Dezeen Magazine

Day two from Milan design week 2024

The Dezeen team are reporting live from Milan Design Week (15-19 April). Read on for all the coverage from the second day (Tuesday 16 April).


 

5:00pm Salone del Mobile – the world's largest furniture fair – always has a number of fun and attention-grabbing stands, reports Dezeen deputy editor Cajsa Carlson.

Among the favourites this year? Italian furniture brand Kartell, whose Urban Horizons stand featured striking cityscapes and drew a large crowd.

Kartell
Kartell created cityscapes for Salone del Mobile

The colourful cutouts formed the background for products (such as designer Fabio Novembre's new Pumo lamp) and gave the fairground a cinematic feel.

And with that, this live feed wraps for day two at Milan design week and we'll see you tomorrow – if not before, out and about at the events taking place across Milan tonight!

Kartell
Fabio Novembre's new Pumo lamp was presented in front of Kartell's cityscapes

 

4:30pm Fun textiles projects from students of CSM's Material Futures course are on show at Base Milano, Dezeen design editor Jennifer Hahn reports.

Jehnna Yang is showing alpine gear for wildlife photographers that was designed to blend into its surroundings and – unlike traditional outdoor gear – is made completely without plastic.

wilflife outfit
Jehnna Yang has designed alpine gear for wildlife photographers

Instead, the kit is infused with flavonoid compounds derived from alpine flora, which help to waterproof and shield from UV.

Nearby, Ilaria Quintè is showing textiles infused with pigments from microalgae, which according to the designer have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that can help to alleviate some of the symptoms of dermatitis without the need for steroid creams.

algae fabric
Ilaria Quintè is showing textiles infused with pigments from mico-algae

 

4:00pm Architect Francis Kéré has created a circular pavilion made from pine logs, which is being exhibited in collaboration with kitchen brand Next125 at Superstudio Events.

Kéré described his design as "archaic" when speaking with Dezeen's Starr Charles.

Francis Kere pavilion
The pavilion is made from pine logs

The pavilion explores the concept of kitchens and is centred with a sleek kitchen island from Next125's range that acts as a communal space for gathering and sharing.

Francis Kere pavilion
Kéré himself was present at the pavilion today (picture above). Images by Starr Charles

 

3:45pm At the Palazzo Clerici, German automobile manufacturer Porsche presents the fifth version of The Art of Dreams.

Design collective Numen/For Use created a huge black and white netted installation. The interactive artwork fills the courtyard and was animated by dancers, with choreography by Imre and Marne van Opstal, at the launch event on 16 April.

porsche
Numen/For Use designed the netted artwork for Porsche

A limited edition furniture collection by Vitra for Porsche features Eames shell chairs in black and white houndstooth, which is also on display – Rupert Bickersteth

porsche

Find out more about Porsche – The Art of Dreams on Dezeen Events Guide › 


 

3:15pm Sabine Marcelis and Paul Cournet have worked with French studio hall.haus to create a lounge for the Saudi Arabian city of AlUla during Milan design week called Design Space AlUla.

Speaking to Dezeen US editor Ben Dreith, Marcelis said "we've really tried to transform this space into something that does justice to the projects, but also really gives you a feeling of what AlUla is like".

Design Space AlUla
A giant ceiling light dominates the Design Space AlUla

"It feels like you're coming in through the rocks and then arriving in this oasis."

The installation features a massive sofa with a table in the middle and a huge overhead light, as well as a dune-like entry way.

Design Space AlUla
The entrance to Design Space AlUla is informed by the dunes of Saudi Arabia. Images by Ben Dreith

The downwards-facing light above the central space aims to mimic the light in AlUla.

Marcelis said the goal was to completely transform the chapel that the installation is held in.


 

2:45pm Dezeen deputy editor Cajsa Carlson has taken a journey into filmmaker David Lynch's world at furniture trade show Salone del Mobile. The director has designed two "Thinking Rooms" for the fair, both identical to each other.

david lynch
David Lynch has designed gigantic chairs with large antennas

Each of the rooms features a gigantic chair designed by Lynch in a setting that he created from the ground up – including dreamlike video windows and strange antennas that come out from the top of the chair.

The chairs sit in two identical rooms designed for meditation

Curator Antonio Monda said his reason for working with Lynch was that he knew of the filmmaker's interest in furniture design.

"I remembered going to see Lynch about his Lifetime Achievement Award when I was running the Rome Film Festival, and I found him in his workshop, planing a piece of furniture," he said.

david lynch
The rooms feature dreamlike vide windows

The busy installation saw plenty of people queuing to get their own time inside the room, which is meant to be used for meditation and contemplation.

david lynch
The film director has created the "Thinking Rooms" installation for Salone del Mobile

 

2:30pm Dezeen editorial director Max Fraser visited the Solgami meets Seagram installation in Zona Tortona, where architect and designer Ben Berwick is demonstrating his Solgami Ambient Light System.

The system is a site-specific, modular window treatment that enhances and directs natural light and reduces thermal dynamics in the built environment.

solgami
Lights mimic the sun at the installation to demonstrate the Solgami Ambient Light System

"Buildings account for 39 percent of global emissions, 28 percent of which arise from energy related to heating and cooling," said Berwick.

"80 percent of buildings that will be in use in 2050 have already been built today. It is imperative that we improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings. The biggest factor in doing this is minimising heat transfer through glazed facades and windows. The lack of, or oversupply of, light is the biggest factor influencing this heat transfer."

Fitted to existing buildings, the 20mm-thick screen is designed to stabilise internal temperatures, providing greater amounts of visible light where it is needed and reducing infrared and ultraviolet radiation.

solgami
Berwick is presenting the prototype of his Solgami Ambient Light System at Milan design week. Images courtesy of Solgami

In his installation, Berwick highlights the famous Seagram building, which was designed by Mies van der Rohe in the oil-rich 1950s without consideration for the energy required to heat and cool the interior.

Berwick is calling for a rapid retrofit programme to our older buildings to reduce their current energy burden.


 

1:30pm The Dezeen Studio team are also in Milan and have produced this video from the opening of a retrospective exhibition about Italian designer Alessandro Mendini.

The exhibition – titled Io Sono Un Drago (I am a dragon) – is on show at cultural institution Triennale Milano, hosted with the Fondation Cartier, from today (16 April) until 13 October.

 

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12:45pm Google has returned to Milan design week with a kaleidoscopic installation by research studio Chromasonic, designed to simulate the experience of having synesthesia.

Google chromasonic
Semi-transparent screens change colour at the Google Chromasonic installation

Dezeen design editor Jennifer Hahn has visited the installation, which stretches across 600 square metres inside a redeveloped industrial building near Porta Venezia, taking visitors on a "sensorial journey" through a maze of semi-transparent screens.

Google chromasonic
Images by Jennifer Hahn

Read the full story below ›  


 

12:30pm Tiramisù!

tirimasu
Image by Calum Lindsay

 

11:45am Moooi returns to its regular Milan location at Salone dei Tessuti with its Living Room concept, envisaged by the brand's creative director Marcel Wanders.

"The design industry has been obsessed with adding more and more stimuli to our spaces"

The space is a curated sensory environment with a strong emphasis on the interplay between light, sound and smell as much as physical products.

moooi installation
Moooi's Living Room concept is on show at Salone dei Tessuti in Milan

"The design industry has been obsessed with adding more and more stimuli to our spaces," says Moooi's Arjen Stege.

"This year we're exploring a more dynamic shift to the mood and feel of a room throughout the day, adding stimulation when you need energising but also reducing it when you need rest."

yves behar sofa
Yves Behar has unveiled his new Peaks sofa. Images by Max Fraser

A 40-minute light and sound loop evolves in the space alongside displays of new products from the brand, including the new Peaks sofa by Yves Behar.

On Thursday 18 April, Dezeen's Max Fraser will moderate a panel of expert speakers including Yves BeharLidewij Edelkoort and Marcel Wanders as they discuss lighting and the senses in design.


 

11:00am Minimalist lighting collections by Formafantasma and Nendo contrast with the decadent room in which they are displayed at Milan's Instituto dei Ciechi.

Glass company WonderGlass has transformed the space for their Contrasto installation displaying the two new collections.

Lighting installation
Nendo lighting is on display at Milan's Instituto dei Ciechi

Formafantasma paired Murano glass flowers with steel and cast glass, while Nendo aimed to capture "the gentle glow of twilight" with its curved bronzed glass lamps – Jane Englefield

lighting installation
Formafantasma lighting design was made with Murano glass
update

 

10:30am Lamps that look like pillows, soft furnishings modelled on stacked mattresses and rugs emblazoned with abstract interpretations of private body parts feature in Faye Toogood's Rude Arts Club.

The installation brings together new products created by the British designer for CC-Tapis and Tacchini that explore womanhood and female sexuality.

Faye Toogood rugs
The rugs in the collection feature abstracted private body parts

"I'm a couple of years off being 50 and I spent the last 20-30 years in design not really drawing attention to being female," Toogood told Dezeen design editor Jennifer Hahn.

"This is my take on embracing all that comes with being a woman."

Fayr Toogood rugs
Images by Jennifer Hahn

 

10:00am You can now read Starr Charles' conversation with Japanese designer Hideki Yoshimoto from the Lexus launch she attended yesterday (see 2:30pm entry).

Yoshimoto has unveiled an immersive art installation, in collaboration with car brand for their LF-ZC (Lexus Future Zero-emission Catalyst) concept car.

Speaking to Charles at the installation, the designer said "I wanted to create something which gives you an impression of kind of future-looking exploration or toward the future of different dimensions of this industry".


 

9:00am As the Dezeen team head out across the city for day two, catch up on everything that took place yesterday on day one of Milan design week.

At the Palazzo San Fedele, Bottega Veneta have installed more than 150 stools from the set design of their Autumn Winter 2024 fashion show earlier this year.

Bottega Veneta stools
Bottega Veneta's installation features dozens of stacked stools, modelled on the original by Le Corbusier

The stools, which are a special edition of the Le Corbusier LC14 Tabouret Cabanon, have been produced with Italian manufacturer Cassina and in close collaboration with Fondation Le Corbusier.

Le Corbusier stool at Bottega Veneta
The original wooden whisky box that Le Corbusier painted and used as a stool is also on display. Images by Rupert Bickersteth

For the Milan design week installation, 60 of the wooden stools stools have been upholstered with Bottega Veneta's woven "intrecciato" leatherwork technique in bright colours – Rupert Bickersteth


 

To keep you up to date, follow the live coverage from. You can catch up on everything that happened on day one at Milan design week.

Dezeen Events Guide has created a Milan design week digital guide highlighting the key events at the festival.

See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest information you need to know to attend the event, as well as a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

All times are London time.

The lead image is by Rupert Bickersteth.