To conduct these explorations, designers, architects and companies of international renown have been called to create installations outlining a path towards change.

A path that at each edition adds new elements to the evolution of the design system and that engages in investigating unknown territories while contaminating the design profession with other disciplines such as science, the economy, the arts and scenography.

THE INSTALLATIONS AT THE MILAN UNIVERSITY

Next to the locations occupied by the co-producers Audi  (on show the Audi House of Progress at Portrait Milano) and Eni (on show at the Brera Botanical Garden) - and to the other locations added this year (Eataly, Unipol Urban Up in De Castillia 23 and the Torre Velasca) - the main venue of the edition that has just ended was, as always, the Milan University (where the third co-producer, Whirlpool, was present with an installation by Odile Decq, see below).

As and perhaps more than in past editions, once you crossed the entrance to the University, you couldn't help being overwhelmed by a feeling of aesthetic curiosity. However, it was necessary to take the time of the exhibition to focus on each installation to fully grasp the variety of stimuli that Interni Design Re-Evolution offered to the visitor.

They ranged from the unpredictability of Momentum by MAD Architects to the proposal to enrich knowledge with the narrative theater of Metrogramma with Mirage (which disseminated stories and values of sustainability, solidarity and responsible innovation).

But there was also space for the astonishment (given by Ian Berry's mural for the 150th anniversary of Levi's 501) and for emotions, provided for instance by Mario Cucinella's tribute to the founder of Artemide, with lights designed by Ernesto Gismondi himself suspended on the Loggiato Est, covered in red projections.

And, of course, there was room for fun: with the Swing by Stefano Boeri for Amazon, one of the undisputed hits of this FuoriSalone 2023.

Read also: What to do at FuoriSalone 2023 with children

Each of the 33 installations therefore launched a reference to the main theme of the exhibition by addressing its most urgent and current angles:

• sustainable mobility, energy and evolution
• behaviours and new practices
• new forms of interaction in public space
• architecture inspired by the natural world
• transformation of matter

The courtyards: the Pharmacy, the Baths, the 18th century

Given the extraordinary success with the public, we begin our visit to the Cortile della Farmacia where Stefano Boeri Interiors, with the installation  Swing: The Amazing Playground by Amazon animated the interactive space, a playful counterpoint to the abstract rhetoric on sustainability.

Ideally moving to the other side of the University, in the splendid 18th century courtyard, one arrived at another magical, playful and scientific installation at the same time: The impossible machine by Piero Lissoni for San Lorenzo. It was a large gear whose elements were activated thanks to the new green methanol hydrogen technology that the shipyard is developing in collaboration with Siemens Energy.

Moving on to the Cortile dei Bagni there were instead three large structures in the shape of cages: in two of them, a stylized bird, the third was empty. They symbolized attitudes in life and in design in the installation Free.Dom by Simone Micheli, who with this work wanted to offer a starting point for reflection on the theme of freedom from conventions.

The installations in the Hall of the Aula Magna

In the Hall of the Alula Magna, two projects with a high visual impact.

Upon entering, one encountered hundreds of meters of fabrics from the cleaning processes of the offset presses of Corriere della Sera presses, suspended at eleven meters by means of steel cables. It was Time after Time, by Gianluigi Colin with Galleria De Ambrogi, an installation that questions the quality of the information system, collective memory and its dissolution.

In the portal of the Hall of the Aula Magna, however, a large chromatic theater inspired by the hues of the rainbow recounted the hues of 1831- Il colore italiano, il nuovo sistema Boero designed for interior design and inspired by light. Significantly titled L'arte del colore, the installation by Francesca Grassi / Italo Rota Studio, used 150 colored tiles that reacted to light, creating special effects.

The installations in the Cortile d'Onore

The first project you met upon entering the Cortile d'Onore was that of Odile Decq with the co-producer Whirlpool, The Synestehic Swirl, an initiatory journey, an experience of well-being, relaxation, escape through the senses.

The path, created by the famous French architect for the co-producer of Interni Design Re-Evolution, began with the entrance between two curved mirror surfaces made with recyclable materials: one reflecting, the other it hinted at a colorful, moving animation.

The interplay of mirrors, lights and colors generated inner movements of the psyche which reflected movements of transformation and integration in the physical space.

Proceeding along the mirrored wall, the reflection distorted, multiplied, deformed. While the hobs, strong graphic signs, enlivened the itinerary in a playful alteration of their shapes and of the image of the people, in a total loss of points of reference and meaning.

Having reached the heart of the synesthetic vortex, the second phase of the journey began, through the connection between people and objects.

Inside a transparent volume, one was immersed in an atmosphere that simultaneously and casually combined relaxing sounds with iridescent colored lights, wrapped in a muffled fog.

This synesthetic vortex could represent an opening or an awakening, an oscillation, a step forward or backward between the dualities.

Continuing in the Cortile d'Onore, here is the mural created by the denim artists Ian Berry who narrated, with The Greatest Story Ever Worn, the story of the legendary Levi's 501 on the occasion of their 150th anniversary.

There was also always talk of stories in A Theater to Save the Planet the project by Andrea Boschetti-Metrogramma with Mirage and with the support of Save The Planet: an architecture in form of narrative theater to disseminate stories and values such as sustainability, solidarity and responsible innovation. During the FuoriSalone 2023 it was enlivened by events, talks and meetings.

The Stone Pavilion designed by Vivian Coser instead interpreted the principles of biophilic architecture, inspired by the luxuriance of nature. On display, works of art and design in Brazilian natural stone. The pavilion was built with the support of It's Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone, Brazilian Center of Natural Stone Exporters (Centrorochas) and Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency ( ApexBrasil) while the care of the greenery was entrusted to the landscape architect Silvia Ghirelli for the Landscape Festival - I Maestri del Paesaggio.

Also in the Cortile d'Onore, two very special invitations.

The first, by Massimo Iosa Ghini, asked the visitor to sit down and stop in a place where time seemed to pass more slowly: the insallation the Microarchitecture Oasis (made with Felis , Intro and FMG Shapes) a protective microarchitecture conceived on the basis of the principles of biophilia. For the architects, taking a seat in this structure meant considering a design inspired by the organisms of nature where to satisfy the need for privacy and at the same time allow man to connect with the environment, respecting it.

The second invitation instead bore the signature of Annabel Karim Kassar, founder of AKK Architects who designed, in collaboration with Annaka, the Cabinet de Curiosités. The installation asked the public to go beyond the simple vision of what appears by proposing a multi-level labyrinth made up of a series of stairs and viewing platforms, revealing maps, decorative engravings and objects hidden. The visitor was then challenged to re-imagine their place in the natural order.

After two intimate installations such as L'Oasi and the Cabinet, here are instead two with a dramatic, impressive character.

Tribute to the relationship between man and construction, Operae by Gianni Lucchesi – created in collaboration with Carlo Alberto Arzelà, Sandra Bozzarelli, Julia Caracciolo and the Hangar studio – was a structure 12 meters high and made up of 12 concrete cubes. A tower, in short, on the top of which sat a life-size man looking at the horizon: a sculpture-metaphor of the human desire for creation.

Positioned on the central lawn, Momentum- certainly one of the symbolic installations of this FuoriSalone 2023 - was instead a twelve-metre cube inclined at 45 degrees. By MAD Architects with AXA IM Alts with P.A.T.I., Maco Technology – Roberto Maffei, the work wanted to manifest the power that takes shape in action, the consciousness that flows into knowledge. At the base, a light mist reinforced the scenographic effect.

Also in the Cortile d'Onore, the first of the two works with which Bruno Simões, in collaboration with ApexBrasil, brought the energy and power of contemporary Brazilian design to FuoriSalone 2023, came to life.

Above all, he did it in a symbolic way, with the installation Temporal (Storm): a sphere covered in moss - a symbol of sustainability - which welcomed visitors into a space where, suddenly, everything slowed down. It's the moment before the storm when everything will change and the design revolution is about to begin.

To see this revolution in action, however, it was necessary to move towards the second movement of this Simões project: a large exhibition in the Portico Richini, also organized thanks to the support of the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Commerce and investments (ApexBrasil), where the best of Brazilian design devoted to evolution and change was exhibited.

Returning to our journey through the installations in the Cortile d'Onore, we meet Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT Architects) with Roca thought of Nutura: a multi-sensory journey into nature and the Mediterranean building tradition that takes inspiration from the Catalan architectural world.

The site-specific installation for the Cortile d'Onore Grow Together, Grow Green / 10k+ was instead a modular and interactive structure of about 30 square meters in area and 6 meters in height, made up of light and reusable scaffolding which served as collection center for a collection of seedlings. The project was signed by the Berlin studio Topotek 1, in collaboration with the Landscape Festival of Bergamo - The Masters of Landscape.

The large sculptures by the Urbansolid duo in collaboration with Fidenza Village - The Bicester Collection were then an invitation to reflect on the concept of environmental and cultural impoverishment. Their Moai was a work of three-dimensional street art to critically rethink everyday objects using a subject foreign to our daily life: the Moai of Easter Island.

The installations in the Sottoportico of the Cortile d'Onore

Going up the stairs one passes to the Sottoportico, one of the most evocative places of the University because it allows you to enjoy the installations from above. But also to meet others. Like the microarchitectures of Tomás Alonso with Tile of Spain: Seating experiments with Spanish tiles: an exhortation to rethink the current model design of installations for fairs, exhibitions, temporary events, taking into account their possible life after the intended use for which they were made:

Further on here is Metamorphosys - The art of regeneration, an interactive project conceived by Studeo Group for Itelyum, which crossed the new frontier of artificial intelligence by calling the visitor to carry out an act of conscious transformation.

540 miniatures of velvet jackets suspended in space then composed Butterflies, the work of Ludovica Diligu with Labo.Art, which focused on the metaphor of the evolution of simple organisms through the colors of the rainbow. An installation that evoked the transition from simplicity to complexity.

Instead, the installation by Studio Nomade d'Artista by Sergio Fiorentino and Studio Gum: an ephemeral but complete space, which was accessed through a iron gate, with a Noto stone floor soaked in splashes of ultramarine blue paint.

Continuing in the Sottoportico, here is Flow, the installation designed by Francesco Forcellini to present Oceano, a ladder/platform for yachts created by Besenzoni showing the innovation, in the nautical field, of the transition from hydraulic systems to electric.

And, further on, Sit on the wor(l)d, by Marco Nereo Rotelli for Ever in Art, a project born from the encounter between art, technology and design. It was, in fact, a story about the life of trees that passes through the Metaverse: the QR Code positioned on the wooden seats led to a Milan transformed into a sensory forest where, in a proliferation of trees, the branches were 'translated' in words.

The project Bright, by Silvio De Ponte with Build –Up and Caparol: a large cloud in bronze fabric that floated in the air, (virtually) loaded with technologies and scientific discoveries . Illuminated in red, it gave off a strong fragrance that evoked contact with a rediscovered and magical nature.

Also in the Sottoportico of the Cortile d'Onore, the installation Giardino del Domani by Carmelo Zappulla exhibited, under three 'regenerating' plants produced in a material capable of absorbing CO2, the winning projects of the competition " Design. A journey between Italy and Spain”, organized by the Italian Embassy in Madrid, and now in its fourth edition.

Printed in 3D by Lamáquina, a technology company based in Barcelona founded by the Italian Aldo Sollazzo, the projects are the result of a synergistic collaboration between Italy and Spain in collaboration with Interni, COAM (Order of Architects of Madrid ), mad (Association of Designers of Madrid), ADI-FAD (Association for Industrial Design of Barcelona) and ADCV (Association of Designers of the Valencian Community).

Walking along the perimeter of the portico you reach the pressroom press, where the CaberlonCaroppi studio has installed Liminal, a double design journey divided into two rooms created in collaboration with Pedrali, Zambaiti and Concreta . In the first, the recognizable references of the real world, in the second, lines and lights define an infinite, dystopian virtual space. The project was born from the desire to answer the question “What is real?” (what is real?) that was answered in the second stanza.

The installations at the Portico Richini, at the Loggiati and at the Scalone

Entering the Cortile d'Onore of the University, on the right is the Portico Richini which housed the second project dedicated to Brazilian design by Bruno Simões with ApexBrasil and directly connected to the Cortile d'Onore installation: Temporal (Storm), a large and very rich exhibition of products by Brazilian companies designed with a particular focus on sustainable changes.

Through his well-curated selection, Bruno Simões proposed an answer, or rather 50 answers, to the main themes of contemporary design: the enhancement of regional culture, the memory of learned processes and the creation of new ones, the need to reduce the impact on the environment. The storm that "washes the soul" is precisely that represented by the redefinition process that contemporary Brazilian design is experiencing.

Going up the stairs towards the West Loggia one found Acrylic Skyline by Jacopo Foggini with Dott.Gallina: a tunnel which, developed in space, raised a sort of vertical city formed by polycarbonate panels , juxtaposed and intertwined with each other. The modules were intertwined so as to leave only one passage, illuminated by the polychrome reflections given by the passage of natural light through the material.

Moving towards the Loggia East, clearly visible from the bottom of the Cortile d'Onore, MCA - Mario Cucinella Architects with Artemide conceived the evocative homage to the founder Ernesto Gismondi. Discover(y) Lightening It was created using a series of Discovery Vertical models by Artemide, designed by Gismondi himself and awarded the Compasso d'Oro in 2018.

Along the Staircase of the North Portal, which leads from the South Portal to the West Loggia, there was New Horizons by Mandalaki for Halo Edition. A reflection on the evolution of light aimed at exploring the beneficial and spiritual power of nature within domestic spaces, above all through the innovative use of light and colour.

The installations on the Portals of the Scaloni d'Onore

About fifty rabbit puppets that climbed the ancient north and south portals of the University were the protagonists of a chromatic allegory: R se-Connection by Alberto Caliri with Missoni reconnected the public with his emotionality: an invitation to rediscover the most intimate emotions that we often forget.

Material and immaterial coexisted instead in the itinerary designed by Giulio De Carli and Leonardo Cavalli of One Works with Mapei and ICA Group: Tangible & Intangible, two totems that represented cultural dualism, revealing the complementarity and opposition between the tangible and intangible.

The Design Islands

Parisotto + Formenton Architetti with Cimento have thought of Urban Stage: two outdoor lounges, a tribute to matter and its characteristics of tactility and colour. The two rooms were spatially defined by horizontal platforms and low partitions covered with Tondo and Querini three-dimensional tiles (design Elisa Ossino) and set up with benches and vases from the Campiello collection by Studio 63.

Alberto Biagetti and Laura Baldassarri with the installation Pet Therapy instead proposed a return to childhood. The project investigated the idea of a domestic space without borders in which the inside merged with the outside, where playing became a serious matter. In the site-specific installation, giant, lunar and docile cats became sculptural seats in the shade of soft and colored palm trees with luminous coconuts.

INTERNI Design Re-Evolution was co-produced with Audi, Eni and Whirlpool

Moving from the University to the other locations, we meet the other two co-producers of Interni Design Re-Evolution (together with the aforementioned Whirlpool): Audi and Eni.

The Domino Act at the Audi House of Progress

In the setting of Audi House of Progress, the public was able to touch the present and the future according to Audi with The Domino Act installation by Gabriele Chiave with Controvento. A future that is already present today, which for the brand is closely linked to the concept of Living progress, i.e. the technological avant-garde that puts man at the centre, in an inseparable connection with the improvement of the surrounding world.

VIDEO: Gabriele Chiave explains The Domino Act

This holistic approach is reflected in the roadmap pursued by Audi with the circular economy. Re-life and re-use become central to the Brand's strategy for a sustainable mobility of the future, which involves the entire supply chain, from production sites to mass-produced products to materials .

The symbol of this anthropocentricity is the Audi skysphere concept car, placed at the center of the installation The Domino Act. Thanks to this model, the House with the four rings interprets the mobility of the future in the luxury segment, offering users an unprecedented on-board experience.

The first of a new family of four prototypes of the Sphere family, the electron roadster can count on the variable wheelbase. An avant-garde technology which, combined with Level 4 autonomous driving, allows the coexistence of two souls to guarantee passengers unexplored freedoms: as a GT and as a pure sports car. The integral steering and active predictive management of the set-up are accompanied by the maximum power of 632 HP and a new stylistic approach from the inside out, aimed primarily at defining the lines and characteristics of the space around the passengers and only a second moment the shapes of the bodywork.

The car becomes a third living space: an "experience device". A "vision" that opens up to a world of experiences capable of going well beyond simple travel thanks to key elements such as the variable layout of the passenger compartment, the extraordinary size of the passenger cell and the possibility of drawing on a hitherto unknown infotainment offer.

Walk the talk by Italo Rota and Carlo Ratti for Eni, at the Brera Botanical Garden

The transformation of urban mobility was the theme of Eni's installation for FuoriSalone 2023: as always at the Brera Botanical Garden and by the hand of Italo Rota and Carlo Ratti.

VIDEO: Italo Rota and Carlo Ratti talk about Walk the talk

Designed to stage the path dedicated to the evolution of urban mobility and represent the vision of Eni Sustainable Mobility, the installation Walk the Talk - Energy in motion has transformed one of the most fascinating green spaces of Milan in a surprising living game board, spread over an area of 3500 square meters.

Hundreds of illustrated boxes painted in bright colors (about 400), also multimedia, traced a path that wound through the paths of trees and plants , creating luminescent effects and sound that modified the space during the hours of the day.

The other three events in town

In addition to the University, the Botanical Gardens and Portrait Milano, Interni Design Re-Evolution involved three other city spaces:

Eataly Milano Smeraldo Piazza XXV April 10, 100% Pasta

In what was once the Teatro Smeraldo, Paola Navone – Otto Studio paid homage to pasta with tomato sauce with 100% Pasta. All you had to do was look up and you find all the ingredients of the recipe - even off-scale - suspended.

Urban Up | Unipol De Castillia 23 Via De Castillia 23, H20

The installation curated by Maria Cristina Finucci staged a 70-metre-long living being, made up of a series of water cushions, to raise awareness of the lack of water, complete with the words H2O Help.

Torre Velasca Piazza Velasca 3/5, digital installation, the gateway to a virtual world

The BBPR Tower was the subject of the first digital installation of the FuoriSalone. The intervention Torre Velasca QR-CODE: Quick Re-Evolution Code by Elena Salmistraro with Hines and Prelios wrapped it in a dress of woven yarns, transforming its surface into a colored texture.