Dezeen Magazine

BMW and MINI announce installations by Alfredo Häberli and Jaime Hayón for Milan

BMW and MINI announce installations by Alfredo Häberli and Jaime Hayón for Milan

News: car brands BMW and MINI have enlisted Alfredo Häberli and Jaime Hayón to create mobility-themed installations for Milan's annual design week in April.

BMW's design team will work with Swiss-Argentinian designer Alfredo Häberli to create an abstract artwork during the Salone del Mobile furniture fair from 14 to 19 April.

For the same event, MINI – part of the BMW family – has asked Spanish designer Jaime Hayón to come up with his vision for the future of urban mobility.

Häberli has worked with BMW's Karim Habib and Martina Starke – under the overall direction of Adrian van Hooydonk – to conceptualise and create the Spheres installation.

"The installation is a three-dimensional discourse on the theme Precision and Poetry – combined with my poetic response to the theme of luxury," said Häberli.

The piece will take the form of an abstract object, designed to emulate forward motion.

BMW and MINI announce installations by Alfredo Häberli and Jaime Hayón for Milan
This image: Jaime Hayón sketch of his concept for MINI. Main image: concept image of Alfredo Häberli's proposal for BMW

As part of the project, Alfredo Häberli looked at the BMW Group's development laboratories and model workshops before spending more than half a year working on his concept through sketches, documents and models.

"Alfredo Häberli approaches our design philosophy with an ingenious passion and conceptual clout," said Van Hooydonk. "I always enjoy philosophising with Alfredo on design and mobility, and I'm delighted to see these ideas now taking shape in an installation as well."

Hayón's project is based on the MINI Citysurfer – a new electric kick scooter concept, which the designer has used to create "a fanciful experience world that showcases his personal take on future mobility".

BMW's installation will be located at Via Amatore Sciesa 3, while MINI's will be found at Via Bergognone 26.

During the London Design Festival last September, Dezeen and MINI presented six designers' future transportation proposals for an exhibition located at designjunction.

These include Dominic Wilcox's stained-glass car and Lucy McRae's human vacuum-packing experiment, created as part of our Dezeen and MINI Frontiers collaboration focusing on the intersection of design and technology.