Editors picks: Salone day 1

Milan Design Week starts. Have a look at these five appointments not to be missed, selected by Domus staff. 

Alcova Atelier Avéus, Non-Objective Table, Milano Design Week 2019

Alcova Optimismums, Milano Design Week 2019

Nilufar Depot "FAR", Studio Vedèt and Space Caviar, Milano Design Week 2019, via Lancetti 34

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Nilufar Depot "FAR", Studio Vedèt and Space Caviar, Milano Design Week 2019, via Lancetti 34

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Nilufar Depot Milan Design Week 2019

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Alcova Sassetti Milan Design Week 2019, via Sassetti 31

Photo Giulia Piermartiri

Alcova Milan Design Week 2019

Photo Delfino Sisto Legnani

Roberto Sironi, Human Code SIAM, 5VIE, Milan Design Week, via Santa Marta 18

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Anton Alvarez, “L’ultima cera” Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache in Via Lanzone 13, Milan Design Week 2019

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Anton Alvarez, “L’ultima cera” Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache in Via Lanzone 13, Milan Design Week 2019

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Carlo Massoud, “Il pesce e gli astanti” Oratorio della Passione in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio, Milan Design Week 2019

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Carlo Massoud, “Il pesce e gli astanti” Oratorio della Passione in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio, Milan Design Week 2019

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Roberto Sironi, Human Code Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache in Via Lanzone 13, Milan Design Week 2019

Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Knoll celebrates Bauhaus OMA, in collaboration with Domitilla Dardi, Milan Design Week 2018, piazza Bertarelli

Knoll celebrates Bauhaus OMA, in collaboration with Domitilla Dardi, Milan Design Week 2018, piazza Bertarelli

The Salone, increasingly anticipated with openings and cocktails that intercepted the Milan Art Week, Broken Nature and the new Museum of Italian Design at the Triennale, actually started last Friday. Piazza Duomo is sealed by a giant armchair by Gaetano Pesce pierced by a thousand arrows, the giraffes in love by Marcantonio smell amiable at the Statale, and the installations promise a total enjoyment of the senses, as Studiopepe’s “Les Anarchistes” or the black and white Korean craft show at Superstudio. 

For the first official day of Fuorisalone, Domus suggests five venues not to be missed. 

Studiopepe, Les Anarchites, Milan Design Week 2019. PhotoHenrik Blomqvist

Nilufar Depot

In via Vincenzo Lancetti 34, Nina Yashar offers three exhibitions in her generous Nilufar Depot: “FAR” ­- an immersive setting made of huge inflatable ‘parasites’ designed by Studio Vedèt and Space Caviar-, “New sculptural presence”, curated by Nilufar Depot and set up by Patricia Urquiola, and a series of collectible design pieces within “Nilufar and the Great Italian Masters”. 

Five exhibits at 5VIE

One of the richest districts of Fuorisalone, the 5VIE certainly deserves more visits. For the first day of the Milan Design Week we suggest five solo exhibitions by Roberto Sironi, Carlo Massoud, Anton Alvarez, Ugo La Pietra and Kiki Van Eijk with Joost Van Bleiswijk. In Via Cesare Correnti 14 there are two major exhibitions on view: “Territorial Design” by Ugo La Pietra on submerged craftsmanship, and “Connect” by Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk on the theme of empathy and chemistry between people.

At SIAM in via Santa Marta 18 you can visit “Human Code” by Roberto Sironi, curated by Annalisa Rosso, which reveals years of research into anthropology, technology and materials. “L’ultima cera”, curated by Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, shows the extravagant extrusions of Anton Alvarez with wax and bronze within the Church of San Bernardino alle Monache in Via Lanzone 13. At the Oratorio della Passione in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio “Il pesce e gli astanti” curated by Maria Cristina Didero presents for the first time in Italy the work of Lebanese designer Carlo Massoud.

Carlo Massoud, “Il pesce e gli astanti”, Oratorio della Passione in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio, Milan Design Week 2019. PhotoHenrik Blomqvist

Hermès Maison

In the evening, inside La Pelota in via Palermo 10 Hermès Maison will present its new collections for the home. Last year, the Parisian fashion house set up a metaphysical space of coloured walls covered with irregular tiles in the spaces at Permanente. 

Alcova + Alcova Sassetti

Last year it opened for the first time in via Popoli Uniti 11-13, Centrale station, and it was a big hit. We will follow Alcova also this year, curated by Space Caviar and Studio Vedèt, plus a new appendix in the Isola district called Alcova Sassetti (in via Sassetti 31), edited by Alice Stori Liechtenstein. Alcova defines itself as an “itinerant cultural institution” that uses art and design to temporarily reactivate abandoned places of the city.

Knoll celebrates Bauhaus

Curated by OMA in collaboration with Domitilla Dardi, the highly anticipated exhibition “Knoll celebrates Bauhaus” will open its doors in the evening in the Knoll showroom in Piazza Bertarelli. Tracing the history of the company through the figure of Florence Knoll, the exhibition celebrates the centenary of the Bauhaus during Milan Design Week. 

Alcova

Atelier Avéus, Non-Objective Table, Milano Design Week 2019

Alcova

Optimismums, Milano Design Week 2019

Nilufar Depot Photo Henrik Blomqvist

"FAR", Studio Vedèt and Space Caviar, Milano Design Week 2019, via Lancetti 34

Nilufar Depot Photo Henrik Blomqvist

"FAR", Studio Vedèt and Space Caviar, Milano Design Week 2019, via Lancetti 34

Nilufar Depot Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Milan Design Week 2019

Alcova Sassetti Photo Giulia Piermartiri

Milan Design Week 2019, via Sassetti 31

Alcova Photo Delfino Sisto Legnani

Milan Design Week 2019

Roberto Sironi, Human Code Photo Henrik Blomqvist

SIAM, 5VIE, Milan Design Week, via Santa Marta 18

Anton Alvarez, “L’ultima cera” Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache in Via Lanzone 13, Milan Design Week 2019

Anton Alvarez, “L’ultima cera” Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache in Via Lanzone 13, Milan Design Week 2019

Carlo Massoud, “Il pesce e gli astanti” Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Oratorio della Passione in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio, Milan Design Week 2019

Carlo Massoud, “Il pesce e gli astanti” Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Oratorio della Passione in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio, Milan Design Week 2019

Roberto Sironi, Human Code Photo Henrik Blomqvist

Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Monache in Via Lanzone 13, Milan Design Week 2019

Knoll celebrates Bauhaus

OMA, in collaboration with Domitilla Dardi, Milan Design Week 2018, piazza Bertarelli

Knoll celebrates Bauhaus

OMA, in collaboration with Domitilla Dardi, Milan Design Week 2018, piazza Bertarelli