Milan 2012 Preview

MOST
At this year’s Milan Furniture Fair, British designer Tom Dixon turns a former monastery in Milan into MOST, an ambitious exhibition venue. Dixon sought a diverse range of collaborators and events including a lecture series sponsored by Cartier and an installation by Yves Béhar with SodaStream.

RCA
London’s Royal College of Art will exhibit Pia Wüstenberg’s handcrafted vessels at this year’s show. Her Stacking Vessels collection combines wood, glass, and ceramics, embodying the simple rituals of everyday life.

Doshi Levien
The London design duo will debut their new sofa, inspired by Le Corbusier’s architecture in Chandigarh. The designers will also present new designs such as a dressing table for BD Barcelona and an armless version of their Impossible wood chair.

Discipline
Renato Preti, former investment banker and chief executive of Skitsch, will launch Discipline at this year’s Fair, a new brand focused on sustainability and good design. Discipline will work with natural renewable materials and feature pieces by designers from 10 different countries for the launch.

GUIDE
With so many galleries, showrooms, and pop-ups to see, the year’s biggest design event can be overwhelming. May’s Icon magazine (107) has your guide to Milan Design Week 2012.

In Fiera Rho, visit the under 35s section, SaloneSatellite, for new talents. For new collections by Driade, Ludovica and Roberto Palomba, and other well-known names, head to the Salone Internationale del Mobile.

Spazio Rossana Orlandi in Centrale is another key place to spot up-and-coming talents. Expect crowds of visitors to be drawn to this legendary tastemaker’s gallery. You will also find contemporary and vintage furniture in the part gallery, part retail space, Orlandi’s cafe around the corner, and a wonderfully tranquil garden in the courtyard.

In Brera, Kvadrat celebrates their first and most iconic fabric, Hallingdal 65, with a selection of international designers asked to reinterpret the classic textile in the sleek Jil Sander showroom. Also look out for Skitsch’s new collection, Forward, and Moroso’s showroom, which will feature an installation by Chinese architect Zhang Ke of Standardarchitecture.

Superstudio Più are back with their “less fair, more museum” concept in the Temporary Museum for New Design. They will present 30 exhibitions, including new collections, young talent, and a solo exhibition entitled Still & Sparkling featuring a collection of crystal objects by Nendo. While you’re in Zona Tortona, also visit new collections from Established & Sons and Cappellini, Cassina and Poltrona Frau.

Finally, in Ventura Lambrate, Lee Broom will install a British pub, RCA celebrates its 175th anniversary, and Jamie Hayón will headline a starting event with his installation Spazio Hayón.

Public Design Festival

While the attention of the Milan Furniture Fair is focused on interior products and spaces, Italian company Esterni has started a parallel event, the Public Design Festival, in order to direct more attention to public space. Young architects and designers tackle neglected spaces and questions of urban rehabilitation with a variety of programming and competitions. This year’s PDF will mostly reside in Cascina Cuccagna, an abandoned 17th-century farmhouse surrounded by the tall apartment blocks of Porta Romana, and aims to raise awareness of the design of public spaces.

credit Discipline

Image

Guglielmo Trupia

Words

ICON