ISOLA DESIGN DISTRICT: Milan Design Week 2018

There are many new features for the second time of the district, starting from the new visual identity system designed by Zup Design, under the art direction of its founder, the award-winning designer Marco Williams Fagioli. Playing on the meaning of Isola, the studio was inspired by the iconographic tradition of pirates, creating a strong and recognizable identity, represented in the brand by a crossed flag. The new image wants to communicate the spirit of a young and rebel district, which stands out for its strong experimental character and for the choice of welcoming young designers and innovative projects, not necessarily linked to market logics.

Compared to last year, local activities and symbolic places of the neighborhood involved will increase, expanding the district perimeter. Stecca 3.0 will be the Headquarter, with the main info point and the press lounge dedicated to journalists, set up by RivaViva. But not only that, it will also host Latinoamerican Contemporary Design, exhibition organized by eiDesign, with a collective of South American designers. Fil rouge of for the 10 designers will be the fusion of design objects with identity and contemporaneity of each country, from Brazil to Ecuador, passing through Colombia and Mexico.

At Giuseppe Pero Gallery, on Via Porro Lambertenghi 3, visitors will find an Italian-Brazilian collective: Giorgio Bonaguro, Ronald Scliar Sasson and Gustavo Martini, who just won the Next Generation Designer of the Year by Wallpaper * and Officine Panerai. The three de- signers have decided to develop a common project of exhibition where their styles dialogue to tell different stories around a single precious material: marble. The projects have been realized by Marimar srl with Savoia Marmi, important realities in the stone field, coordinated by AS.MA.VE. (Consorzio Marmisti Veronesi).

Among the main events of the week there will be the third edition of the Milan Design Market. The event will take place within Gianni Rizzotti Photographic Studio, a 400 square meters loft on via Pastrengo 14, with a new format. There will be a Pop-Up Concept Store, where products have been carefully selected among those of over 1,000 designer candidates. Visitors will be able to discover the works of emerging designers coming from all of the parts of the world and even buy them from a central cashier desk. Furthermore there will be 5 areas dedicated to startups and design studios, for a total of almost 100 projects exhibited between interior design and furnishing accessories. The layout of the space - set up by creative director Elif Resitoglu, cofounder of Blank, the company that organises the event - wants to recreate “Imaginary Landscapes” that will involve the visitor inside industrial architectural environments, thanks to the 1:1 scale prints made by the Dutch architect and designer Sven Jansse, which will be used as backdrops for the products displayed. There will be in addition a Design Bar set up by the designer Federica Cristaudo and managed in collaboration with La Ribalta Brewery and INK EAT.

Inside the courtyard of Via Pastrengo 14, in the YoRoom events hall, you’ll also find Kensaku Oshiro, a Japanese designer selected by architect Piero Lissoni for the Rising Talent Awards Italy of Maison & Object. His chairs and those of MUT will be exhibited by e'interiors, a furniture company based in Tokyo, along with projects by Victor Carrasco, Tomoya Tabuchi and Tomoyuki Sakakida. Spazio O' - Dutch Invertuals - Mutant Matter exhibition involves designers Fleur Hulleman, Fransje Gimbrère, Marlou Rutten, Mirjam de Bruijn, Shahar Livne, Théophile Blandet, Thomas Ballouhey, Xandra van der Eijk, Zwart Frame. Giovanni Bonelli Gallery, on via Luigi Porro Lambertenghi 6, in collaboration with Nero Design, hosts Gianni Pettena and Duccio Maria Gambi, for a project where design objects interact with photographs, videos and much more. As for the past edition, there will be many artisans of the neighborhood that will open the doors of their laboratories to visitors, such as Pietro Algranti and Simona Colombini, who have made of “rethinking materials” a work philosophy.

During that days, also public spaces of the neighbourhood will host projects and installations. Among the protagonists in this sense there will be Stefano Rossetti, founder of the creative agency Pepe NyMi, who will present “Milan col coeur in man”, a series of urban installations inspired by the theme of hospitality and integration.

Further programme highlights:

Spazio Maraniello, Viale Stelvio 66: Brut - Bold Movements & Emotions Beyond Functionality

Frida (ground floor): Castellani Top Design in partnership with the artist NO CURVES

Frida (first floor): GetaStand marketplace

Key Gallery, via Borsieri 12: ELITE TO BE – CONVIVIUM

Design Gallery, Angelo della Pergola 1: Myriam Kuehne Rauner - Functional Aesthetics.

NVK showroom, Via Cola Montano 6: NVK Daydoll collection by Natasha Calandrino Van Kleef displayed together with the collection of the designer Francesca Caltabiano

Spazio RivaViva, Via Luigi Porro Lambertenghi, 18: "Scuola di Sarajevo" - RivaViva Eco Awards

Via Thaon di Revel 10: [1 + 2 = 8] collection

ZonaK, Via Spalato 11: Source - Lovely Waste

Sponsors of Isola Design District, this year, will be design companies but not only. The former are two leading companies in the urban furniture market HELIOS ARREDO URBANO and VASART URBAN DESIGN which, assisted by Antonio Lanzillo & Partners, will present, in the public space next to Stecca 3.0, URBAN CLUB: a contemporary collection of furniture for public spaces.

Further partners are Italian-German chamber of trade (Glimpses of German Design Trends) and Arjowiggins (Creative Papers).

The Opening Day is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, with all the locations involved that will remain open over 9PM and an event with concert and DJ set at the Headquarter until midnight.