09 Jun Salone del Mobile 2023, day 4.
On our fourth day, we planned our last day in the city before returning to the enclosed spaces of the exhibition, and luckily even the sun came out😊. For this day as usual, we thought of visiting some larger exhibitions, so we started our morning with the exhibition of Elle Decoration Italia – The Art of Light, which was close to us. The exhibition was held again this year in Palazzo Bovaro, where elements of architecture, interior design, lighting technology and art history were united.
Light plays a fundamental role in the space of the home, so this year’s main theme was the relationship between light and colour, as well as the refraction of light on different surfaces and textiles. In each space, the designers played with reflections, transparent films, and the use of chromatic material, pointing out that lighting is never static, but changing, always with different intensities, directions and colour temperatures. In the opening room, huge light panels replaced the windows, which could display temperature and colour intensity simulating different moments of the day, giving the space different moods. Among the many rooms, we would like to highlight the disco room, where we were greeted by an abstract and colourful environment, which conveyed joy of life and entertainment to all visitors.😊
With this cheerfulness we headed on to Nilufar Depot, which is one of the most anticipated exhibitions for us every year. This year, the gallery opened its doors under the name The Bright of Design, where a seamless dialogue was established between thorough research of old masters and discovery with contemporary artists. The central installation was located on the ground floor, where Valentina Ciuffi dreamt up a multitude of limited-edition objects with attractive appearance. The solo exhibition explored the concepts of light and magic, combining it with a special resin. We witnessed a picturesque performance that brought ancient Greece and Hellenistic traditions to us. Another smaller solo exhibition was created from the work of Audrey Large, where functionality gave way to the search of aesthetics. Under the title Scale to infinity, she presented a massive formal anamorphosis, sculpture installations dreamt up by using swirling lines created by digital technology and computer image manipulation. The rest of the exhibition featured antique furniture mixed with Michael Anastasiads’ lamps or Bethan Lauran wood’s eclectic cabinets.
After a quick pizza and Aperol spritz, we gathered enough energy to continue our day at the University of Milan, which every year hosts a collection organized by Interni magazine, which this year was called Design Re-evolution . The three large courtyards were filled with installations designed by renowned designers such as Piero Lissoni, Stefano Boeri or Metrogamma. The most exciting, and in our opinion one of the most cheerful installations was Pet Therapy dreamt up by Biagetti Atelier, which is a project without limits, a playful space where play is a serious topic. Each object is also a functional sculpture, and the inside and the outside are fused together. Jacopo Foggini and Dott. Gallina’s collaboration enriched the vaulted spaces of the upstairs loggia with his polycarbonate installation, which is usually used in the construction of facades due to its heat and sound insulation. It raised a polycarbonate vertical city that was interwined.
The next stop of our afternoon was Rossana’s Orlandi gallery, which is renewed year after year on more than 2500 square meters and features unknown figures of international contemporary design. The gallery opened its doors in 2002 and has remained an essential station ever since, because it is able to capture and filter the transformations taking place during the design process, accurately portraying the complexity of the script of contemporary art. In recent years, she has made a big impact on the design world through the topic of plastic and recycling, redefining production methods. This year’s selection spoke out against overproduction, a place we have to go to understand future directions and track the most promising ways of experimentation. This year new countries have joined this initiative, in addition to Poland, and the Czech Republic, Hungary also appeared at the exhibition with some designers. This year we had the opportunity to admire innovative ideas for recycling at two locations: RoGuiltlessplastic, which explored the topic of recycling through a tender with inspiring prototypes, while the other was the well-known RoCollectible, which combined furniture and collectibles. Jordan Artisan from the Netherlands and his contemporary and functional sculptures impressed with a strong stage presence, highlighting forms of architectural erosion and decay. The Atelier Oi has created a series of wind wheels made of folded Japanese paper, the structure of which can also be controlled manually, which can be traced back to the clock structure. Another installation by the team called Aura explored transparent materials. A dynamic lighting installation that created an interaction between light and glass. And the design duo of Draga and Aurel have threaded their pieces around colour, light and transparency.
For the final stop of our day and the end of our city tour, we couldn’t have chosen a more exciting program than to visit one of Milan’s iconic tower buildings. The Largo Treves building in the heart of Brera, designed by architect Arrigo Arrighetti, has been closed to visitors until now, but since the imposing tower will soon be demolished, thanks to an ingenious collaboration, we were able to see its interiors for the first and last time. The installation dreamt up by artist Agostino Lacurci, was titled Dry Days, Tropical Nights, where the energy of the day stood in ironic contrast with the darkness, drawing our attention to the problem of climate change. Bright neon-lit palm tree silhouettes and lights reminiscent of tropical sunset rose into the raw interior spaces, walking between which we understood the artist’s message. He created a sparkling scene filled with exciting and attractive lights, where darkness and fear lurk behind a magical world, inspiring visitors to build a better future.
We ended our evening with a delicious Italian dinner in the bustle of Brera, which was a fitting end to the urban part of the exhibition. At the end of dinner, instead of taking the metro we decided on a pleasant evening walk, this way saying goodbye to the city until our next meeting. But since Milan never sleeps, the walk could not end without seeing one last installation, for which we chose the best time after sunset. On the occasion of its 150th anniversary, Kohler presented Design Week with an exciting visual experience in the inner courtyard of the historic Palazzo del Senato. The interactive digital experience series designed by Janet Echelman, where the visitors can also become artists for a short time, will remain an experience of a lifetime for us. Among this year’s novelties, we got to know a limited series collection created by four contemporary artists from four countries, which consists of 12 new products.
