24HOURS IN

24 hours in MILAN

Milan restarts: what to see, where to go

WAITING FOR THE SALONE IN SEPTEMBER, THE DESIGN CAPITAL WARMS UP WITH SOME EVENTS, TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS, IN PERSON OR ON THE SCREEN

text by Cristina Ferrari & Francesca Gugliotta

Milan, the design capital and Italy’s most international city, after months of closure, lights up. The opportunity came up with Milano Design City, two weeks of events in April, including presentations, talks, conversations in person (finally!), but also hybrid initiatives mixing real and virtual content. A program offline and online, in showrooms, corporate headquarters, but also on Zoom, Instagram and interactive platforms, to reach a worldwide audience. An opportunity for companies to launch new products, set up showrooms with new collections, create a buzz and put the spotlight back on the city after a period of stasis, with proposals that will live on in the months to come, during the run-up to the Salone del Mobile on 5 September. Tom Dixon, one of the brightest participants, approached the design week with an alter ego hologram; Poltrona Frau unveiled the Take your Time collection online, a series that urges us to take things slowly and to grasp every detail through the senses, menawhile Cassina virtually narrated its new collection, presented by the art director Patricia Urquiola and the CEO Luca Fuso. Displays not to be missed include the ‘room of ideas’ of Antoniolupi, with new creations by Gumdesign, Calvi Brambilla, Carlo Colombo, and others. Then the Rooms by Moroso, five different interpretations of living space at the showroom on Via Pontaccio, a project by Marco Viola; Giulio Cappellini has wagered on the dreamy hyper-decorative imagery of Elena Salmistraro for the Cappellini space on Via Santa Cecilia. Visionnaire – in the Wunderkammer of the Visionnaire Design Gallery in Milan – stages Regine exhibition by the artist Paolo Leonardo. Shop windows are full of colorful sculptural presences: Alpi, in the showroom on Via Solferino, explores dense, saturated colors for wooden surfaces, with the French Palette by Piero Lissoni; Gervasoni on Via Durini stages new indoor and outdoor furnishings. Living Divani launches of the indoor-outdoor family by Piero Lissoni, David Lopez Quincoces, Marco Lavit and Mist-o. On Via Durini, Porro offers a series of spaces without structural and conceptual barriers. Some of the players have gotten ready for this design week with a new look (as Misha wallcoverings) or by opening new spaces, as Versace Home, Jannelli&Volpi, De Castelli, Dom Edizioni, Rexa Design, Manerba, Sahrai with the temporary store on Via Manzoni; Lapalma with Lapalma for Architects. Events to mark at least a dozen new openings, which last fall studded the central districts of Milan with new design hubs (Ceccotti, Nemo Lighting, Snaidero, Marsotto, Pianca & Partners, Mutina, Solferino Lab, just to name a few). In spite of everything, Milan comes alive and attracts interest, as well as the investments.

30,000 PETALS FOR AN ARMCHAIR This is the Hortensia model by the Argentine designer Andrés Reisinger for Moooi. it began as a 3D rendering, which soon went viral on Instagram. Contacted by Moooi, the designer was able to translate a digital drawing into reality, in collaboration with the Catalan designer Júlia Esqué for the covering, creating an armchair formed by 30,000 laser-cut pieces in Petal fabric, available in pink or gray.

Photo © Leonardo Duggento  CASSINA via Durini 16 Cassina continues its journey to complete all areas of the home mashing up the company’s icons with this year’s new proposals designed by Michael Anastassiades, Jeffrey Bernett, Philippe Starck and Patricia Urquiola. An exciting project by Vico Magistretti makes a return: the Edison table, updated in the measurements and in the materials, featuring the characteristic cross-shaped joint.

 MOROSO via Pontaccio 8/10 “Stanze” is the new setting for the Milanese showroom and at the same time is the project in which Moroso tells its story: the products are placed in an environment designed to be reproduced in the stores; the entire Moroso house is fitted out, with the bestseller products of recent years: Gogan, Gentry, Josh, Redondo, Shanghai Tip, and, to the fore, Pacific, the new collection designed by Patricia Urquiola.

Photo © Marco Menghi  VERSACE HOME New opening: via Durini 11 Versace Home opened a new flagship store at the very heart of the design street of the city, via Durini. The concept of the space, opened in collaboration with Interni Spa and realized by Vudafieri Saverino Partners firm, evokes the unique elegance of Versace residences, starting from the architectural style of the building that host the showroom.

Photo © Matteo Imbriani

 DE CASTELLI New opening: via Visconti di Modrone 20 An architectural location, a meeting place, an exhibition of the culture of craftsmanship, design and experimentation. This is the new space created by Cino Zucchi for De Castelli. Luminous spaces with large niches become a setting for the narration of the new Rame At Home collection.  B&B ITALIA via Durini 14 The renovation is in full swing for the historic flagship store of B&B Italia in Milan, but for Milano Design City in April the facility was transformed into an exceptional stage for the new Noonu upholstered furniture system designed by Antonio Citterio, which completes a pathway that began in 2018 with B&B Atoll. Ample sizing, flexibility and ‘islands’ of relaxation are its defining canons.

 GALLOTTI&RADICE via Felice Cavallotti, 16 The Milan showroom (in partnership with Salvioni DesignSolutions) presents updated displays featuring new entries for 2021. Exclusive new products and expansions of existing lines thus convey the meaning of research capable of getting beyond trends and everyday circumstances. As the dining zone, creating a convivial atmosphere conveyed by the Shiro dining table and the Akiko chairs (both by Oscar & Gabriele Buratti).

Photo © Matteo Imbriani

 AGAPE via Statuto 12 The new Outdoor collection by Agape crosses the boundaries of conventional rooms, to take the bath experience into direct contact with nature. This is the case of the Handwash (by Benedini Associati), in the new Cementoskin® version, which guarantees easy maintenance and better strength of the washstand, to stand up to weathering. Ideal for both indoor and outdoor use.  LAPALMA New opening: via Gorani 8 “I have envisioned this space not as a showroom, but as a sort of design lab,” says Francesco Rota, art director of Lapalma, talking about the new Lapalma for Architects facility opened in the 5vie district. Next to the key spaces of the brand Home & Lounge, Café and Light Office, the hub features a wall that gets right to the crux of any project, thanks to the Material Lab and Tech Lab.

Photo © Andrea Martiradonna, Jasmina Martiradonna  PIANCA & PARTNERS via Porta Tenaglia 7N3 Calatea Green is the sustainable re-edition of Calatea armchair designed by Cristina Celestino in 2017: a new green version, with different materials and a distinctive aesthetics, redesigned according to the circular economy rules. The new armchair is exhibited in the Pianca & Partners showroom (recently opened) hosting 26 companies inside 900 sqm.

Photo © Vittorio Grassi Architetto & Partners

 PRINCIPE AMEDEO 5 Via Principe Amedeo 5 Principe Amedeo 5 is the architectural regeneration project by Vittorio Grassi Architetto & Partners, which has transformed a historical gem (the building that contained the American consulate since 1850) into an elegant office building, which now contains 500 workstations on 5 levels for a total of about 9000 sqm. A surprising outcome that has led to candidacy for the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2022.

 JANNELLI&VOLPI New openings: via Statuto 21 | Corso Garibaldi 81 The company celebrating its 60th anniversary this year has closed its former showroom on Via Melzo in Milan, and opens two new spaces in the Brera district. Two dedicated points, two different targets: the JVstudio aimed at professionals, with two windows at Via Statuto, and the JVstore for a wider audience, slated to open in May at Corso Garibaldi 81.  OPERA CONTEMPORARY New opening: Via Manzoni 37 The project by Bestetti Associati for the brand’s showroom is a magic box in which the company’s longterm icons are combined in a natural way with the important new creations for 2021 (first of all, the Aurora lounge chair & ottoman by Draga & Aurel). The design respects the character of the spaces, with well distributed settings that make the facility seem much larger than the actual 200 square meters of its layout. The finishes call for a special tracking shot: the juxtapositions of marble and wood, leather and fabrics, the stylistic impact of simple gilded pillars, like orderly cameos with an elegant mission.

 LIVING DIVANI Corso Monforte, 20 Created as a hybrid space, halfway between display and concept, the Living Divani Gallery takes on a novel look to host the new Indoor Collection 2021. With tenuous atmospheric lighting from large, refined bell-shaped lamps made of rice paper, the new setting is a sequence of tableaux, to rediscover the pleasure of conversation and sharing: thanks to the protagonist, namely the Sumo family of upholstered furniture by Piero Lissoni, and the Lemni armchair by Marco Lavit.

Photo © Francesco Caredda

 WEWORK Via G. Mazzini 9 The fourth and largest location of the American group in Italy was opened in March. Eight floors, over 7700 sqm, to welcome up to 1100 persons, inside a building that was once the headquarters of Banca Agricola Milanese. The interior design has been entrusted to the studio D2U (Design to Users), alternating luminous workspaces with smart meeting rooms and exclusive private offices, all with a stimulating, comfortable atmosphere.

Photo © Courtesy of D2U and WeWork

 MANERBA New opening: Piazza San Simpliciano “A Place to Live” is the concept – curated by the brand’s art director Federica Biasi – that gives form to the new Manerba showroom in the heart of Brera. A location that represents the evolution of the company, as both an ideal destination for designers (featuring a materials library and temporary filing services) and private customers, who can find the latest collections, including the Amis work&meeting table by Busetti Garuti Redaelli.

Photo © Federico Cedrone

 KNOLL Piazza Bertarelli, 2 The company responds to the new needs of home working, and therefore functional ergonomic furniture, but in line with the domestic landscape, with the 2021 collection Work from Home, featuring the KN Collection designed in collaboration with Piero Lissoni. This seating family includes the KN06 chair, now in a height-adjustable swivel version.  GERVASONI via Durini 7 The new indoor and outdoor products, presented at the showroom in Via Durini, reveal a modern way of viewing design as a timeless union between craftsmanship and contemporary creativity. For her first collaboration with Gervasoni, Chiara Andreatti has designed the outdoor furniture collection Guna, consisting of rugs, charpoys, cushions and coffee tables with a strong, multiethnic inspiration.

 CECCOTTI via Durini 23 Opened in September, the Ceccotti flagship store has been updated for new products in 2021, including the Evenmore table designed by Roberto Lazzeroni: refined in its aesthetics and materials (a perfect combination of wood and marble), and in its workmanship.

 ARAN CUCINE Piazza S. Gioachimo, 2N The company shows Vita Bella, a new kitchen able to harmonize elements from the past and the Italian manufacturing tradition, with contemporary ‘ingredients’. Core of the project are the doors, framed or smooth, optical or with decorations, which combine each time with simple volumes, or with sinusoidal and curved cabinets, giving freedom of composition.

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