Fuorisalone 2023: all the previews

From April 17th to 23rd, the city of Milan will, once again, play a leading role on the international design scene with a full calendar of events, exhibitions and installations. Designers, architects, schools, universities and institutions come together to share ideas that can translate the present and imagine the future. The practices of design become a precious tool to provide the coordinates for understanding the present and contemporaneity, returning visions and suggestions for the future. Focusing on the themes of circular economy, reuse, sustainability of processes and materials, Fuorisalone will be held as usual in conjunction with the Salone del Mobile.Milano, which this year reaches its 61st edition.

“Laboratorio Futuro”: The theme of the 2023 edition of Fuorisalone

The April edition of Fuorisalone, entitled “Laboratorio Futuro”, proposes a reflection on how we imagine our future, in relation to the uniqueness of the times in which we are living now. Lab is an opportunity for debate, to imagine and build alternative ideas through moments of collective dialogue, to focus on opportunities and critical issues, but also contradictions. Lab is a place of confrontation, a concrete place where error is considered a useful element to evolve. Lab is a shared working method, a way to build solutions in the present to grant us a future that might otherwise become a mirage.

We live in a historical moment in which the major issues are closely tied together by a red thread: from the climate crisis to the energy crisis, from the war to the political instability. This year's theme recalls the experimental dimension of design and is intended as an invitation, an exhortation to question ourselves on how we want to design change by responding to the many challenges that await us. And to do so, design becomes a tool for thought and at the same time for collective action.

The 2023 edition will therefore shed light on the themes of sustainable design, circular economy, innovative materials, urban regeneration and artificial intelligence. The latter is not to be understood as a rejecting technology, but rather as a tool that could be part of the future. All with an eye on new generations, which will see the involvement of students from the main schools in the sector. “Laboratorio Futuro” will set the stage for exhibitions and installations, opportunities to bring out the complexity of the issues on the table. Projects capable of intercepting the on-going transformations in society, proposing visions of an ambitious and credible future, made of experimentation and tangibility. A future, in which design is an agent of change, as well as a lens for interpreting society.

The oracle of the Fuorisalone, a tool at the service of tomorrow's designers

The oracle of the Fuorisalone is a project conceived by Studiolabo, consisting of a deck of 28 cards illustrated by Serena Mazzi, produced in a limited edition of 150 kits by the Tiburtini high-end printing house.

The oracle in ancient times was a response given by the deity to a question concerning unknown aspects or the right way to act in certain circumstances. Lately, thanks to design thinking and other similar approaches to creativity, various tools have recently been introduced, such as packs of cards, digital interfaces and analytical approaches; along these lines, the oracle, given into the hands of creative minds, can regain its intrinsic power as a trigger for action and ideas.  After all, to tackle the important issues ahead of us, we also need levity and faith.

TRAME: An interactive installation at the Acquario Civico, curated by STARK, interprets the theme “Laboratorio Futuro”

For the second year in a row, STARK, a leading manufacturer of multimedia installations and interactive experiences returns to animate the spaces of the Acquario Civico di Milano with an interactive project.

There are changes that appear complex to understand if one tries to decipher them with reason, rather they become clearer only when one gives free rein to intuition. Trame is the interactive-perceptual exercise that Stark, dedicates to the theme of Fuorisalone 2023: Future Lab. The human being rediscovers himself as a performer among actors as an integral part of the biological community whose intertwined and shared motion allows the living beings themselves to inhabit. Stark makes this concept of co-authorship its own, proposing a choral interaction. Hands guide the effects in space, a space that is also transformed by the actions of other “performers” who intervene to alter their surroundings too. The work, by means of an interactive sound and visual installation, invites us to rely on a holistic and perceptive understanding, reflecting on how our actions, however conscious they may be, are necessarily intertwined with those of others, weaving the creative narrative that materializes at each encounter. In the evocative aura of the Acquario Civico di Milano, the collaboration with architects Alice Buroni and Gloria Lisi together with Alex Buroni, led Stark to experiment this experience in a shared workshop, proposing a plunge into the marvellous metamorphoses that relations and choral gestures can originate.

The second edition of the Fuorisalone Award, the award celebrating the best design

The Fuorisalone Award is back, an acknowledgement that rewards the most memorable contents and installations presented at Milan Design Week. This Award is a dynamic and innovative project, which rewards Italian and International creative minds and companies.

The projects that will compete for the public's votes will be visible on a dedicated section of the Fuorisalone.it website, and will be detailed through a system of event pages with contents and photos of the installations. In parallel, a joint work by a technical committee and the editorial staff of Fuorisalone.it will focus on contents of relevance for the world of project and design, qualitatively innovative and rich in meaning. The selected projects will compete for the 4 special mentions in the categories: interaction, sustainability, technology, and communication.

The jury that will decide the winners of the special mentions will be composed of: Paolo Ferrarini, curator, lecturer and journalist; Valentina Ventrelli, expert in contemporary aesthetics; Luca Caizzi, photographer and creative director of C41 Magazine; Alessandro Colombo, General Manager of AD Education Italy; Nicola Ricciardi, artistic director of Miart; Francesco Zurlo, dean of the School of design of the Politecnico di Milano; Angela Rui, design curator; Federica Sala, curator; Cristiano Seganfreddo, innovator and entrepreneur; Vera Sacchetti - critic and design curator.

On the occasion of the 2023 edition, the Fuorisalone award changes its image: it is entirely revised in design and realised as a stylisation of the traditional pin that has characterised Fuorisalone.it activities for 20 years. A tribute to what has always represented the official map through which to orient oneself among installations, exhibitions and discussion panels during the most important week for the design industry. Conceived by Studiolabo team and realised by Pollodesign Factory, a Milanese company active in the field of design and production.

One of the novelties of this edition of the Fuorisalone Award is the special mention by the Salone del Mobile.Milano, created to distinguish the lighting project with the best public impact. A mention in continuity with Euroluce, the biennial exhibition dedicated to lighting, now at its 31st edition. The “Mention by Salone Del Mobile.Milano: Light for the City” has the aim of widening the view to the city also during the year: the project or installation with a virtuous impact on the public (lighting for exhibitions, public lighting, lighting art, but also installations) will be awarded. Projects submitted during the exhibition from June 2022 onwards may be included in the shortlist. Le votazioni apriranno a partire da martedì 18 aprile.

e.Reporter: documenting Milan Design Week

The usual appointment with the e.Reporters, a project launched in 2003 dedicated to design, architecture and visual arts students with a particular passion for photography and audio-visual content, is back.
The intent has always been to narrate the Fuorisalone through the eyes of a young and fresh community. Through partnerships with Milan's most important design schools, over 180,000 shots have been produced to date, which have become the event's historical and collective archive.

This year the collaboration between Politecnico di Milano and Studiolabo is confirmed to offer students from the School of Design, from the Architecture department and POLI.Design the opportunity to contribute to the collective narration of the event. The project is part of “Passion in Action”, an activity that the Politecnico di Milano proposes to its students and that will allow them to obtain 3 CFUs as an elective didactic experience.

A new feature of the 2023 edition is the opportunity to have one's work recognised thanks to the collaboration with the magazine C41, which will launch a photographic call to action at the beginning of April: the e.Reporters will in fact be able to narrate the Design Week by following a specific brief set by the C41 editorial staff and the best images will be published on the magazine's channels.

Previews from the April edition: Design Districts 2023

Brera Design District, the beating heart of the kermesse, proposes a calendar of exhibitions, installations, group shows and new products. Promoting the theme proposed by Fuorisalone, “Future Lab”, Brera Design Week 2023 stimulates a reflection on the challenges of contemporaneity, giving space to projects and practices capable of triggering actions of change.

The future is not something abstract and intangible, but it is built with the quality of our present. Design is a valuable tool, to meet tomorrow’s challenges: the design week is the most important stage for creative and innovative ideas as well as solutions with a strong impact. “Future Lab” is a moment of analysis and research to translate today's challenges into opportunities for tomorrow. gloTM will be among the protagonists of the Brera Design District with its art project gloTM for art together with Agostino Iacurci, an artist with a subtle and brilliant irony, recognised for his works characterised by synthetic shapes and bright colours.

The Tortona District returns with a brand new look and a communication proposal aimed at bringing together and narrating the different realities that animate it: Tortona Rocks, BASE, Superstudio and Tortona Design Week. The district becomes the spokesperson for current issues seen through the lens of design, with the aim of responding to the challenges of tomorrow.

Milano Durini Design officially strengthens the brand Milano Design District, a concept design district extended to all the valuable companies present in the city centre. With more than 40 design companies, for the 2023 edition the district proposes the fil rouge “Urban Metamorphosis”, among installations with a strong evocative character.

5VIE is back with a proposal dedicated to auteur design and the contamination of design with art and high craftsmanship. This year's theme, “Design for Good”, is intended as an invitation to look at design as a tool for creating and cultivating deep human connections, with a view to sustainability rooted in mutual care. International curators, artists and designers have been called upon to tackle this theme through a series of exhibitions signed 5VIE, which are flanked in the area exhibition itinerary by the exhibitions of independent studios, companies and designers.

Isola Design District announces the seventh edition of Isola Design Festival: over 25 locations will host group exhibitions and events involving hundreds of international designers, design studios and craftsmen. The programme includes six group exhibitions focusing on themes such as circular and regenerative furniture, collectible design and new craftsmanship, design tech and wellness.

Projects and routes in the territory 2023

Alcova, the platform founded by Joseph Grima (Space Caviar) and Valentina Ciuffi (Studio Vedèt) now at its fifth edition, from April 17th to April 23rd unveils the unprecedented monumental spaces of the Ex-Macello di Porta Vittoria. Alcova 2023 will host over 70 projects exploring different and complementary directions in contemporary design: from research of innovative and sustainable materials, to contemporary craft, to sensorial design, alongside institutions, established brands and studios and emerging talents.

Design Variations 2023, the event curated by MoscaPartners, will present Breath, the site-specific work on the façade of the Circolo Filologico Milanese, designed by studio Zaven. Palazzo Visconti will offer an itinerary to discover the use of natural and sustainable materials in the world of design.
This year's edition will also present “REFORMING FUTURE”, the anthological exhibition of projects from Michele De Lucchi's course with Andrea Branzi at the Politecnico di Milano, set up inside the Istituto Marchiondi Spagliardi*, a brutalist masterpiece by architect Vittoriano Viganò that for the first time will be opended to the public of international design and architecture. This latest project has been conceived by Valerio Castelli, who strongly desired it.

Dropcity Convention 2023, the winning project of the second edition of Festival Architettura, promoted by the Ministry of Culture's General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity, opens to the city from April 15th  to April 23rd. Inside the Magazzini Raccordati of the Central Station, Dropcity Centro di Architettura e Design, conceived by architect Andrea Caputo, produces and hosts a packed schedule of exhibitions, installations, conferences and talks with the participation of international architects and designers.

Morel Design Week: Morel Milano, once the site of a cotton shoe fabric factory, presents its original 1930’s industrial architecture through a new interpretation, combining its history with the new functions of the 7,000 square metre village in the Certosa area. It is not an abandoned industrial site, but an authentic, well-kept and flexible place where Morel Milano joins forces with Tipografia Alimentare to present “A FUOCO LENTO”, a four- handed culinary project.

Materially explores and returns a point of view on materials starting from the concept of wonder observed in various fields: education, creativity and industry. It is a narrative structured in several stages, in different and significant places for design and the city, hosting exhibitions, talks and workshops. Wonder Matter(s) at Superstudio Più; Vivarium, with Total Tool, at the Brera Academy; Materially and MCX at La Triennale.

Swiss Design Map is a digital platform that facilitates access to Swiss initiatives presented at the world's most important design event. The Swiss Design Association sustains the Swiss Design Map. It is promoted by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and Presence Switzerland at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and supported by Switzerland Global Enterprise/Swiss Business Hub Italy.

Tortona Rocks starts with a question to shape its eighth edition: “How do you take care of tomorrow? Design instructions” reflects on how taking care of tomorrow is a collective act, while design encourages alternative lifestyles in response to contemporary urgencies. Among the protagonists will be IKEA celebrating 80 years of innovation with an exhibition dedicated to the iconic products of the past together with the novelties that will represent the future.
Paola Navone will surprise the public with “Take it or Leave it”, an eclectic range of objects, curated by Daniel Rozensztroch, collected by the designer and now prizes of a lottery in which it will be possible to participate. Space is given to experimentation with “one&twenty2023”, the exhibition with which the German Design Council awards young talents of contemporary design, while MR Digital, in collaboration with Stefano Boeri Interiors, presents the “Learning Spaces 4.0” project for innovative, inclusive and integrated didactics. Many other novelties enrich the exhibition circuit in the Tortona area. New for this edition is the ALTROVE project, a territorial digression from the usual Fuorisalone district routes, which puts design, by emerging talents, in dialogue with everyday places in the Giambellino district.

Tortona Design Week presents “Future to Share”: an ambitious project, to pioneer together a future to be written with a view to sharing and inclusiveness. Innovation, circularity and technology are the cornerstones for reprogramming our everyday life, enhancing self-production and sustainable urban manufacturing. Installations, exhibitions, events, workshops and training: “Future to Share” is about learning and building change.

Base Milano hosts the third edition of “We Will Design”, where it hosts designers in residence and introduces germs of innovation - thus initiating the exploration of a new idea of democratic design. BASE intends to promote not only affordable design but also plural design, developing four main dimensions in an intersectional way, including people of all ages, abilities, gender and culture.

Superdesign Show presents “Inspiration Innovation Imagination”: from the roots to the project to its representation the design “at large” that affects life. Unexpected objects, innovative materials, trendy furniture, sustainability in and out, interactions with art, talks to deepen, visions of the great international design schools, far-east horizons.

Triennale Milano presents a programme that brings together permanent exhibitions. Among them is the new permanent installation of the Italian Design Museum, directed by Marco Sammicheli. Also on stage is the exhibition Droog30, co-produced with Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam and curated by Maria Cristina Didero and Richard Hutten, dedicated to the activities of the innovative Dutch design group 30 years after its first Milanese exhibition for the Fuorisalone in 1993. The Lisa Ponti exhibition. Drawings and Voices, curated by Salvatore Licitra and Damiano Gullì, presents a selection of works by the artist, editor, critic and writer who has made drawing on A4 size sheets her chosen means of expression. Triennale also welcomes the research of important international institutions and companies, proposing the exhibitions and projects of: Duson Gallery (South Korea), Japan Creative (Japan), Moravian Gallery (Czech Republic), Timberland Worldwide and Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (Uzbekistan).

ID-exe 2023: a diffuse exhibition that involves the entire urban territory in a project-oriented manner. By facilitating the encounter between design, other disciplines and new technologies, it is possible to extend the boundaries of the physical world through augmented user experiences, promoting emerging brands and designers. This year's theme is “Design After”. Time does not exist and things can be anywhere: a reality based on systems of relationships, before the materiality of objects.

Rossana Orlandi returns again this year with the Ro Plastic Prize, an award that is part of the RO Guiltless Plastic project. Over the years, the event has seen more than 1800 participants, with an average age of 35, from 60 different countries covering all 5 continents. The award has three categories: collectible art and design, emerging high technology, and inspiring learning projects.