Milan Design Week & Salone del Mobile 2018 Preview.

COME TO OUR MILANTRACE TALKS!

Related: Milan Design Week 2018 Survival Kit & Our Must-See Milan Itinerary.

Team Yellowtrace are flying to Milan courtesy of Cathay Pacific, who fly to Italy several times each week. Cathay’s great connections from Australia allow getting from Sydney to Milan in under 24 hours, including transit times. For more information visit cathaypacific.com.au.

Typecasting by Vitra // In addition to their always impressive stand at Salone del Mobile furniture fair at Rho Fiera, Vitra is staging a major installation “Typecasting. An Assembly of Iconic, Forgotten and New Vitra Characters” in the former sports arena La Pelota in Brera. The exhibition will be curated by Robert Stadler. The Vitra Design Museum will be represented in its own section, revealing the company’s new and upcoming projects.

Vitra @ La Pelota
Via Palermo 10, 20121 Milano

Left: Wrapping Wood by Aukje Fleur Janssen. Right: Strips and Stripes by Roos Gomperts and Elvis Wesley. Photography by Ronald Smits.

Envisions in collaboration with Finsa wood in progress // Shaking up industry’s standards for the past two years – with their dazzling displays of experimental design research – the creative collective Envisions has validated the importance of design’s preliminary phases. Ascending from the success of last year’s presentation in Milan, Envisions and the Spanish wood manufacturer Finsa vividly pick up where they left off, and carry their collaboration to even greater heights.

Officine Savona, Zona Tortona
Via Savona 35, 20144 Milano

Disco Gufram // Gufram, the luxury Italian brand that’s never aimed at the mainstream or the faint hearted, is set to unveil a super fun and slightly bonkers collaboration with Milan-based studio Atelier Biagetti, Dutch designers Rotganzen, and Paris-based GGSV. Psychedelic 70s vibe meet shiny disco balls, velvet upholstery and leather pipe seating type thing. On show at Wallpaper Handmade.

Mediateca Santa Teresa
Via della Moscova 28, Milan

Open Sky Installation by Phillip K. Smith III for COS // Open Sky; a large-scale sculptural installation by American artist Phillip K. Smith III, is site-specific to the 16th century Palazzo Isimbardi and open to the public for the duration of Salone del Mobile. Inspired by the sky above the Palazzo’s courtyard and the architecture of Milan, Phillip K. Smith III explained in a statement – “I wanted to pull the sky to the ground – to make it physically present. The square of sky above the courtyard transforms into a semi-circular form, that sits on the courtyard floor directly in front of the viewer. The idea was to actively and seamlessly merge the beauty of the surrounding architecture and the sky over Milan, creating an ever-changing experience”.

Open Sky at Palazzo Isimbardi
Corso Monforte 35, 20122 Milan

Altered States by Snarkitecture for Caesarstone // Caesarstone returns to Salone for the 6th time, this time collaborating with New York-based architecture studio Snarkitecture. Altered States explores the core theme of the kitchen island. Snarkitecture looked at water as the most important ‘ingredient’ in the kitchen, drawing inspiration from its changing states in nature (glacier, river, geyser) and in the kitchen (ice, water, steam) to create the installation.

Palazzo dell’Ufficio Elettorale di Porta Romana
Corso di Porta Romana 10, 20122, Milan

Rise Installation / Marble Stories // Italian-Brazilian designers Giorgio Bonaguro, Gustavo Martini and Ronald Sasson decided to develop a common exhibition project in which their styles interact to tell different stories around a single precious material: marble. The exhibition will take place at the Giuseppe Pero Gallery in Isola Design District.

Giuseppe Pero Gallery
Via Luigi Porro Lambertenghi 3, Milan

Garnier and Linker // Paris based duo are presenting a series of pieces made with Kitayama cedar, a type of wood that can only be found in northern Kyoto mountains. Discovered during a travel in Japan, Kitayama cedar’s unique texture inspired the creators to design a furniture collection. Garnier & Linker are represented by Carwan Gallery Beirut.

CORNICI DESIGN MILANO Gallery
Via San Maurilio, 18, Milan

HAWA Beirut by Richard Yasmine // This collection of visually light and airy furniture is inspired by Lebanese architecture, and specifically the arches that are a trade mark in the Lebanese cultural heritage. HAWA in Arabic means a light summer breeze or deep love and passion towards someone or something. ”Hawa Beirut set up creates a nostalgic yet harmonious reflection to our ancestors, continuing the communication between the past present and future generations,” explains Yasmine.

Left: Eclipse pendant & table lamp. Right: Orion pendant set.

Observatory by Lee Broom // Revealing seven new lighting products, OBSERVATORY is Lee Broom’s most progressive work to date with new stellar-inspired designs playing with proportions of vertical and horizontal space, sculptural, spherical form, and the refraction and reflection of light. Observatory includes four new lighting collections: Eclipse, Orion, Aurora and Tidal.

Via Lovanio, 6 Milano, 20121

Kosmos by Wonderglass // Kosmos is a shimmering universe of glass featuring new collections from Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Fornasetti as well as WonderLab’s collaborations with Dan Yeffet and studiopluz. A highlight of Kosmos will be the stop-motion film Invisible Cities by artistic duo J&PEG. A surreal tale of a glass ball lost in a magical world that both celebrates the utopian vision of the city and the role of glass within architecture and urban environments.

Istituto dei Ciechi
Via Vivaio 7, Milan

The Bloom cabinet by Adam Goodrum & Arthur Seigneur.

Left: Plane Table by Fred Ganim. Right: Sculptures of Infinite Arrangement by Anna Varendorff.

New lighting by Volker Haug studio.

Local Design presents Local Milan No. 3 // This year, LOCAL MILAN will showcase 26 Australian designers, becoming the largest independent showcase of Australian design in Milan to date. Pioneering the way forward for Australian design, Emma Elizabeth, founder of LOCAL DESIGN, has single-handedly curated and directed the exhibition to advancing awareness and understanding of Australian design amongst a global audience. You lil ripper!

Via Cesare Correnti 14

New Collections from e15 // e15 debuts its latest collaboration with British architect David Chipperfield, and showcases products by Philipp Mainzer whilst focusing on new materials and finishes for the collection. Moreover, the brand presents a special installation together with Laila Gohar and David Chipperfield in its showroom on Via Tortona.

e15 Showroom, Via Tortona 34

e15 @ Salone Del Mobile Rho Fiera
Hall 16, Stand 44

Pivot Collection by Giacomo Moor // SEM (Spotti Edizioni Milano) presents three new collections. Among these, Pivot collection by Giacomo Moor for SEM comprizes several elements (desk, bookcase, corner console, free standing console, storage and low table). The round metal tubes that support the structure are a system of pins that allow the rotation of the thin metal doors, avoiding the use of hinges. To emphasise the new opening system, the brass metal elements are acid-etched on the surface in four different colours (blue, light blue, green and red) by Fonderia Battaglia exclusively for Pivot collection.

Spotti Milano
Viale Piave, 27, 20129 Milano

Industry Chair Series by Neri&Hu.

Triangle Chair by Vilhem Wolhert.

any/everyWHERE by Stellar Works // Stellar Works is presenting new designs by award-winning contemporary designers Neri&Hu and Space Cph alongside reissues of vintage pieces by mid-century modern masters, Vilhem Wolhert and Jens Risom. Conceived by Stellar Works’ creative directors Neri&Hu, any/everyWHERE is an evocative installation that plays with the ideas of location, context, and place and explores how interior objects define how we live. The space provokes our awareness, and prompt us to question what it means to be anywhere – and everywhere.

Opificio 31 Quattrocento,
Via Tortona 31, Milan

Cassette Sofa by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec.

Left: Light Light by Dimitri Bahler. Right: Mauro Chair by Mauro Pasquinelli. Photography by Peter Guenzel.

Established & Sons // Iconic British brand is launching an exciting new collection of characterful furniture and
 lighting by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Konstantin Grcic, Dimitri Bähler, Mauro Pasquinelli and Established & Sons’ Design Director, Sebastian Wrong. The 2018 collection features the Cassette sofa by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, the Barbican chaise by Konstantin Grcic, the Light Light by Dimitri Bähler, the Mauro Chair by Mauro Pasquinelli and the Filigrana Light by Sebastian Wrong.

Established & Sons @ Salone del Mobile 2018
Pavilion 16, Stand D43 Fiera Milan, Rho

Span Collection by John Pawson for Salvatori // “For me everything depends on clarity of line, form and junction,” explains John Pawson. The Span tables and benches are conceived as a family of simple, functional pieces for inside and outside use, fabricated in a palette of marble, limestone and cherry wood. The character of the collection derives from details of proportion and from the precise manner in which horizontal and vertical, curved and angled, smooth and textured elements combine.

via Solferino 11, Milan

N01 by Nendo for Fritz Hansen // Japanese and Danish design traditions have a lot in common and the new dining chair N01 is a sublime example of this. In collaboration with the Japanese design studio Nendo, Fritz Hansen have created an armchair that is both minimalist and highly detailed.

Fritz Hansen @ Salone del Mobile 2018
Fiera Milan, Rho

Alcova // ALCOVA opens the doors of one of Milan’s most historic panettone factories for the first time. The vast spaces will host new projects by designers, institutions, galleries and companies working at the avant-garde edge, tackling themes such as contemporary living, design culture, materials and technological innovation. Participants will include designers such as Also Known As, Gijs Bakker, Buro Belen, and practices as Bloc Studios and Architetti Artigiani Anonimi. Over 20 exhibitors from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and even Georgia will converge in ALCOVA, situated in the emergent district of NoLo.

Via Popoli Uniti 11-13, Milan

Wild Sculptural Chairs.

Turning Into Gold Table.

Rooms // To celebrate their tenth anniversary, the Georgian interior design studio will present an important retrospective dedicated to their significant creations together with new exclusive projects. The exhibition will take placed at the Lanteri Gallery with a scenographic setting and a highly evocative atmosphere.

Lanteri Gallery
via Giulio e Corrado Venini 85, Milan

Club Unseen by Studiopepe // Club Unseen is the manifesto project by Studiopepe – a secret space with a contemporary atmosphere, and a research project in hospitality. This unique experiential interior will describe all different forms of contemporary living. Inside the Club, historical design matches with contemporary pieces, selected and designed by Studiopepe.

Studiopepe’s Club Unseen @ Zona Tricolore
(Exact Location Remains a Secret. If I told you, I’d have to kill you.)

Tram Corallo by Cristina Celestino // Cristina Celestino chose to reinterpret the historic tram of the city, imagining an ideal “Cinema Corallo” that will circulate in the Brera district. Corallo will be a suggestive screening room on rails, an unexpected and evocative place, an authentic travelling salon inside a historic tram from 1928, reinvented in a contemporary way. Book your ticket here.

Tram Corallo at Brera Design District
Stops at piazza Castello, 2; via Cusani, 4 and Cairoli M1

Left: Midnight Dew chandelier. Right: Wheat Field light.

Supernatural Daydream by Giopato & Coombes // Giopato&Coombes presents an experiment carried out by the two designers, focusing on the theme of light and emotions produced by it. The result of this research, that moves between precious materials and high technology, nature and magic, is a series of installations, unique pieces, that represent unexpected mutations that emerge from the development of the current collection. Four sculptural chandeliers, that seem suspended in an abstract and enigmatic world, dominated by the colour red, where the limit between real and surreal becomes blurred.

5Vie c/o Studio Nerino
via Santa Marta 21

Mila by Matthew McCormick // After last year’s successful debut at Rossana Orlandi’s Gallery, Canadian designer Matthew McCormick presents the latest addition to his line; the MILA pendants. “I created MILA as a study of balance between two pure and simple volumes,” says McCormick. The simple yet expressive form of MILA is minimal in its elements, and designed to produce a light effect replicating the soft reflection of organic pearls.

Spazio Rossana Orlandi
Via Matteo Bandello, 14/16

Left: Dissolved into the fabric by Isabel Berglund. Right: LMA (Lick My Ass) chair by Pettersen & Hein.

MINDCRAFT18 // Since 2008, the annual MINDCRAFT exhibitions have presented brand-new works by some of Denmark’s leading designers and craft makers at Milan Design Week. The Danish Arts Foundation appointed Ditte Hammerstrøm as curator of MINDCRAFT18. Ditte Hammerstrøm says about her approach to curating: ‘I have sought to showcase the experimental scene, where Danish craft and design is quite strong today. To me, it is important to highlight the experimental and uncompromising qualities of design and craft and the constant exploration of new ways of addressing the material. These are essential qualities to preserve and safeguard in order to ensure the continuing development of the field.’

Photography by Lasse Flode.

Norwegian Presence // For the last three years, Norway’s annual appearance at Milan Design Week has been one of the highlights of the festival, showcasing the work of the most talented Norwegian designers and makers. This year’s exhibition marks the beginning of a new chapter for Norway in Milan, as the show makes its debut appearance in a new location – the city’s rapidly evolving creative hotspot, Zona Tortona.

Opificio 31
Via Tortona 31, Milan

One Two Five by Stephen Holl // Known internationally for his important contribution to contemporary architecture, American architect Steven Holl’s first official exhibition in Italy and in Milan, will showcase a selection of his works including 26 watercolours, 13 prints (signed and numbered), some limited-edition design objects and sculptures. On show, in particular, will be a selection of Holl’s watercolours, his signature step during the creative process, celebrating the expression of eight projects, some which have not been realised.

Antonia Jannone Gallery
Corso Garibaldi 125, Milan

Nathalie Du Pasquier for Bitossi // The Florentine ceramics brand will present a collection of seven vessels, one for each day of the week, created by designer and artist Nathalie Du Pasquier, along with a collection designed by Formafantasma, which will be unveiled during the design week.

Fico India.

Mimmo.

Maremoro Ceramics // Maremoro is a new brand producing iconic Sicilian handicrafts, ceramic plates and “teste di moro” vases. The aim of its founders, Anna Marconi and Manuela Bartelli, is to evolve their collection into a reference point for the ceramics lovers in Italy and all over the world. All products are hand made in Caltagirona in Sicily respecting antique ceramic making techniques. We dig.

Rilievi Collection by Zaven // CEDIT – Ceramiche D’Italia chose Zaven studio to interpret the concept of “new frontiers of the porcelain surface” and to realize their new collection dubbed Rilievi. Characterized by three-dimensional geometric elements, combined together playing with the contrasts of concave and convex forms, Rilievi suggests the possibility of organically multiplying to infinity.

Spazio CEDIT
Foro Buonaparte 14

Siman Collection of Concrete Tableware // Designed by Gian Paolo Venier, Siman is a new collection of concrete tableware inspired by Iranian architecture. A passionate traveler, Gian Paolo Venier is in constant search of afar atmospheres to contaminate his design vocabulary. A postcard representing the ancient Toghrul tower, situated near Teheran (Iran), which the designer received from an old Iranian friend, was the starting point for this collection. The 7 pieces of the collection carry a strong architectural character and act as little architectures populating our interior landscapes with a highly graphic and timeless personality.

Via Tortona 31, 20144 Milano

‘Tired Warrior’ & ‘Alfie’ from Stephan Hürlemann’s Installation ‘Giants with Dwarf. Photography by Stefan Altenburger.

‘Transitions III: Experimental Inventiveness’ by Baars & Bloemhoff.

‘Paradigm’ by Marco Zanin / Fabrica.

Ventura Centrale // The 2nd edition of Ventura Central returns Back to the Vaults of Milan’s Central Station, bringing together nine independent design experiences. Walking through the vaults of Ventura Centrale, visitors can discover different elements of contemporary design, from the rigorous techniques applied by Far East leading manufacturers, tasty American design culture, to craftsmanship of Italian and Swiss artisans. An event not to be missed.

Via Ferrante Aporti 9, 20125 Milano

Iconic Handicraft Collection from Mingardo.

Gradient Tiles Chair by Philipp Adustz.

Ventura Future // With the closure of Ventura Lambrate, Ventura Projects have announced the opening of their brand-new district dedicated to the next development in design – Ventura Future. Taking place in the FuturDome, the meeting place of the Futurist movement, the building will welcome high-end Italian brands such as Editions Milano, Mingardo and Mason. In the meantime, a former pharmacy faculty on Viale Abruzzi will play host to the next generation of designers.

Via Paisiello 6,
Via Donatello 36
Viale Abruzzi 42

Villa Borsani: Casa Libera! // If Salone gets a bit much (and let’s face it – it probably will), you can take a hike to Villa Borsani for a special exhibition curated by Ambra Medda in collaboration with the Archivio Osvaldo Borsani.

Osvaldo Borsani was a visionary figure of Italian twentieth-century design; an architect, designer, and entrepreneur who transformed his father’s furniture atelier into an international brand, co-founding Tecno in 1953 with his twin brother Fulgenzio.

Villa Borsani: Casa Libera! is envisioned as a celebration of a modernist jewel and a joyous rediscovery of a place suspended in time. The title itself, with its distinctly Milanese connotations, alludes to a feeling of possibility and a chance for people to gather in an unexpected place; not only finding themselves in the historic Villa, but also within the larger setting of Varedo.

The Villa – which has been unoccupied for nearly a decade – will be brought to life through surprising yet considered elements. Ambra will collaborate with Auckland-based creatives including artist Harry Were, florist Sophie Wolanski, and the multi-talented stylist Katie Lockhart, to imbue the still house with vibrancy and soulfulness.

Tours of Villa Borsani can be arranged from Monday 16 April to Friday 20 April. For more information and to pre-register click here.

[Images courtesy of designers / Press Office.]