Design News: Preview Milan Design Week 2019

Milan's Design Week brings together thousands of designers, brands and creative studios from around the world in a design extravaganza. Held every April, the event takes place during the Salone del Mobile, which is the most important trade fair in the world for design addicts. As always, it's accompanied by multiple offshoots, exhibitions and associated events, collectively referred to as the Fuorisalone (literally, ‘outside the show’).

A key set of dates in the design calendar, Milan is set to welcome almost half a million visitors between the 9th and 14th April 2019, all eager to attend the biggest design and furniture show in the world. With an array of exciting installations and showrooms on offer, the Milan Design Week is an unmissable event for anyone in the design world.

Both separate from the Salone del Mobile yet closely intertwined, Fuorisalone encompasses a series of presentations and exhibitions that take place concurrently throughout Milan. Since the turn of the century, the advent of the ‘design districts’ (neighbourhoods endorsed by Milan City Council to host related events) has seen Fuorisalone grow into a major force on the interior design and architectural scene.

2019 marks the return of Ventura Projects, the curated design event organisation that constitutes a key component of the Fuorisalone. This year, they’ve paired up with BASE Milano — a cultural centre located in the regenerated Ansaldo complex — to host Ventura Future, an exhibition of revolutionary new designs with a focus on sustainability and unusual materials. The group’s highly successful Ventura Centrale also returns to Milan for a third year, offering visitors the chance to explore a series of exciting design installations in the atmospheric setting of the abandoned warehouses next to Milan Central Station.

Fuorisalone’s must-see events this year include the highly anticipated Lexus immersive light exhibition, Leading with light; Beatrice Bozanigo’s casa ojalá, a portable eco-home designed to adapt to any habitat on earth; and designer Gaetano Pesce’s imposing maestà soffrente installation in the Piazza del Duomo.

Leading with light by Lexus, Tortona Design District

Whilst Fuorisalone events are held all over the city, the majority are concentrated in key pockets known as the ‘design districts’. Aside from Ventura Centrale — technically also classed as a district — the most popular areas include Brera, Tortona, 5VIE and Lambrate.

One of the newest, and simultaneously oldest districts is 5VIE, located in the historical centre of Milan. The intersection of five streets (or cinque vie), this cultural hub hosts multiple special projects over Milan Design Week that aim to promote art, architecture and the Old Town’s territorial heritage.

Nearby, the bohemian Brera neighbourhood celebrates its 10th year as a design district with an extra day of events and festivities, beginning the 8th April. Its theme this year is ‘Design your Life’, a call to action that challenges designers to think about sustainability as a key element in their work.

A little further from the centre, the Tortona and Lambrate districts continue to push the boundaries of contemporary design. The former centres on the eponymous street, with the wacky, futuristic and pioneering exhibits spilling out into nearby warehouses and open spaces. The latter is located in a regenerated industrial zone and has a particular focus on eco-friendly design, with events such as Swiss Krono Group’s Be Sustainable project and the Trash2Treasure Lab’s upcycling workshops taking centre stage.

House in Motion, Brera Botanical Garden © Annavittoria Avesani