Triennale Milano is open to the public with a series of new exhibitions and projects for Milano Design Week, thus continuing to act as a landmark institution in the world of international design. As was the case during the International Exhibitions and on the occasion of the sixtieth Salone del Mobile.Milano, Triennale shows the research and products of the top names in design and architecture in partnership with institutions and companies.
The central project at Triennale during Milano Design Week is the MEMPHIS AGAIN exhibition, created by Triennale in collaboration with Memphis Milano, curated by Christoph Radl. It includes over two hundred pieces of furniture and objects designed by the Memphis group between 1981 and 1986, many of which have become icons of design. The objects are displayed in chronological order in the Curva gallery, which is more than 100 metres long, just like a fashion show in which the observer will be the one moving along the catwalk in a space that, thanks to the furniture and the music by Seth Troxler, feels like a nightclub. Quotes by critics, architects and designers are projected on the walls.
The other exhibitions taking place in the Palazzo dell’Arte for Milano Design Week offer in-depth analyses of some of the key themes of contemporary debate, such as environmental sustainability and mindful development in view of the scarcity of materials. This can be seen in the exhibitions Forest Tales, promoted by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), GILCO 100 road bike. Centenary of Gilberto Colombo, and The Twist: Cultural and Emotional Crossings by KOYORI. The design of services on an urban scale can be seen in the installation project entitled The Tokyo Toilet / Milano, created by SKWAT, a Japanese collective of artists. The exhibitions In a box, with the works of the Austrian designer Arthur Arbesser, Driade On Stage and CACTUSRAMA both convey an idea of the home that interprets lifestyle trends in a spectacular setting. The Inventory of Life by the French designer Mathieu Lehanneur illustrates social phenomena through data and installations.
Forest Tales
Curated and designed by Studio Swine, Forest Tales brings together 22 specially selected designs from the American Hardwood Export Council’s (AHEC) recent projects, in a truly spectacular showcase of both global design talent and the beauty and versatility of American hardwood as a design material. Showing at Triennale Milano from 3 to 12 June, Forest Tales is the culmination of AHEC’s creative work over the past two years. Studio Swine have curated pieces from four projects, which despite the diversity of their output, are united through material – each piece is made from one (or more) of three underused American hardwood varieties: maple, cherry and red oak.
Forest Tales, exhibition view. Courtesy of Triennale Milano.
The Tokyo Toilet / Milano
The project The Tokyo Toilet came into being for the 2020 Olympics, originating from a reflection on these aspects, a strong sense of empathy, and the desire to find a solution for welcoming and functional places. It is a new concept for public toilets that puts the maximum of creativity and talent at their service. The objective is to transform them into symbolic and comfortable places, to be taken care of together with the community, completely revolutionizing their perception.
“The Tokyo Toilet / Milano” includes the complete renovation of the public toilets in the Duomo underground station, which will be donated to the city of Milan and which for the whole of the Design Week will be characterised by an artistic wrapping with the photographs by Moriyama. The project has been developed in collaboration with bathroom manufacturer TOTO, known in Japan and around the world for the highest standards of bathroom and toilet culture. Those equipment will be donated to the municipality of Milan.
In a Box
“In a Box”, Arthur Arbesser takes part at Milan Design Week with his first furniture design project, on show at Triennale Milano. With ‘In a Box’ Arbesser translates the motifs that have always characterised his creative language into a series of unique pieces: PEMO, COVADO and TOITOITOI – a chair, a coffee table and a set of three modular containers all start from the essential geometry of a cube. In particular, the tiny PEMO chair that oscillates between a sitting stool and table is made both smooth yet precise and – when juxtaposed with the vivid stripes and prints – has a magnetic stream of movement. The installation at the Triennale also presents the brand’s second homeware textile collection produced by Masa Industrie Tessili with five new graphics that enrich the first edition of Arthur Arbesser CASA tableware presented in September 2021.
CACTUSRAMA
On the occasion of the Milan Design Week, Gufram celebrates one of its most iconic pieces, the CACTUS®, with a dedicated exhibition at the Impluvium of the Triennale Milano. CACTUSRAMA showcases 12 editions of CACTUS® and for the first time, the new collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts.
Originally designed by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, CACTUS® reflects Gufram’s avant-garde mindset, its desire to push the limits of industrial design, its nonconformist experimentation linked to aesthetic, technological and material research, and its Radical Design spirit. CACTUSRAMA brings the visitors on a journey through all the different personalities of the most recognisable and contemporary domestic sculptures to this date, showcasing the different editions of CACTUS®, and providing a 360° view of the nonconformist soul that inspired a number of creatives in the last decades.
The Inventory of Life
Curated by Maria Cristina Didero
Multidisciplinary creator Mathieu Lehanneur presents at Triennale Milano a solo exhibition in occasion of Milan Design Week 2022. Entitled The Inventory of Life, this exhibition comprises of four installations: State of the World, 50 Seas, Live/Leave, and How Deep is Time, blurring the boundaries between design, science, art, and anthropology. Through these four large-scale installations, Lehanneur assesses the state of the world – with a reawakened awareness of the fragility and transiency of human life, juxtaposed to the consciousness of the long term, interconnected damage experienced by the environment through climate change – with a particular focus on rising sea levels, and marine ecosystems.
The Museo del Design Italiano and the permanent installation of Ettore Sottsass’s Casa Lana are open to the public, as are the exhibitions Ettore Sottsass. Struttura e colore and Raymond Depardon. La vita moderna, held in collaboration with the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.
This array of exhibitions is accompanied by a special Public Program devoted to the top names in the world of design, with meetings, lectures and screenings. A Side Event of the New European Bauhaus festival, of which Triennale Milano is a partner and which is promoted by the European Commission in Brussels, will be held on June 9. Under the title Le Tesi di Milano, the meeting will involve a number of local and national actors on issues such as beauty, sustainability and inclusion.
Away from the Palazzo dell’Arte, during this edition of Milano Design Week, Triennale opens Il padiglione del vetro, the third design exhibition inside Milan Linate Airport, with a selection of objects from its permanent collection.
Triennale exhibitions and events for Milano Design Week
Until the 12th of June, 2022
Courtesy of Triennale Milano