On the second day of Milan Design Week, FRAME editor Kayla Dowling recounts her experiences in the Navigli district from brands like Lexus and The Good Plastic Company to designers like Marjan van Aubel and StudioXAG.
If there were ever a time I wish I could be in two places at once, it would be now. I’m almost certain that other Milan Design Week-goers would resoundingly agree with me. There is so much going on, that it’s impossible to see everything. Instead of running all over Milan yesterday with an ‘I need to see everything’ attitude, I took my time and honed my focus on Navigli. A bit more off the beaten path, it is equally as buzzy in its own right as its more central counterparts.
Studiopepe's curated showroom 'Aqua: A Design Exploration' features products from the likes Actiu, Kriskadecor and The Mosaic Factory (above).
I started the day at the Studiopepe-curated Archiproducts showroom 'Aqua: A Design Exploration'. The space was refreshing – just like its water-inspired name suggests – a nice break from the much more straightforward staging of products I know I'll come across. Separated into rooms, each with a different function, such as a 'smart' apartment, office and alfresco lounge, visitors make their way through the fluid space. Hued in cool shades of blue, hand-selected products from brands like Actiu, Kriskadecor and The Mosaic Factory are showcased.
Photo: Sara Magni.
Cover and above: Constructed entirely of The Good Plastic Company's Polygood material, made of 100 per cent recycled post-consumer plastic waste, the StudioXag-designed installation encourages visitors to explore the idea of circularity.
Just a few doors down at Superstudio Più, I entered another blue space, but this one with a clear and strong sustainability message. The Good Plastic Company’s StudioXAG-designed Hello, Earth Speaking exhibit, features a sculpture of planet Earth as its centrepiece. Aimed at encouraging visitors to consider new ways of working with recycled materials and pushing ideas of circularity, the sculpture and surrounding installation space are entirely crafted from The Good Plastic Company’s innovative, proprietary Polygood range of 100 per cent recycled and recyclable plastic panels.
Designblock Cosmos features the glass-based works of 10 Czech artists in a Space-inspired setting.
Designblok Cosmos hosted by the Prague International Design Festival also caught my attention at Superstudio, as a platformed pavilion wrapped in silver foil certainly would. The work from 10 Czech designers, each presenting original glasswork, takes place inside an otherworldly space. Covered in mirrors on all sides and complementary lights, the infinite reflections and the play of colourful lighting interact with the glass pieces on display, leaving the viewer in awe, temporarily transporting them into another world.
One of two installations to present Lexus' next-generation electric vehicle LF-ZC, pictured above is Hideki Yoshimoto's 'Beyond the Horizon’ installation with a live, bespoke light-and soundscape created and played in collaboration with musician and composer Keiichiro Shibuya.
'Immersive' also underscores Lexus’ TIME exhibition at the same address, with two very different installations by Hideki Yoshimoto of Tangent and Marjan van Aubel. Yoshimoto premiered ‘Beyond the Horizon’ with a live, bespoke light- and sound installation created and played in collaboration with musician and composer Keiichiro Shibuya. Massive screens made of rice paper change in colour from seemingly night to day throughout the performance. Outside, van Aubel’s ‘8 Minutes and 20 Seconds’ takes on a more garden-like appearance, exploring the intersection of solar design and technology. Both projects incorporate Lexus’s next-generation electric vehicle LF-ZC.
The Domus Academy's 'Unfold' exhibition showcases the research works of students under the theme ‘unfolding complexities’.
Down the street at Base, We Will Design presents 4,000 sq-m of exhibition space exploring ideas of coexistence. The Convivial Laboratory showcases the works of a temporary community of designers, architects and artists to reflect on conviviality. In addition to two installations ‘The Camp’, an experiment exploring different living practices, and ‘Talamo’, an interactive sculpture where visitors can find respite, Domus Academy presents 'Unfold', a collective showing the innovative research of students under the theme ‘unfolding complexities’.
