What to see at FuoriSalone 2023: 15 events not to be missed

Alcova, former slaughterhouse of Porta Vittoria, viale Molise 62

It is the most awaited event of the FuoriSalone. We are talking about Alcova, the independent design platform created by Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima. Now in its fifth edition, Alcova returns with many new features, starting with the new, powerful address, the former municipal slaughterhouse of Porta Vittoria, an immense space with a strong impact.

Because in our opinion it deserves. First reason: Alcova, in addition to being an exhibition of the most experimental processes and ideas, is also an opportunity to discover and reactivate abandoned and forgotten places in Milan. This year is the last chance to enter the imposing former slaughterhouse before its transformation.

Second reason: Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima are among the (few) who with competence and passion work permanently throughout the year (and not just a few months before the FuoriSalone) to give voice to the "other" face of design, the distant one from mainstream storytelling; Alcova gives us a multifaceted and complex photograph of design in all its expressions, not only installations or products, but also the more conceptual proposals, made of sound, or people who move.

Thirdly: the variety of projects, ranging from contemporary craft to research on materials, and the names chosen, from established to emerging designers, from those who have the possibility of interpreting the place in a muscular way to those who instead make themselves heard with the power of his research, albeit in a small way.

Droog, Triennale, viale Alemagna 6

Droog is back! Exactly thirty years after its debut in Milan, which took place in April 1993, the Droog collective returns with a collaborative exhibition conceived by Richard Hutten and curated by Maria Cristina Didero.

It's Droog30 - Design or non-design?, from 15 to 23 April at the Triennale, a collaborative exhibition-event that celebrates the three decades of the group that revolutionized the way of doing design.

To create it, Richard Hutten gathered testimonials and memories about Droog through social media, a crowdsourcing of opinions and anecdotes to tell the influence that the movement has had, and still has, on the public, especially on the new generations of designers.

In our opinion it deserves because: it is a highly anticipated return, that of Droog, a group that has made the history of design, and which still has a lot to say in an era in which sustainability is an imperative . And then for the installation, curated by Richard Hutten, a fresh and unpredictable take on Droog, as he himself says: "All the floors and walls will be covered with the messages about Droog that we are collecting on social networks, graphically represented as" an analogue social media” because the posts will be printed on paper and posted on the wall, a bit to playfully allude to the fact that there was no internet thirty years ago”.

Prada Frames, teatro dei Filodrammatici, piazza Paolo Ferrari 6

Prada Frames is back, the multidisciplinary symposium that explores the complex interaction between environment and design, conceived by the Formafantasmas. This year Prada Frames is held in Hong Kong and Milan, and has the title Materials in flux, an investigation into the concept of waste or scrap as a material in continuous transformation. The starting point is the work of the British anthropologist Tim Ingold, for whom matter is a living, interconnected and eternally changing entity. The symposium looks at the dynamics that regulate waste infrastructures and their value systems to reveal the complex relationship between matter and ecosystems. The symposium in Milan is from 17 to 19 April, and involves, among others, Tim Ingold himself, Elizabeth Povinelli, Beatriz Colomina, Mark Wigley, Sophie Chao, Veena Sahajwalla and Hans Ulrich Obrist. The symposium is free and open to all, to register for the sessions you need to book here prada.com/pradasphere.

Because it deserves in our opinion. Because among the myriad of "wow effect" events of the FuoriSalone, Prada Frames is an unmissable moment of analysis and discussion with exceptional speakers, with democratic meetings open to all. Furthermore, the symposium is hosted at the Teatro dei Filodrammatici, one of the oldest theater institutions in Milan, founded in 1798, with interiors redesigned by Luigi Caccia Dominioni in the 1960s.

Il nuovo museo del design della Triennale, viale Alemagna 6

La Triennale, nata nel 1923 a Monza come biennale delle arti decorative, quest'anno celebra cento anni. Per l'occasione, l'istituzione invita il pubblico a scoprire le numerose mostre celebrative, tra cui il nuovo allestimento del museo del design, a cura del direttore Marco Sammicheli. Un percorso alla scoperta di un secolo di storia del design, e parallelamente un secolo di storia della Triennale, che parte dal 1923 e arriva a oggi. In mostra arredi, disegni, grafiche, foto e anche numerosi interni originali d'epoca, che testimoniano come si è evoluto il design e il modo di vivere la casa nelle decadi.

Perché merita secondo noi. Perché è un “back to the future”, un viaggio nel tempo che ci farà capire molto di come abitiamo oggi, e molto probabilmente di come abiteremo in futuro. In più, verrà presentata la Design platform, una piattaforma per mostre temporanee che approfondiranno e daranno spazio al design di oggi e ai nuovi nomi.

Ferruccio Laviani for Lea Ceramiche al Pac, via Palestro 14

Forms of pure matter and colour. It's Tools and space by Ferruccio Laviani for Lea Ceramiche, at Pac, the contemporary art pavilion in Milan. An installation in which the designer from Cremona investigates the expressive, creative and design potential of ultra-thin ceramic slabs.

Because he deserves in our opinion. Ferruccio Laviani is to all intents and purposes a living master of design. For him, everything is a source of inspiration, pop music, jazz sounds, art, travel, dreams, fairy tales, films, books, memories. With the curious eyes of a child, Laviani observes and absorbs from the world, and in a unique and unrepeatable way he blends codes, forms, inspirations, currents, influences, eras, memories and personal experience to give life to something never seen before, unconventional it's fresh. With this singular approach, never trivial or obvious, he hybridises the world of ceramics with that of art to Pac, which, if you think about it, are not so distant universes. “There are objects from the not so remote “analog” era, which still manage to convey the manual skill of a certain way of designing”, says Laviani. “Tools and space celebrates, in the surrealist manner of Savinio of Giochi nella foresta, an era where tools from the near past (circles, curvilinears or rulers) were used to design space and architecture. This installation, and specifically the Pigmenti collection by Lea Ceramiche, also becomes an expressive tool for generating new forms and volumes, a sort of surrealist monuments of an ideal Italian square by De Chirico, suspended between the neoclassical architecture of Palazzo Reale and that of Ignazio Gardella's Pac”.

Armani/Casa, Palazzo Orsini, via Borgonuovo 11

For the first time, during the FuoriSalone, Giorgio Armani opens the doors of the seventeenth-century Palazzo Orsini, the headquarters of the maison, to present the Armani/Casa collections.

Because in our opinion it deserves. It is an unmissable opportunity to discover one of the most precious, inaccessible and ancient noble palaces in Milan, with the richly decorated and frescoed rooms that usually house the atelier of the Giorgio Armani Privé haute couture collection. The novelties for the home will be presented indoors, while the spotlights will be on the new outdoor collection in the garden.

Alessandro Mendini: the age of metals, M77 Gallery, via Mecenate 77

There is time until May 20 to see it, but if you are passing through Milan, it is worth a visit. It is the exhibition Alessandro Mendini, the age of metals, at M77 Gallery. An exhibition dedicated to the great master who passed away in 2019 (whom we miss so much), curated by Stephan Hamel with Francesca Alfano Miglietti. An exhibition project born from the desire of the gallery owners Giuseppe Lezzi and Emanuela Baccaro of M77 Gallery to show an unprecedented vision of the multifaceted creative, with a focus on his works in metal, a hard, luminous material that reflects and makes you think. Over 55 works on display, some of which unpublished, vases, masks, paintings, sketches, furniture and objects with multiple and sometimes enigmatic shapes.

Because in our opinion it deserves. Four years after Mendini's death, Stephan Hamel sheds light on a little-explored part of Mendini's boundless and eclectic production, that is, his experiments with metal. The exhibition presents numerous unpublished works, and also gives us some nuances of the creative's private life and lesser-known events.

Cassina, Palazzo Broggi, via Tommaso Grossi 10

From 17 to 21 April, at Palazzo Broggi, Cassina presents Echoes: 50 years of iMaestri, curated by Patricia Urquiola with Federica Sala, to celebrate 50 years of the Cassina iMaestri collection. The exhibition recounts a consolidated method for editing the great classics in the name of authenticity and enhancement of the design culture. The exhibition anticipates the release of the book edited by Ivan Mietton this autumn.

Because in our opinion it deserves. To discover fifty years of design history, through the masterpieces of the greatest masters, whose works are preserved and brought into the contemporary world thanks to Cassina.

Buccellati, Portaluppi terrace, via Brisa 5

The Portaluppi terrace is transformed into a modern Pantheon which encloses a magical garden of wonders in a red envelope. It's Buccellati Rosso Maraviglia, the exhibition curated by Federica Sala, with an installation by Michele De Lucchi with his studio Amdl Circle, to tell the mastery of Buccellati, historic high jewelery maison. Along the edges of the garden, the art de la table collections in silver and Buccellati porcelain are revealed like flowers, together with the new creations designed jointly with Venini. Approaching the edge of the terrace, the fissures that open onto the pergola structure give us a unique view of Milan and the Alps.

Because in our opinion it deserves. To experience the "marvel", as they used to say in the Florentine vernacular, that feeling of appreciation mixed with incredulity that arises when one admires universally recognized beauty, in a unique location, embellished by the secret garden imagined for the occasion by landscape artist and botanist Lily Kwong.

Gaetano Pesce, Bottega Veneta, via Montenapoleone 27/A

If Gaetano Pesce is the protagonist of the SaloneSatellite lectio magistralis on Tuesday 18 April at the fair, at the FuoriSalone he invites the public to the Bottega Veneta boutique with Come to see, a site-specific installation in resin and fabric that recalls a "cave" that follows the profile of a figure shooting a basket. The work will frame the edition of bags created by Bottega Veneta according to the artist's drawings. The installation is open to the public from 15 to 22 April, to book a visit https ://www.bottegaveneta.com/it-it/vieni-a-vedere---gaetano-pesce/vieni-a-vedere.html.

Poliform, chiostri di San Simpliciano, piazza San Simpliciano 7

Grande attesa per il debutto di Poliform nel settore outdoor. L'azienda orgogliosamente guidata dai tre cugini fondatori Alberto e Aldo Spinelli e Giovanni Anzani, presenta la prima collezione per esterni nel trecentesco chiostro di San Simpliciano con l’installazione Percezioni, un percorso dedicato ai sensi, alla bellezza della natura e alla semplicità della materia.

Perché merita secondo noi. Perché quello di Poliform è un grande debutto nel settore dell'outdoor, e perché i chiostri di San Simpliciano sono altamente suggestivi.

Gubi, Mysterious Baths, via Carlo Botta 18

From the audiovisual installation by the sound designer Painé Cuadrelli to the Scarabesque by the designer Adam Nathaniel Furman: it's Ten: beyond the beetle at the Bagni Misteriosi, the exhibition celebrating ten years of Beetle, the chair designed by GamFratesi for Gubi. The event was curated by Marco Sammicheli, who says: “With Ten we wanted to pay homage to a chair that has deeply imprinted itself on our collective imagination. Inspired by its true soul as a creative work rather than a commercial product, each of these artists, architects, fashion designers and musicians has drawn inspiration from an element, a detail or a feature of the seat to elevate it and transform it into a story; a narration in the form of sound composition, installation, typological alteration or narrative transposition. All under two main imperatives: an absolute freedom of expression and a use of creative language and media free from any concept of proportion or category”.

Because in our opinion it deserves. Sammicheli has brought together a shortlist of ten creatives who are very different from each other in terms of approach, discipline and origins. The result is intriguing. And the Bagni Misteriosi deserve a pit stop.

Base Camp, via Orobia 11

A manifesto on contemporary interior architecture self-produced and self-managed by six Italian architecture studios. Campo Base, curated by Federica Sala, is an exercise in shared architectural practice. Participants: Massimo Adario (Rome), Giuliano Andrea dell'Uva (Naples), Eligostudio (Milan), Marcante-Testa (Turin), Hannes Peer (Milan) and Studiopepe (Milan).

Because in our opinion it deserves. Campo Base breaks down the limits of architectural self-centeredness and catapults us into a new, free, choral dimension, in which six design studios engage in a joint design experiment, and together they explore the concept of domestic intimacy.

INTERIORS - Design Re-Evolution