From the human mandala by Sara Ricciardi to the sparkling (and disturbing) oasis by Agostino Iacurci, the most surprising installations not to be missed at Design Week 2023 selected for you

From the human mandala of Sara Ricciardi, composed of a series of real, naked bodies, to the intervention of Agostino Iacurci, a sort of oasis which is both a sparkling mirage and a disturbing omen of a near future, up to the historic Milano Bonacossa tennis court re-interpreted by Cristina Celestino.

Smartphone in hand, here are the most instagrammable installations of FuoriSalone 2023, secret places open for the first time during the design week, surprising events with a 'wow' effect, to be photographed and shared with your community of design lovers.

The most instagrammable installations of FuoriSalone 2023, chosen for you

Dry days - tropical nights by Agostino Iacurci, Largo Treves 1

If there were a FantaSalone (if someone does, we claim authorship here), among the most instagrammed and visited installations of the 2023 design week we would focus on Dry days - tropical nights , the event-hub of the Brera Design District, created by the artist Agostino Iacurci for glo.

For at least two reasons: the first, because it is the last chance to visit this imposing building designed by Arrigo Arrighetti in the heart of Milan, before its demolition.

Second reason: Iacurci is well aware that the FuoriSalone is an overcrowded stage, impossible to see everything, but by staging a very colorful installation, "a sort of oasis that is at the same time a sparkling mirage and a disturbing omen of a near future", as he says the artist manages to attract the public and communicate an urgent message to as many people as possible: “Dry days - tropical nights is an art installation that borrows its name from two environmental indicators that describe the severity of the heat during a given period in a given area,” explains Iacurci.

“According to these indicators, within a few hundred years, the Po Valley and Italy will transform into a tropical landscape with desert areas”.

Human mandala by Sara Ricciardi, via Santa Marta 18

In our ideal FantaSalone we also bet on Sara Ricciardi, who in the 5Vie district presents Human mandala, a real human mandala strong> composed of a series of real bodies arranged in a circular mandala formation.

Each individual will be naked and vulnerable, but connected to the others through a network of root-like structures like a mycelial organism.

An installation with a strong impact that reminds us that we are all connected.

Read also: FuoriSalone 2023: the events not to be missed at the 5Vie

Everything (2021), at the Meeet, viale Vittorio Veneto 2

At the Meet Digital Culture Center, the headquarters of the new Porta Venezia Design District, don't miss Everything (2021) by the Turkish studio Nohlab, a pressing tripartite audio-video sequence in 12 and a half minutes that portrays reality as it appears, and questions our ability to understand and decode the daily routine, suggesting new possible interpretations.

Read also: FuoriSalone 2023: the events not to be missed at the Porta Venezia Design District

Surprise Party! by Constance Guisset, Institut français Milan, palazzo delle Stelline, corso Magenta 63

On the occasion of the FuoriSalone 2023, Constance Guisset invites us to her Surprise Party! at the Institut français in Milan, a party in a playful and evanescent surprise at the same time, in which to venture to discover and experiment with his objects, touching their materials and gradually perceiving their silhouettes.

As in any self-respecting party, there will be colored fog and plays of light.

A party that becomes an opportunity to get to know the work of the French designer as a whole, from interior architecture to scenography and set-up, presented in an alcove immersed in darkness.

The exhibition will be open to the public from April 17 to May 13.

Cristina Celestino's Clay Court Club, Milan Bonacossa Tennis Club, via Arimondi 15

After Tram Corallo in 2018, Caffè Concerto Cucchi in 2019 and Florilegio in 2022, Cristina Celestino returns to let us discover little gems of Milan.

This time the creative from Pordenone with Clay Court Club revisits the historic Tennis Club Milano Bonacossa, designed by Giovanni Muzio in 1923, an institution of the city tennis court, with an active school since 1937, one of the most successful examples of architecture applied to sport and leisure.

Through the simplification of the existing architectural language, Cristina Celestino stages a role-playing game, overturning the perception of the interior spaces and generating a chromatic connection with the exterior.

Research into the geometric connection between a line and a semicircle, one of Muzio's favorite compositional themes, becomes the connecting trait of the objects arranged in space, for which the use of materials is always constitutive and never decorative.

The plus: the pop up restaurant We are ona by Luca Pronzato.

Beyond the surface by SolidNature, via Cernaia 1

After the success at Alcova last year, SolidNature, a Dutch company specializing in the processing of natural stones, returns to Milan with its first independent project: it is Beyond the surface, the installation, designed by Ellen Van Loon and Giulio Margheri of studio Oma, which will guide visitors to discover the geological formation of stone, of terrestrial metamorphosis up to the most technological processing machinery.

A journey that winds through seven different rooms of a historic building in the heart of Brera, starting with an imposing staircase that leads to the underground level.

A mysterious journey that traces a parallel between the birth and extraction of natural stone and the realization of dreams. "Time is an important factor in the narrative of this year's installation," says David Mahyari, CEO of SolidNature.

“We live in a world where we consume more and more and faster but when it comes to achieving our goals and dreams, it takes time.

It's a matter of discipline, patience, lots of failures and lessons. The same goes for stone processing. It takes thousands of years to create a block of stone as it is."

The installation ends in the garden, an Eden populated by sculptural stone pieces, tables, chairs, a lounge and a bar, designed, among others, by the designer Sabine Marcelis strong> and by the Iranian artist Bita Fayyazi.

The secret garden of Bene, foro Buonaparte 53

If you are hunting for instagrammable places, this is the address for you.

The Austrian brand Bene, specialized in the office and home office sector, presents the new Casual outdoor collection at the center of The secret garden, a spectacular setting botanist.

A dreamy oasis, housed in the brand's showroom, an explosion of bright pinks, vitamin oranges and yellows, and cascades of paper flowers made by PomPom Factory, a virtuous (and ecological) alternative to cut flowers.

Still Now. The Dinner by fferrone, villa Mirabello, via villa Mirabello 6

A monochromatic Klein blue theatrical backdrop. This is Still Now's high-definition wallpaper. The Dinner </ em>, a sort of exclusive and amazing dinner set up by Felicia Ferny with her fferrone brand, in the suggestive spaces of Villa Mirabello, a 15th century residence, open for the first time for the FuoriSalone.

The Renaissance interiors of one of the oldest buildings in Milan are transformed into an enveloping aesthetic and conceptual experience, where creative languages mix in a reinterpretation of time.

A table set in total blue that evokes the still life of the seventeenth century, where the glasses of Felicia Ferrone coexist with other finds, recovered in flea markets and second-hand shops , in a dialogue between past, present and future.

The objects emerge from the monochromatic background of the installation, showing their formal qualities, regardless of time or era, to emphasize how design is a value that transcends obsolescence and throwaway culture.

A life extraordinary by Moooi, Fabric Hall, via S.Gregorio 29

Real and digital hybrid, technology and human interaction, the new chapter of A life extraordinary by Moooi, a brand founded in 2001 and currently led by Marcel Wanders and Robin Bevers.

According to Moooi, by embracing both physical and digital reality we can create experiences that are not only technologically advanced but also deeply human and personal.

An example? The room fragrance created using artificial intelligence, based on the answers of each of us to a questionnaire, an unprecedented experience in partnership with EveryHuman.

Instead with Lg, the brand presents the new projects by Ideo, Nika Zupanc and Andrés Reisinger which explore the introduction of technology into the domestic dimension.

Stark plots, civic aquarium, viale Gadio 2

Among the great returns there is also that of Stark, again at the civic aquarium, in the Brera circuit.

The company specializing in multimedia and interactive storytelling promises to surprise us once again with Trame, a sound and visual installation designed in collaboration with architects Alice and Alex Buroni and Gloria Lisi, which invites the public to interact with each other and become co-authors of the space.

A bit like what happens in nature, where the actions and wills of human beings intertwine with those of other lives.

Abrakadabra of Wonderglass, Institute for the Blind, via Vivaio 7

A word that evokes magical and mysterious spells and rites. It is Abrakadabra, the collective exhibition of WonderGlass, a family business born out of the passion of Maurizio and Christian Mussati for glass and the Venetian tradition, housed in the nineteenth-century spaces of the Istituto dei ciechi, a suggestive setting a stone's throw from Villa Necchi Campiglio.

A dreamy exhibition itinerary, conceived with the artistic consultancy of Jean Blanchaert, who explores the versatility of glass amidst plays of light, shades and transparencies, and recounts the age-old techniques of glass masters, capable of giving life to wonderful and unique creations.

On display are the masterpieces of John Pawson, Tom Dixon, Elena Salmistraro, Dan Yeffet, Studiopluz, Elisa Ossino and Paul Cocksedge. Not to be missed.

The sea deck of Azimut Yachts, Navigli area, Viale Gabriele d'Annunzio bank

A walk barefoot on the water: this is the floating installation The sea deck, created by Azimut Yachts based on a project by Amdl Circle and Michele De Lucchi.

An unexpected experience of the ancient waterways of Milan, which offers the possibility of a new point of view to enjoy the water from a unique perspective, near the historic Leonardo da Vinci canal.

The installation reinterprets the stern terrace of the yachts in the Seadeck series by Azimut Yachts: once on board, visitors will be able to walk barefoot along the ring suspended over the water to reach the center of the Darsena .

An exciting itinerary even in the evening, with LED lighting that refers to the lights of the boats that vibrate on the water.

A project made with natural, recycled and recyclable materials, such as cork from recycled and ground stoppers, which will be used again as an insulating material for architecture.

Mohd Sinfonia, Mohd Workshop, via Macchi 82

On the notes of the Gran Nichetto, the limited edition piano designed by Luca Nichetto for Steinway & Sons, the curtain rises on Mohd Sinfonia, the set-up created by the Venetian designer for the Mohd showroom.

Playing with the acoustics of the vaulted ceiling space, Nichetto stages a 'theater' with the piano at the centre, played by internationally renowned pianists Roberta Di Mario, Monica Zhang, Costanza Principe over three evenings from 19 to 21 April.

Around the stage thirteen sets wrapped in drapes that recall stage curtains to present Mohd's new projects, including that of Pierre Augustin Rose, for the first time in Italy.

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