What not to miss during Milan Design Week 2019
Salone Internazionale del Mobile, also known as Milan Design Week, takes place from 9 to 14 April 2019. MaterialDistrict will be present to scout the latest and most innovative materials. Below, we have listed a few projects that use innovative, surprising and/or sustainable materials, which you shouldn’t miss!
Ventura Future
For the second time, Ventura Future, hosted by Ventura Projects, returns to Milan Design Week, presenting 83 exhibitors. Interesting, material-related projects include a project by the University of St. Gallen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and Tarantik & Egger from Germany and Switzerland, which upcycles wind turbine blades into new objects.
Nienke Hoogvliet’s project Mourn mixes ashes with a bioplastic that is created by bacteria that clean sewage water (PHA) to make a new type of urn. Because the plastic is biodegradable, the ashes are slowly released into the soil, which can absorb their nutrients and chemicals slowly, preventing soil- and groundwater pollution.
Eddyboy’s Hydroformed Radiator is a stainless steel radiator that is shaped by deforming the material with water under pressure. Because of this process, no radiator is the same.
The exhibition also shows Buxkin, a company that turns leather and felt waste into wall and floor materials, Enis Akiev’s Plastic Stone Tiles, Pascale Theron’s Feathered Fabrics, Manureality by Martijn Straatman, Industrial Craft by Charlotte Kidger, Peel Saver by StudentDesign, objects made from mycelium and algae by Krown Design and Algae Lab, and much more.
Lambrate Design District
Platform Trash2Treasure supports the upcycling movement and will give a series of workshops during Milan Design Week. One of the materials they present is Glacier by design studio Llot Llov, a terrazzo-like material made from crushed rejected nail polish bottles.
Flooring company Swiss Krono uses the fairy tale of Pinocchio as a metaphor to illustrate the steps the company has taken to become more sustainable. The main installation is inspired by one of the key moments in the fairy tale, the whale’s belly, designed by Caberlon Caroppi studio, lined with the soundproofing material Swissclic Panel-A.
(S)wedesign shows work of Swedish designers, each with a close connection to materials. Jan Klingler’s In a New Light lights, coloured with bacteria, will be on display, as well as work of Marie-Louise Hellgren, who works with discarded materials, 3D printed jewellery by Ve and Vile, pleated luxury accessories made from recycled high quality fabrics and vintage scarves by Van Deurs label, and more.
And more
Designer Mae Engelgeer displays her Ultimate Bliss carpets at CC-Tapis and Swell collection for Moooi carpets. Her newest collection, known as Lavish, shows Engelgeer’s vision on jacquard weaving in a series of large panels that function as textile objects in the space. The ribbed textiles are made with materials like metal and paper yarns.
David Derksen presents several new light concepts that play with the perception of materiality and light. The Neolith lights are a series of pendants that seem to consist of heavy solid slabs of slate and marble, but while the surfaces consist of real stone, the lamps are actually hollow, resulting in the illusion of heavy blocks suspended by thin wires. Sine Lights consist of flexible strips. By fixing it to the wall or ceiling, a natural sine curve appears, resulting in a wave form of light.
Stay tuned for more material news from Milan!
Photos: see photos