, Double signature – Palazzo Morando

At Palazzo Morando, among the projects presented in Living Corriere’s Double Signature, Ugo La Pietra pays homage to the crafts of art and genius loci through Vasi Architettura / Natura. The message transmitted, between provocative and denouncing, aims to protect urban greenery, often included in architectural and urban planning projects to justify and try to restore balance to the continuous construction action to which cities are subject. The architectures then become the cradle of land within which nature should find life, but is instead bound.

Milan design Week Doppiafirma Palazzo Morando

Vasi Architettura/Natura, Ugo La Pietra per Doppiafirma, Living Corriere

Interni, Interni Creative Collection – State University of Milan

At the State University of Milan, the theme of nature, linked to its animal species, returns with Survival within the Courtyard of Honor. A raft, a modern Noah’s Ark, welcomes the iconic animals of Qeebo in an extreme rescue attempt from global warming, loaded by means of mechanical elevators.

The exhibition curated by Nanda Vigo with Ctrlzak in the west loggia also has an almost apocalyptic vision. Two large glass cases welcome artifacts and artistic creations in a lunar landscape, enriching them with an otherworldly connotation.

Survival Qeebo Universita Statale Milano Milan Design Week

Survival, Qeebo

Saeturn Nanda Vigo CTRLZAK

Saeturn, Nanda Vigo and Ctrlzak

Care of detail: textured leather inserts for high-end products

If the Fuorisalone reserved great surprises during Milan Design Week 2021 as regards ideas, themes and installations, the credit for the attention to details and finishes certainly goes to the products displayed during the Supersalone. various brands, giving up distinct and iconographic stands, focus attention on the products.
Here then is that details and finishes are even more appreciable.

Among these we mention Turri, whose sofas have leather-covered seams create interesting chromatic and material contrasts.
Also reflected in the detail of the armrest, in which a visible light structure is re-proposed that recalls the initial of the logo.
Also in leather are the CPRN handles with a semicircular development, matching the warm orange color of the doors, also used in the top.

Ceppi embraces the soft structure of a large sofa with containing tie-rods which, rolling around the exposed structure, then winds around the entire external perimeter. Porada embellishes a dark wood console with prestigious pull-out drawers whose handles are replaced by knotted laces.
An almost masculine complement, with an austere and modern look.

The theme of the lace is also found in Hausen, whose bookcase has shelves connected to each other by a metal profile that winds around embracing the individual elements.

sofa detail Turri Supersalone 2021
Turri Supersalone 2021 leather armchair

Turri, Supersalone

Ceppi Supersalone 2021
CPRN Supersalone 2021

Hausen (Left) e Porada (Right), Supersalone

Hausen Supersalone
Porada Supersalone

Hausen (sinistra) e Porada (Destra), Supersalone

Materials among new trends, processes and sensations during Milan Design Week 2021

In the textile world, the well-identified address is witnessing the rebirth of bouclé both in light monochromatic shades and in two-tone variants.
Among the many examples exhibited in this Milan Design Week 2021 we can mention SEM Milano in Alcova and Porada itself.
Still as regards the fabrics, the chromatic choice and the thoughtful combinations of Hermès are masterful.

Turning instead to timeless marble, Salvatori’s proposals are extremely refined, as every year. Miniatures of domestic architecture are combined with objects of common use, made courtly by the eternal material par excellence.

To enhance its ductility, making it almost a fluid material, is the Agglomerati in Alcova proposal. Here the Palissandro marble seems to bend softly in an interesting interlocking game in the MASS proposal. In the Round Table variant, the same principle transforms the top into structural legs, gently unraveling like a soft fabric.

Also noteworthy is the new Antolini showroom inaugurated during Milan Design Week 2021 in Piazza Fontana. Here a spectacular open spot develops from the exhibition wall through double-sided strips. A perfectly successful scenographic effect capable not only of enhancing the beauty of the marble essences, but also the infinite processing skills. On the lower floor, different set-up methods expose the natural material distinguished by color, type or surface finish.

Agglomerati Alcova Milan Design Week 2021
SEM Milano Alcova Milan Design Week

Left: Agglomerati, MAAS
Right: SEM Milano, Alcova

Antolini Showroom Milano Design Week
Antolini black marble sample book
Onice bathtub Antolini Milan Design Week

Antolini Showroom in Piazza Fontana

Conclusions of the Milan Design Week 2021 in the autumn version

After the digital edition of Milan Design Week, what remains of this edition finally in attendance is a great desire to leave. Milan, which seemed almost passable and turned off during the period of the pandemic, instead showed the great car in turmoil that was feeding itself. The spotlights are therefore turned off for this edition, ready to turn on again from 4th to 10th April with the traditional and beloved week of furniture.

 

See you then in 2022, ready to welcome the news!

Digital Design Week 2021: our selection and thoughts

Digital Design Week 2021: our selection and thoughts

The 2021 edition of Digital Design Week has just ended on digital platforms, with the hope of seeing taken the traditional version on place in September.

The Salone del Mobile makes Milan the undisputed protagonist in the world of contemporary design, turning the spotlight on new projects, cutting-edge proposals and events capable of enhancing Italian “know-how” but also its international contamination.

We at Modulor also remotely participated in the rich schedule of talks and webinars offered on the main digital platforms … here are some of our thoughts!

Missoni-Milan-Design-Week-2019
Nendo-fuorisalone-2019

Outfitting of Fuorisalone during its 2019th edition: on the left the installation “Home sweet home” by Missoni in Via Solferino. On the right Nendo in “Breeze of light”

Time-machine-ventura-centrale-fuorisalone-2017

Time Machine, the installation durinf Fuorisalone 2017 in the new design district of Ventura Centrale

citizen-time-is-time-fuorisalone-2016

Time is time, an immersive environmet setted in the Superstudio’s place during the 2016 Design Week, focused on the theme of time

Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone: ​​Milan the capital of design

It seems centuries have passed since Milan, in the central weeks of April, was filled with international tourists, young emerging designers, professionals hunting for innovative proposals and university students eager for events and new product launches.
From the design enthusiast, to the sector’s professional, to the simple citizen who loves social life: the week of the Salone del Mobile has always managed to capture everyone’s interests.

One of the few events able to involve such a large audience as to transform Milan into a great “design community”.
Impossible to walk along the streets of the county seat during those days and not be involved in the beating heart of the Design Week.
Colorful graphics that identify the various districts, art installations and advertising banners with pieces of furniture just launched on the market reach every corner of the city.

The professional variant of the Salone del Mobile, in the huge spaces of Rho Fiera and even more its Fuorisalone organized in ever-changing design areas now seem an old memory. Two realities that over the years have known such success that they have become distinct entities, each with its own target audience.

fuorisalone2019_district_map
salone-mobile-logo

Fuorisalone, the design districts map of the 2019 edition.
On the right, the official logo of Salone del Mobile.

Digital Design Week: what is it and what changes does it make to the traditional version?

The cancellation of last year due to the health emergency and its uncertain future also for the 2021 version did not, however, stop the creativity of Design Week. The 2020 edition of the Design Week had already moved to digital channels, meeting the approval and involvement of both the realities that make it up.
Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone never as today find themselves in dialogue with each other to create a rich schedule of events.
Talks, webinars and reflections on what it means making design nowadays and on the various facets of this world. The stringent safety restrictions have also completely revolutionized the methodology for presenting new products. Physical presence is now too restrictive a possibility, so naturally the attention shifts to the digital world. In order not to stop the great design machine, the realities that have always accompanied the traditional edition of Milan Design Week have organized a digital version. Digital Design Week 2021 took place on the web platforms of Interni (historic magazine associated with the week of the Salone), Fuorisalone and Ad Italia. From 12th to 19th of April, a series of talks involving professional figures took place. From the world of furniture, to architecture, but also literature, technology, art and craftsmanship, opinions and reflections are exchanged on the contemporary themes that drive design. Furthermore, in the specific case of Interni, its version continued until 23th April, with a fixed evening appointment scheduled for 6.30 pm in streaming.

Digital-Design-Week-quote-custom-Marco-Spinelli-Poliform
san-siro-seat-cappellini-jasper-morrison

A Marco Spinelli quote, shared on social pages of AD Italy that underlines the importance of “custom-made”. 
On the right: San Siro seat, designed by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini and launched during the Digital Design Week 2021

table-bentley-home-digital-design-week-2021

Aldford table by Bentley Home – Luxury Living Group disegned by LLG Creative Team

Smartworking and a new perception of the domestic environment

Undoubtedly a contemporary theme during this Digital Design Week was the introduction of the concept of smartworking and the new domesticity.
We at Modulor have already addressed this issue, also bringing design examples from the previous months.

In this regard, the interpretation proposed by Lara Facchinetti, HR Manager of Zamperla, in the “Study” chapter of the laboratory proposed by Strategy Innovation is interesting. The theme of reflection shifts to the hybridization between work from home and office life, noting how the best working condition derives from the integration of both.
If before the working world and the private sphere were very distinct areas of our daily life, now it often happens during an online conference to witness small “intrusions”. Children intrigued by the screen and pets who have run away from their places become actors of a connection that is not only conceptual, but also physical and visual. With this in mind, the best productivity is achieved by being able to take advantage of both work contexts.
The home is identified as the environment of concentration, where one can isolate oneself from colleagues, and the office is instead an environment of sharing.

What is missing during smartworking are in fact the impromptu meetings and the brainstorming process that spontaneously arise during a coffee break.
Linked to the new needs of spatial reconfiguration, as also confirmed by our experience, the change in the perception of the working space opens in parallel.

In this regard, it is interesting to report the point of view of Marco Roversi, colleague specialized in the design of custom-made furnishings in the contract sector. In fact, if the reconfiguration of the home environment is often restrictive, and bound to changes that are not too intrusive, the workspace undergoes a radical change. It is rethought in its basic setting, making flexibility its founding feature.

carlotta-bevilacqua-funivia-artemide-digital-design-week

Funivia, sunspended lighting design by  Carlotta Bevilacqua for Artmide 

6x6_roversi_arredamenti_Digital_design_week_2021
6x6_cesare_roversi

6x6the modular system for office designed by Roversi

The reinterpretation of system engineering components

The continuous search for flexibility in the working place brings the contract further closer to the world of retail, used to constant changes.
The design of the architectural component then becomes a fundamental point to guarantee infinite spatial configurations.
As in the case of white boxes for the retail world, the system engineering component is reinterpreted now more than ever for its aesthetic impact.

A great example is certainly the design thinking of Davide Groppi during the talk “Living the work space” proposed by Lombardini22. The vision of the internationally renowned designer is precisely linked to the flexibility of light, which is released from the electrical system to which it belongs.
The solutions proposed over the years by the designer himself have always been designed with the desire to make light free from pre-existing plant constraints.
Providing the right light does not only mean allowing you to see the space but also to feel it.
A setting that becomes more and more scenographic with a design work that becomes a work of elegance.

The second example is the series of projects brought by architect Duccio Grassi during the talk Design beyond Matter.
A relationship between the architectural and system design components that goes beyond the level of necessity to become a project integration with the aesthetic vision.

Another issue connected to the relationship between structural needs and project flexibility is that of the exploitation of interstices, the so-called architecture in between. We have recently analyzed the potential of designing functional furniture capable of optimizing spaces and therefore we fully share the reflections of Daniele Lago, founder of the well-known mass-production furniture company.
The in-between is not only a domestic environment design issue but also a metaphor for the relationship between the brand and its community.

Davide_Groppi_Infinito

Infinito, Davide Groppi

Zara-Rome-Duccio-Grassi-Architects

Zara Rome, Duccio Grassi Architects.
Engeneering system and outfitting matches in a design element which disappear in the environment.

duccio_grassi_architects_max_mara_tokyo_ginza_home

Max Mara Tokyo Ginza Home, Duccio Grassi Architects

Sustainability and environmental impact: visions related to design

Perhaps one of the most inflated issues in recent years is certainly linked to sustainability and environmental impact.
Countless could be the visions and projects that make it the flag carrier.
From the world of design, the theme of the circular economy directly moves to the productive world, finding infinite results.

But what does it actually mean to be sustainable today?
Producing using recycled material is not always the ultimate solution. In fact, it is necessary to put the entire life cycle of the furnishings on the scales and consider their environmental impact over the years.
Here then is that the word “recycling” appears several times during this Digital Design Week.

The architect and designer Paola Navone brings her vision of recycled objects as a series of handmade products obtained from processing waste.
A vision that wants to break the mold by bringing color and joy into the projects, managing to enhance what is the local craftsmanship.

Giuseppe Pedrali, CEO of the homonymous company from Bergamo, also focuses on the regulatory aspect of sustainability.
“Being sustainable” has now become the common motto of various manufacturing companies, but how many of them actually focus on the certifications that can officially certify this characteristic? Are the production processes actually controlled and designed in order to reduce waste and affect the environment as little as possible?

Ico Migliore, architect of Migliore + Servetto, underlines how the issue of sustainability is not only linked to materials but to user behavior.

Of all the thoughts analyzed, the one that we at Modulor certainly fully embrace is the one proposed by the architect and designer Piero Lissoni during the conversation “Everything is a project” available on AD Italy.
Sustainability consists in designing furniture that can last over time

What does it mean to design nowadays? How to emerge within an increasingly large market?

We share once again the words of Piero Lissoni as the fulcrum and summary of this Digital Design Week.
The world of design now looks worldwide, what allows it to be valued is high quality and knowing how to maintain and preserve the “craftsmanship”.

While knowing the relationship to the increasingly frequent technology and the world of the intangible, it is essential to recognize the wealth offered by craftsmanship. The new model of craftsmanship, although it has lost some qualities transmitted over the years, meets new possibilities.

Knowing how to relate the ability to use hands, touch materials and interpret them with incredible technologies is the design of the future.
A less drawn and more product design. Although the very term “design” or industrial design, it would seem to live in the opposite of the concept of craftsmanship, the conjunction of these worlds is the real innovative key for the future of interior design.

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Round D.154.5, the historic armchair designed by Gio Ponti and reinterpreted in a contemporary way by Molteni & Co

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Soriana, Afra and Tobia Scarpa forCassina
On the right: Pacific,the new collection signed Patricia Urquiola for Moroso

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The Connery seating system designed by Rodolfo Dordoni for Minotti