Celebrating its eleventh edition, 5VIE Design Week brings designers and collectible design, high end craftsmanship, and new combinations of art and design, creativity and form to the heart of Milan's historic centre. Thanks to a fruitful institutional collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, this year’s event also takes place at Palazzo Litta on Corso Magenta, a prestigious 18th-century venue allocated by the Ministry. The event aims to not only showcase the works of culturally high-profile designers from around the world but also to foster deep human connections and to challenge present complexities with future uncertainties. Last year’s edition of Design for Good highlighted the increasing need for mutual care among humans, looking at design as a tool to unite anthropocentrism and philanthropy. Unlimited Design Orchestra now seeks to amplify its essence and meaning by tracing musical elements, specifically from orchestras, as models to inspire a design increasingly focused on an intrinsically human and humanistic dimension. This perspective aligns with the cultural proposal and worldview that, starting from the latter half of the 14th century thanks to Francesco Petrarca, led to a revival of the “studia humanitatis” and repositioning humans at the centre of every consideration, giving rise to Humanism.

Unlimited Design Orchestra

 The term ‘orchestra’ travels through the centuries, taking on different facets. The ancient Greeks (and later the Romans) used it to refer to the place of performance for the dancing choir, where dance and music harmoniously intertwined in front of the audience; it would be the second half of the 17th century before the French employed it in reference to the instrumental ensemble. Therefore, 'orchestra' is understood both as a physical place and as a group of people capable of interacting with each other to create a deep harmonious relationship. Just as the union of individual elements of an orchestra, respecting each other's differences, results in harmony and the sublime, Unlimited Design Orchestra, with sustainability rooted in collaboration and sharing, proposes a design vision aimed at creating and nurturing deep human vibrations. In a digital, hyperconnected world increasingly focused on perfection, placing the artworks of international designers in timeless spaces – such as the headquarters of Palazzo Litta – and discussing harmony may perhaps seem paradoxical and anachronistic. Yet, are it not the impressions from external stimuli, coupled with knowledge, values, emotions, and the pursuit of beauty, that reconstruct the "sense" of things? Often, the perfection that modern society seeks translates into a notion of "noble but immobile" beauty, hence static and less vital, contrasting with the sense of movement and dynamism evoked by Harmony, the consonance of different elements in agreement with each other that together give rise to an extraordinary whole. A harmonious coexistence among humans, which struggles to materialise, could be described as a challenge in this complex scenario. The idea of an Unlimited Design Orchestra appears aligned with the goals of uncovering in design and the universality of artistic language the path to follow, the space in which humans can truly meet and interact, as evident in the projects presented this year, which, along with the promotion of the blending of diverse cultures, the sustainability of materials used, and the virtuous use of new technologies, have highlighted the importance of bringing respect, tolerance, and mutual love back to the forefront, that ethic without which, as volcanic Ulay argued, "aesthetics (without ethics) is cosmetic.”
 

5 vie productions

Shadows & Poems
A project by ELIURPI
Curated by Mr. Lawrence
Produced by 5VIE
5VIE Headquarters, Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24

INDIAN TINY MEGA STORE
A project by Gunjan Gupta
Curated by MC Didero
Produced by 5VIE
5VIE Headquarters, Via Cesare Correnti 14

Salvage
A project by Jay Sae Jung Oh
Produced by 5VIE
5VIE Headquarters, Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24

Natural Selection
A project by Kostas Lambridis
Produced by 5VIE
5VIE Headquarters, Teatro Litta, Corso Magenta 24

LA QUINTA VIA
A project by METAVERSO
5VIE online

Omi Iyọ
A project by Nifemi Marcus-Bello
Curated by Anna Carnick
Produced by 5VIE
5VIE Headquarters, Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24

PRENDETE E MANGIATE
Curated by Linda Pilar Zanolla
Presenting Studio Serena Cancellieri, Ron Arad, Giopato & Coombes, MA! Studio, Daria Dazzan e Marie Eklund
Produced by 5VIE
5VIE Headquarters, Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24

UNDER THE WILLOW TREE
A project by Sara Ricciardi Produced by 5VIE
5VIE Headquarters, Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24