WHERE NOW | FOCUS symbol of post-war Milan, which closed down two years ago. The space will host various projects, including a tribute to the work of Nanda Vigo. The items displayed will include her 2005 ‘Goral’ totems, fitted with neon light signals representing the elementary signs of the cosmogenic alphabet and a wall display of her luminous tree sculptures titled ‘Light Trees’. In vicolo Bagnera, renowned for being Milan’s narrowest, most mysterious street, Portuguese artist Xena will pay tribute to Italy’s rich cultural heritage, and stage a show of light and shadows, narrative and reality, inspired by the work of Caravaggio (www.5vie.it).
The bourgeois apartments in the Brera Design District are a must-visit location. They are a symbolic area of the city, characterized by a precise, coherent identity. The Brera Design Apartment is an exhibition space located in via Palermo 1 that has been designed to host events, exhibitions, shootings, presentations and business dinners. This year, these authentic design residences, equipped with all the essential mod cons, will host an exhibition organized by Raffaella Guidobono. This exhibition, featuring creations in soapstone, blown glass, Limoges porcelain, brass and solid, hand-cut wood, will explore light design and superior craftsmanship. At the same time,
12 designers have been invited to create an innovative item for the launch of ‘Souvenir Milan’, a collection of mementoes symbolizing Milan, including a Last Supper-themed brooch, sequined porcelain fridge magnets and a saffron container in honour of Milan’s traditional yellow rice. All of the items mentioned can be purchased on-site. As is customary, the Lago apartment (via Brera 30), another renowned cultural and residential experiment, will host events and meetings. To mark the occasion, it will be redecorated with 40 different elements including patterns, furnishings and upholstery created by the same number of young Italian talents (www.breradesigndistrict.it).
Brera Art Gallery
© MATTIA VACCA
Lavazza Tiny Bar On the occasion of the Fuorisalone, Italian coffee company Lavazza has teamed up with irreverent art magazine Toiletpaper to offer customers a special pop-up bar featuring an unconventional, pop atmosphere inspired by the new Tiny espresso machine. At the Mediatica Santa Teresa in Brera (via della Moscova, 28), you can visit the playful, whimsical installation cum cafeteria where the new Lavazza Tiny machines take centre stage.
MILANO GREEN Milan’s 57th Design Week will feature numerous projects dedicated to re-greening the city. Although the installations will be temporary, the idea is to put a little greenery back into urban spaces, exploring whether it's possible to use natural resources sustainably to create user-friendly spaces and houses. › To highlight the special relationship with the city, this year, Salone del Mobile.Milano will spread beyond the confines of the Fair to explore the relationship between nature and living spaces with ‘Living Nature. The Nature of Living’, an installation located in piazza Duomo, in front of Palazzo Reale. From 17 to 29 April, a 500sq.m. pavilion designed by international architecture firm Carlo Ratti Associati and conceived using energy saving criteria, will house four natural, climatic microcosms allowing visitors to pass from one season to another in an instant. The aim is to offer green solutions that are genuinely applicable, and capable of taking advantage 16 W H E R E M I L A N I A P R I L 2 018
of existing technological innovations intelligently. While air conditioning is often associated with excessive energy consumption, this project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a technology for sustainable climate control, based on the use of solar panel and energy accumulators (www.salonemilano.it/manifestazioni). › Eataly Milano Smeraldo and Liveinslums Onlus will present MI-ORTO, a project dedicated to Urban Agriculture and ecological design, established to bring agriculture closer to the city. Regenerated vegetable gardens, benches and flowerbeds will transform piazza XXV Aprile into a playful/experiential installation (www.eataly.net). › ‘Hidden Garden’, an evocative project by Pierattelli Architetture, will involve the creation of an enchanted, secret garden, populated with hundreds of trees and plants.
On display from 16 to 22 April, it will offer the public a space to enjoy and interact with nature. Situated in piazza Gae Aulenti, the garden covers a surface area of 140sq.m. and is protected by mirror-covered panels. The mirrors are oriented in different directions to create a fascinating play of reflections that seem to increase the space ad infinitum. › Lastly, at the Milan Design Market, hosted at the Gianni Rizzotti Photographic Studio in via Pastrengo 14, Plantui Italia will present a lamp (see photo) that enables you to grow aromatic herbs and salad without soil (www.milandesignmarket.com).