Milan Unpacked - Installations Part 2 | Space Furniture

Flos at Palazzo Visconti

Thirty-six years after its historic presentation, the 18th-century Palazzo Visconti became the stage for Flos, which started the era of the brand’s collaborations with international designers.

Unveiling anniversary editions of the IC by Michael Anastassiades and the new collections by Barber Osgerby and Formafantasma, the mesmerising presentation was inspired by a 1988 archive photo by Maria Mulas. The image, taken in the hall of Palazzo Visconti, portrays a group of people – architects, designers, art critics, and journalists – gathered for the presentation of the then-new collections. Including the first lamp created by the first international designer for Flos, Philippe Starck.

At the entrance, a short film that served as a prelude to the exhibition showed a conversation between the five designers whose work was featured – Michael Anastassiades with the IC 10 Anniversary, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby with Bellhop Glass, and Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Formafantasma with SuperWire.

The central hall told a story of the three new products, all in glass. The illusory installation, conceived by Arquitectura-G, drew inspiration from artistic experiences like the famous installation by Veronica Janssen at the Panthéon in Paris, with mirrored walls that created an architecture within architecture, dividing the central space into four parts.

Flos exhibition at Palazzo Visconti, 1988 © Maria Mulas, Flos Archive

Photo by Nicolò Panzeri

Baxter Cinema + La Casa sul Lago

Baxter went all out with multiple engagements and touchpoints, exhibiting at the fair, Baxter cinema, and outdoor showroom, as well as entertaining at La Casa sul Lago (their Lake Como Villa).

A home for design connoisseurs, La Casa sul Lago featured signature design references and bold creative gestures. Colour dominated the space, with rhubarb and terracotta shades paired with beige and plum.

The living room housed the new collection by South Tyrolean designer Hannes Peer, a new designer in the Baxter stable. A smoked glass window acted as a filter between the hallway and a social space where a custom stone design and brass top could be found, functioning as both a kitchen and cocktail station. In the bedroom upstairs, beige and tobacco took over from dark rhubarb tones found below, with a direct view of the lake with two newly created suites. This sleeping area featured the new bed designed by Studiopepe: an upholstered volume à la Frattini in an intense dark plum colour.

At The Clay House at Salone and its city showrooms, Baxter’s immersive installations set the stage for new products, with a rich colour theme that felt slightly more muted than past years. The Baxter 2024 Indoor collection is a complex universe of cross-references from the masters of design and architecture, evoking past eras via conceptual and stylistic references.

With a distinctly 1970s character, the new pieces by Hannes Peer leave his sophisticated imprint on this year's Indoor collection.

The modular Aura sofa is inspired by the conversation pits of the decade and, according to the designer, ‘echoes the splendour of John Lautner’s Los Angeles mansions: from the Sheats-Goldstein Residence to the Garcia House.’

Designed as a parametrically rhythmic architecture, the base of the Loom table, with its fused glass top and imperfect surfaces, ‘pays homage to the fusion of material, form and function, characteristic of post-war Brazilian design. It also draws inspiration from American kinetic art,’ explains Peer.

The Dune bookcase in stainless steel sheet by Draga & Aurel takes its inspiration from 1970s Pop Art to arrive at a glamorous and luxurious universe.

Designed by Baxter’s inhouse team, the Aegates coffee tables in polished lacquered and natural poplar burl are inspired by the conformation of an archipelago.

Courtesy of Baxter | La Casa Sul Lago, Como.

Courtesy of Baxter | Baxter Cinema showroom.

Courtesy of Baxter | Baxter Outdoor Gallery

Courtesy of Baxter | Aura Sofa by Hannes Peer.

Courtesy of Baxter | Loom table by Hannes Peer.

Courtesy of Baxter | Dune Bookcase by Draga & Aurel.

Courtesy of Baxter | Aegates coffee tables, inspired by the conformation of an archipelago.

Suite by Motta Architecture

The second iteration of the collaboration between Motta Architecture and Spotti Milano, Suite was an experimental take on hotels and hospitality presented within a jaw-droppingly beautiful 1900s Milanese residence. From the entrance and reception to the bedroom, wardrobe area, and bathroom, the Petit Hotel installation featured decadent materials and finishes overlaid with delicate colour palettes alternating with bold graphic textures.

Melbourne studio Volker Haug’s lights appeared in the bathroom, along with a suite (get it?) of brands and partners who made this installation possible. The travertine floor lamp by Hagit Pincovici in the lounge area was another personal favourite.

Faye Toogood’s Rude Arts Club

An intimate escape from the bustle of design week, Faye Toogood’s Rude Arts Club celebrated the British designer’s ongoing rug collaboration with cc-tapis and her new furniture collection with Tacchini. The installation was accompanied by a series of saucy artworks with mischievous motifs and provocative colours that were in part inspired by Faye’s visit to an exhibition of Francis Bacon’s paintings.

Rude rugs hugged walls, mounted like the paintings of old masters, with a constellation of tactile Lunar lights illuminating spaces with their diffused glow. Solar daybeds and sofas invited visitors to crash land on their squashy forms.

With intriguing names like Spare Parts, Tongue-and-cheek, Tiddlybits and Blue Tit (hehe), the lumps and bulges of the Rude collection celebrate sexuality from a female perspective with sensual, sculptural rugs that bring together high craft and humour.

'I didn’t want to do something expected. Rugs can end up bland. Background. Something you pile furniture on, forget about, stamp all over. I’m proposing something much bolder. These are rugs to roll around on, with lumps and bulges to grab hold of.'

Faye Toogood

Nendo ‘Whispers of Nature’

A tribute to nature’s intrinsic beauty, Japanese studio Nendo celebrated the 20 year anniversary of its first participation at Milan Design Week. The poetic solo exhibition was an invitation to observe nature from a new perspective.

True to Nendo’s signature high-concept approach, ‘Whispers of Nature’ transformed natural events into works of art and design. Through five unique collections, the exhibition interpreted the ever-changing essence of clouds, explored the dance between light and shadow, the relentless flow of time, and the emotions evoked by rain.

© Hiroshi Iwasaki | Clustered Clouds, translucent shelf system in the shape of grouped clouds.

© Hiroki Tagma | Installation view of Clustered Clouds at Whispers of Nature, Milan Design Week 2024.

© Hiroshi Iwasaki | Passing Rain, five sculptural containers depicting the ephemeral beauty of rain.

© Hiroshi Iwasaki | Pond Dipping, textile patterns born from the “dip”.

© Hiroshi Iwasaki | Light and Shade, mould and cast in the relationship of light and shadow.

Edra Palazzo Durini + An Evening at La Scala

A visit to Edra Palazzo Durini never fails to captivate, and this year, the brand’s spectacular showroom was extended to the piano nobile, allowing visitors to appreciate the new rooms of the magnificent building.

The entrance courtyard played host to the Every Place Collection, which unveiled On the Rocks, Sherazade, and Standard in new outdoor versions. The courtyard colonnade housed the Rivers Chandelier Collection, majestic polycarbonate light sculptures by Jacopo Foggini.

Inside, Edra unveiled Minerals collection of fabrics and materials that look to the natural world, plus two new pieces by Jacopo Foggini – the almost invisible mirror-clad Phantom Table, and the Milano Chair, a high-back seat which takes its inspiration from the façade of Milan's Duomo.

'The table wishes to be invisible, whispering to things nearby.' — Jacopo Foggini

Carrying forward its cultural project of sharing beauty through different forms of art, Edra hosted an unforgettable evening at Teatro alla Scala in honour of photographer Aurelio Amendola.

An event dedicated to culture at one of the world’s most prestigious temples of music and dance, the evening charted Amendola’s timeless and elegant black and white images, including those taken for Edra, with music and singing from the soloists and orchestra of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala, directed by Clelia Cafiero. Pure heaven.