Milan Design Week 2024 was a wonderful event that showcased a variety of creative and innovative works from different companies.
What's interesting about Design Week is its diversity. We can see a vast variety of brands that participated in the events, from Porsche to Aesop. So, it's not merely about industrial or interior design; it's an outstanding example of collaboration and unity in design. It was not just about interior or industrial design but a celebration of unity through creativity.
This diary is not a comprehensive guide but a personal account of the amazing week filled with art, design, and fun activities that took place during our day in Milan.
Porsche
We started off from an exhibition "The Art of Dreams" by NUMEN/FOR US. It is an interactive installation that invites people for tactile experience. The whole sight was quite surreal - a mazy pattern in the middle of classical Milanese palazzo could clearly put you in some sort of a trance. The time seemed to stop here on the contrary of the crazy rhythm of Milan.
Photos courtesy of Eva Ledovskaia.
"Our idea of a waking dream was always one of a habitable utopia, of an alternative space and a speculative way of life," says Numen/For Us. "Such dreams are a spatial wild frontier not yet colonised by reason, prototyping the future we want to live in."
Photo courtesy of Eva Ledovskaia.
And, of course, the shiny red 911 was waiting for us in the courtyard. It was a vision.
Bottega Veneta
Our next stop was the Bottega exhibition "On The Rocks" in Palazzo San Fedele. For us as architects it was an unexpected but much pleasant surprise to find out that On The Rocks is a collaboration with Le Corbusier foundation and Cassina.
Continuing the narrative of the Winter '24 show, the installation focuses on the LC14 Tabouret Cabanon, a timeless icon by Le Corbusier, reflecting Cassina's excellence in cabinetmaking. Originally designed for Le Corbusier's cabin or "Cabanon" in Roquebrune Cap Martin on the French Riviera, the Tabouret draws inspiration from a wooden whiskey box that Le Corbusier found on the beach.
Photos courtesy of Eva Ledovskaia.
The wooden versions revisited and presented for the first time on the set of the Winter '24 fashion show are here joined by a new limited edition made with Bottega Veneta's typical leather workmanship.
Yves Saint Laurent
Saint Laurent Rive Droite presents an exclusive collaboration with the Gio Ponti archives and the Fundación Anala y Armando Planchart.
The exhibition, curated by Anthony Vaccarello, showcases an exceptional plate collection originally designed by Gio Ponti in 1957 for Villa Planchart in Venezuela.
Photo courtesy of fuorisalone.it.
In Venezuela in 1953, Anala and Armando Planchart commissioned the renowned Italian architect Gio Ponti to build an avant-garde villa for them on the highest hill overlooking Caracas.
The exhibition gives a unique experience to observe and become a part of this story.
Salone Mobile
Isaloni is one of the (if not the) biggest furniture fairs. While people are doing great business there, others can just simply appreciate the art of interior decoration. We were quite in the middle, observing and taking into account the latest innovative technologies and masters of the craftsmanship. Here on Salone many brands presented their new collections and unmatched classics - Hermes Maison, Audi, Missoni, Fendi Casa, Baccarat and others.
Photo courtesy of interior.ru.
Walking through Milan this week you could see countless events, so I highly recommend visiting it next time if you missed this one. It makes you conscious of design, inspirationally driven and aesthetically pleased. Also full of the most delicious pizza and prosecco. Can't wait for what's coming next year.
Photos courtesy of Eva Ledovskaia.