With a focus on young designers and an expected attendance of over 40,000 visitors, the second edition of Porta Venezia Design District is inspired by the multidisciplinary thought of graphic designer Paul Rand: “Everything is design. Design is the method of bringing together form and content. Design, like art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, which is why it is so complicated.”
MEET – Digital Culture Centre (viale Vittorio Veneto 2) will once again be the hub of the event, supported by Fondazione Cariplo and the International Design Institute Raffles Milano. Here NEUTRA presents “To the Edge of Matter. An Unforgettable Journey”, an exhibition curated by Migliore+Servetto where the uniqueness of matter is the narrative key to the brand’s collaboration with eight internationally renowned designers – atelier oï, Draw Studio, Foster + Partners, Gabriele and Oscar Buratti, Mario Bellini, Migliore+Servetto, Nespoli e Novara, Zaha Hadid Architects.
How is design changing? The Design x Everythink exhibition at Raffles Milano, Via Felice Casati 16 (Milan headquarters of the International Design Institute), will present interpretations of the theme that promote disciplinary hybridity, signed by emerging designers. At Spazio Maiocchi, via Maiocchi 7, Capsule Plaza returns, a curatorial project, a hybrid of fair and exhibition, which has selected a nucleus of designers and brands from different creative fields. The historic venues of the district add a unique charm to the Design Week: the Biblioteca Venezia (via Malpighi corner via Melzo), a historic Liberty building now dedicated to cultural initiatives, will host NOOK by Mara Bragagnolo, a collection of Montessori-inspired furniture designed for autistic children; the Piscina Cozzi, in Viale Tunisia 35, designed by engineer Luigi Secchi in 1934, will be exceptionally open during the Design Week, allowing the public to admire its perfectly preserved original mosaics.
Back to young people: at the Consulate of the Czech Republic, in via Morgagni 20, students from the Faculty of Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín and other international universities will present the exhibition Identity. The attention paid to the production of materials can be seen in many installations, such as Re/Creation by LASVIT, where fused glass takes over the central courtyard of Palazzo Isimbardi (Corso Monforte 35), or in the exhibition at the Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano (via Vivaio 7), which focuses on the new lighting collections by WonderGlass – CONTRASTO, signed by nendo (Dusk) and Formafantasma (Graft); and, once again at Spazio Milesi (via Felice Casati 29), Heavy Metal, an exhibition of furniture with a linear design in raw sheet metal.
Micrographia, at the Park Hub Studio in via Garolfalo 14, explores architectural trends and the relationship between urban products and the natural environment. Craftsmanship savoir faire gives life to furnishings with contemporary lines: the tenth anniversary of Collection Particulière, a French maison d’edition founded in 2014 by Jérôme Aumont, which celebrates at Fondazione Mudima, via Tadino 26, with Natural Disco, a new collection of limited edition furnishings. Boon Room, Teorema and Tooy: these are some of the young and selected brands in the world of furniture and design that can be discovered at MelzoDodici (via Melzo 12): an articulated itinerary between outdoor and indoor spaces.
Textiles and interiors in dialogue at the Design Gallery (via Soperga 18), a renovated former street lamp workshop, where the creations of two Finnish designers based in Italy will be on display. Kristiina Lassus‘s handmade carpets from Nepal and India will accompany Anne Kyyrö Quinn‘s acoustic sculpture panels. Cycling enthusiasts will not want to miss the Brompton Junction in via Melzo 36: the Brompton T Line 12 Speed, the new frontier in folding bikes: super light, in titanium and carbon.
