Slightly off the beaten tracks at the Statale, in one of its most hidden cloisters, the installation Bamboo (竹) Ring  :||| Weaving a Symphony of Lightness and Form by Kengo Kuma for OPPO appears like a vision. The architect explores the harmonious relationship between man and nature by creating a light and “accurate” sculpture of bamboo and carbon fibre that makes sounds and vibrates in the courtyard of the Statale, encouraging visitors to walk around it. Curator Clare Farrow, who first brought the sculpture to London's V&A during the London Design Festival in 2019, speaks of it as “an old friend who, at the time talked, but now sings”.

The installation is located in the courtyard of the Bagni dell'Università Statale di Milano, via Festa del Perdono 7. On view until 19 September. 

In this iteration of the nomadic installation that “rests lightly on the ground” of the Filarete courtyard, it is the sound of Japanese musician Midori Komachi's violin that complements that of OPPO's digital wellness app, which offers comforting sounds of nature and the city taken from locations around the world, including Reykjavik, Beijing and Tokyo. A sound technology embedded in the installation's woven structure allows sound to move through the space, vibrating and turning the structure into a real musical instrument. At the end of Design Week, Bamboo Ring will land in the mountains of the Val di Sella in Trentino, donated by Oppo to the Land Art Museum, Arte Sella. “Knowing how to combine technology and nature”, says the Japanese architect, “is what I would like to pass on to future generations”: a vision in continuity with that of the company, which interprets technology as an art form.

(Giulia Ricci e Bianca Pichler)

In its fifth edition, the “Dutch pavilion” of the Fuorisalone, curated by Nicole Uniquole, continues to unite and promote young designers, research projects, production and craftsmanship in the setting of the neo-Renaissance Palazzo Turati (via Meravigli 7). Among the 80+ participants divided between the courtyard (this year submerged by a carpet of orchids) and the two floors of the building, the following are worthy of note: “Elements of Time”, silicone pouf-sculptures by artist Nynke Koster made from casts that replicate architectural details; the green projects by the young studio  House of Thol (the terracotta fruit and vegetable holder to keep them fresh is particularly successful). Not to be missed is Stefan Scholten's The Stone House collection, furniture made from travertine waste skilfully combined to create a Terrazzo effect. Palazzo Francesco Turati, Via Meravigli, 9, M1 Cordusio

(Elena Sommariva)

Unexpectedly, there is an extra day to visit Materica Marble edition 2021, which involves three established names (Bruther, Johannes Norlander and Francisco Aires Mateus) and six under-40 talents selected through a call (calabrò.cossement, Francesco Rosati + Davide Bacchio, Gabriele Trove, Galli | Cavalcabò, Claudia Carlotta Sabbà + Pierfrancesco Acciani and Scattered Disc Objects) in a challenge with marble. The pieces, collected in a dark setting anticipated by a historic Milanese courtyard, bring out the different interpretations of the material. Sometimes the marble is treated to take its transparency to the extreme, like Bruther's soft screen-curtain; at other times the material becomes monumental and ironic, like Galli | Cavalcabò's column-lamp, or turns into a solid, assertive object, as in the case of the large vase designed by Gabriele Trove. An interesting experimentation on the unique, single-material piece, for those who want to see architecture put to the test with the domestic object. Corso di Porta Nuova 32, M3 Turati

(Giulia Ricci)

In its refined and minimalist shop designed by Tokujin Yoshioka inside Palazzo Reina, via Bagutta 12, Issey Miyake celebrates creativity with a project born from the collaboration with designers and artists and continues its investigation into the potential of clothes. The process comes before the product. So, with "In the making", Issey Miyake focuses on his "making" and how the creative processes of the latest IM MEN and A-POC Able Issey Miyake proposals are comparable to those of product design. In addition to the collections resulting from the collaboration with artists Tadanori Yokoo and Fabio Bellotti, the showroom also features the work carried out with Triporous™, a new material obtained from rice husks and developed by Sony Group Corporation, which has resulted in TYPE-I (one), a series featuring a special black tone that cannot be obtained with conventional dyeing techniques and which, over time, loses less vividness than traditional blacks, resulting in a longer life. Via Bagutta, 12, M1 San Babila

(Loredana Mascheroni)