Fashion Weeks are so exciting and charming! But the Design Week has something more, because it can combine all forms of creativity.
Tony Chambers, Creative Director, Wallpaper* Magazine
Milan’s Fuorisalone, a set of events taking place in different areas of the city during Milan Design Week, was record-breaking this year in terms of both attendees and events. LIV spent a whirlwind four days amidst crowds of creatives, exploring the Rho Fiera trade show and some of the most innovative exhibitions around town. Here are our 3 standouts:
The Accursed Hour
In the elegant, 19th century building now occupied by the Fondazione Adolfo Pini, Mexican artist Carlos Amorales’ “The Accursed Hour” art exhibit exquisitely blends music, poetry and animation. Immersive, surreal and evocative, his Black Cloud piece features fifteen thousand black butterflies dispersed along the staircase, walls and halls of this stately space. While his other work included an exploration of human violence in various pieces from his life-size “Life in the folds” exhibit that mixes print, sculpture and cinema.
Objets Nomades by Louis Vuitton
Since 2012 Louis Vuitton has invited designers to imagine creative, functional and innovative furniture and objects for exhibition at the Palazzo Serbelloni during Milan Design Week. This year, a selection of 45 experimental pieces paid (loose) homage to LV’s history and to an imaginative interpretation of travel. Eye-catching colour and form were on glorious display. The Bomboca Sofa, named after a Brazilian treat and designed by Fernando and Humberto Campana, features eight plush cushions that fit together perfectly in a seductive, curved cluster. While the design team of Zanellato/Bortotto created a gorgeous metal and leather Mandala comprised of three hinged metal circles mounted on a base of Carrara marble. This creation is a testament to the still waters of the Venetian Lagoon.
Evoking the idea of infinity, Architect and designer André Fu’s two seat sofa, Ribbon Dance, shows off fluid curves, wooden arms, and Louis Vuitton leather.
Human Spaces
Every year as part of Milan’s Design Week, the University of Milan (a.k.a l’Universita Statale) stages an incomparable exhibit of installation art on its grounds. This year’s exhibits were centered around the theme of “Human Spaces”. Highlights included the Campana brothers’ 7 dramatic, grassy “Sleeping Piles” dominating a beautiful interior courtyard (Cortile della Farmacia). Intended to contrast the organic lines of nature with the curves and shapes of architecture, Sleeping Piles encouraged passersby to stop, relax and leave the hustle and bustle of the city aside for a moment.
Ico Migliore’s collaboration with Whirlpool, entitled “Perfect Time” featuring an immersive forest of white and transparent PVC lights.
Piero Lissoni’s “From Shipyard to courtyard” cut a striking presence in the centre of yet another courtyard. Measuring 33 metres in length, this dramatic wood installation echoes the skeletal frame of a ship’s hull and is painted red – the typical colour applied to keels of boats for protection.
Cover Image Source: Unsplash
