News + Trends
Salone del Mobile: the best of our first day in Milan
by Pia Seidel
Trade fair report from the third day of Milan Design Week
12.4.2019
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Thomas Kunz
The last day in Milan has dawned for photographer Thomas and me. In addition to snapshots on the Galaxus Instagram profile, we'll keep you up to date here and show you which projects blew us away today.
Lilac-filled palazzo gardens, a gelato in your hand and fine coffee in your cup. These are the nice side effects of walking through Milan during the Salone del Mobile. Queuing for exhibitions or aching feet from all the walking are the unpleasant side effects. Nevertheless, it's worth it. Because time and again I find design projects that captivate me. I share some of them on Instagram in the stories and others here with you. You can get updates and find the best-ofs from the past two days in this article:
Something for the senses
Nendo lights up Milan and the minds of weary trade fair visitors. The installation by the Japanese design studio revolves around the experience and sensation of "invisible air". It was created in collaboration with Daikin, a manufacturer of air conditioning systems. When a spotlight hits a polarising filter and is projected onto another flower-shaped polarising film, the light passes through. The two filter layers together then create a darker shadow than expected.
Sensory spectacle
At Sony, I experience for the first time what it means when a robot recognises you and reacts to your movements. No matter where my hand moves outside the sphere, the light inside follows me. All the other installations are also dependent on the presence of visitors in order for the robots to move. These robots illustrate how humans and artificial intelligence can interact together.
New materials
Many works, especially by young designers, revolve around sustainability issues. They are increasingly finding ways to produce new materials from leftovers from the food industry: Chicken skin, for example, is on the rise. The structure of the skin looks confusingly similar to snakeskin.
Addressing taboos
The Ventura Futura exhibition in the Tortona district puts contemporary design centre stage. It showcases projects by up-and-coming designers and established brands and labels.
I was particularly surprised by a final project by students from the Danish university VIA. The students have developed a collection in which each individual piece of furniture is designed to help address taboo topics such as depression or obesity with its function and appearance.
Smart things for well-being
The students of the Royal College of Art London deal with real challenges for people. Their designs show compassion: they support the individual in overcoming a challenge. The young talents also utilise technology. For example, they have developed a programme for patients that makes psychotherapy as pleasant as possible. Another example is a device designed to support meditation.
Against the throwaway society
To make devices like a hairdryer last longer, designer Jiiarui Liu has developed a reusable model. You can open it if necessary, repair it yourself and replace individual parts. Another model, designed by Eunhye Ko, challenges the conventional plastic housing of the hairdryer as we know it. It introduces a more environmentally friendly solution - a ceramic housing.
Follow me for my next article by hitting the black button on my profile. I look forward to your plan.
Pia Seidel
Senior Editor
Pia.Seidel@digitecgalaxus.chLike a cheerleader, I love celebrating good design and bringing you closer to everything furniture- and interior design- related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior ideas, report on trends and interview creative minds about their work.
Interior
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest