Milan celebrates design with a new Fuorisalone event

Earlier this year, Milan became the first European city to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of all design events (including Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone). Through collective creative and entrepreneurial initiatives (such as a manifesto drafted by nine Italian furniture companies titled 'Design Doesn't Give up'), the design community has continued to foster engaging conversations and develop new projects, a series of efforts that are now erupting in an off-season design event supported by the City of Milan and Fuorisalone. Titled Milano Design City, the two-week initiative features a series of showroom openings, launches, debates and events (both physical and digital) that very much feel like the city has re-gained its creative energy.  

Brassless by Nilufar

BRASSLESS: New Accords for the Metallic Wave, is a show curated by Studio Vedèt as part of the ongoing FAR series that sees Nilufar Gallery being taken over by a generation of young designers. Set in the spaces of Nilufar Depot’s Caveau, the exhibition includes works by Odd Matter, Objects of Common Interest (pictured) and Destroyers / Builders with a special contribution by Martino Gamper. As the title suggests, the group show is a provocative stance against the ubiquitous metal that has been popping up everywhere in design (Nilufar included), celebrating material diversity.

Viale Vincenzo Lancetti, 34

Tropical Milan by Erez Nevi Pana

Erez Nevi Pana’s body work is entirely dedicated to the exploration of alternative, ethical materials that can serve our everyday manufacturing needs. After an exhibition exploring vegan design in 2018, the Israeli designer collaborated once again with Milanese curator Maria Cristina Didero to go one step further, growing his own design materials (namely, banana tress he could source fibers from). His project Tropical Milan includes a film that portrays a futuristic dystopia, a narrative in which the city becoming a jungle, and a capsule collection of three furniture pieces (a bag chair, a rocking chair and a hammock), made of banana fibre grown by Nevi Pana, that represents the designer’s optimistic reaction to that future vision.

Via Cesare Correnti, 14

1+1+1 at Assab One

Now in its fourth edition, Assab One’s 1+1+1 exhibition format brings together the work of creatives from different fields under one roof. Curated by Federica Sala, this year’s exhibition features new works by Michele De Lucchi in collaboration with AMDL Circle (who also designed a logo for the project), contemporary artist Loris Cecchini and design consultancy Pentagram, participating to the project with the collective name & Friends. For the occasion, Cecchini created a web of modular organic structures, De Lucchi used large-scale rugs to create architectural structures, and Pentagram partner and writer Naresh Ramchandani collaborated with over 20 different creatives on a series of Home Poems. Created in London during lockdown, Ramchandani's collective project is based on finding poetry and joy in everyday life: a playful punctuation to the exhibition that demonstrates how humour is a much needed element in our lives. Curator Federica Sala was inspired by the traditionally choral nature of the exhibition, giving communities a unified voice.

Until 14 November. Via Privata Assab, 1

Latteria by Keiji Takeuchi for Fucina

Under Maddalena Casadei’s creative direction, Italian brand Fucina returns with a new project by Japanese designer Keiji Takeuchi. His Latteria stool is based on a simple, archetypal design (inspired by traditional milking stools) that has been refined by the designer and created with manufacturing precision and cutting edge techniques. Made of a single block of aluminium (available in a variety of colours), the stool’s seat was milled with millimetric precision, while an active nanotechnological treatment was applied to all surfaces to inhibit the proliferation of harmful elements that come into contact with them – making the piece antibacterial and fingerprint resistant.

MEGA, Piazza Vetra 21