The first sign came in mid-January, when Alcova, a highly acclaimed collective exhibition event in the Milano Design Week constellation, announced its new location (or two, rather): Villa Borsani and Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. In Varedo, about half an hour from the city centre. Thema, an exhibition with a strong curatorial imprint that creates a dialogue between art and design (it premiered in Paris last October during Design Miami/ Paris), will take place in a disused industrial building near Linate airport, which it will share with Baranzate Ateliers, the project launched last year dedicated to collectible design.
The boundaries of the ‘city of design’ are expanding, and a lot. But the big fair still lasts a week, not counting the increasingly frequent previews: but few can afford to spend so many days in the city. The question of how best to use one’s time is becoming increasingly important, given that it is now impossible to see everything. For companies and visitors alike, this is yet another argument in favour of making the best use of time: the Salone or the city?
This is no small matter. In recent years, the popularity of events where design is shown and experienced in an urban and festive atmosphere (threeedaysofdesign in Copenhagen, for instance), has grown. But, as Brigitte Silvera told us in one of the interviews collected in our Design Issue, the magazine that comes out during Design Week, “with only a few days available, the fair remains essential to get a complete view of all the collections. But of course we will also follow our brands around the city, where extraordinary things are happening outside the stands”.
The issue is complex: you cannot impose a closed number of events and it is very difficult to create a control room with the aim of making the MDW experience more rational and easier to navigate. But that is what many are increasingly asking for. Will the decision to “stay away from the madding crowd” pay off? As always, the numbers will tell us when the games are over. In the meantime, let’s get ready for the show.
