The world is here – the future is now, at Temporary Museum for New Design by Superstudio

What is the overarching concept for this year’s show in Milan? What are the key trends, as you see them?

This is a very challenging year, one in which we are facing the consequences of a crisis that has been going on for years, and at the same time an increase in the number of spaces available, since the idea of spreading the Fuori Salone out, something first launched by Superstudio in zona Tortona, has whetted the appetite of other parts of the city. So we are seeing important changes: the Italian furniture manufacturers that are looking for immediate commercial opportunities are choosing stands in the Trade Fair complex at Rho, while universities and experimental designers from Northern Europe, with the Netherlands leading the way, are going to Lambrate and Brera is counting on the brands already permanently installed in its showrooms and adding large and small spaces for other proposals along similar lines. In zona Tortona international design is communicating in different ways and in typified locations, livening up the whole district.

Superstudio, the iconic space in zona Tortona where it all began, has developed its “less of a fair and more of a museum” format with a slogan that invites people to look at the future that is already present, through the different perspectives of various countries, clearly presented in their spaces. “The world is here—the future is now” is the guiding thread leading us to tomorrow’s home, which in reality will use solutions that already exist today. Even before going indoors we will be introduced to futuristic housing units that meet modern needs of sustainability, biocompatibility and flexibility, like Ivanka’s house that produces its own drinking water directly from rainwater or Marchingenio’s architectural module with a biomorphic appearance. Living spaces are shaped chiefly through the bold use of materials and technologic devices, while the furnishings look more traditional and less like gadgets than usual. In reality, though, their treatments, weight, durability, resistance and biocompatibility are the fruit of major investment and highly advanced research.

Superstudio Più has over two decades now presented new directions in design and, by extension, changes in society. How has Superstudio itself changed during this time?

Superstudio Più, with its grand events showcasing design, is fifteen years old now. Each year a small change has been made, in an effort to follow the directions indicated by society. From the striking design of Cappellini, Moooi, Via, Flos and the designers who were to become stars at the beginning of the 21st century, such as Marcel Wanders, Fabio Novembre, Nika Zupanc, Nendo, Maarten Baas and Tom Dixon, we moved toward global design, in the sense that any object or device or complement or means of transport that requires the radical intervention of new design is a welcome guest. Since then we have shifted the focus onto design coming from new areas of the world, an ever-growing presence in our gallery, with exhibitions by designers and companies from countries such as Thailand, Poland, Brazil, Croatia, Korea and Belgium in addition to the more traditional centers of Sweden, Japan, Germany, France Spain and Britain. 

In 2014 we are seeing a significant input from the phenomenon of e-commerce as a producer and distributor of ideas, whether from well-known names or emerging talents. We have an important installation where eBay will present its new section of quality design, the event staged by Vente Privée and the Superstudio Selection section with our choices on sale at the website www.dalani.it. We are devoting more and more space to startups and the young. This year sees a major upgrade: we have brought them up from the Basement into the splendid Day-Light space, a move symbolic of the importance that we are giving to new proposals, selected together with Giulio Cappellini. The new section is called SuperDesign: around thirty small manufacturers, some of them only very recently set up, with products of undoubted interest.

What does Superstudio Più do that other exhibition platforms don’t?

Superstudio does not rent out spaces but proposes coordinated projects with which exhibitors are able to actively collaborate, becoming personally involved from the very first meeting. And then it proposes culture: understood as communication, promotion of research, looking back to our roots and interaction and collaboration with contemporary artists, who often hold a dialogue or exchange roles with the designers themselves. Over time we have presented countless exhibitions of design, photography, drawings, prototypes and art objects, competitions and award ceremonies. We bring out our own magazine in Italian and English, publish a digital catalogue and have a list of 150 000 email addresses of design professionals who have registered directly with us and to whom we send newsletters and other communications, as well as 50 media partners with whom we are constantly in contact. And again, we treat our visitors as “people,” providing them with in-house restaurants and bars, relaxation areas, a garden, meeting rooms, halls for conferences and parties, temporary shops, an internal press office… No other location in Milan offers as complete a “package” as ours.

Paying as close attention as we do to changes and new needs, we have now become aware of a strong drive toward export, even on the part of small and medium-sized companies, which often do not have the means or the knowledge to tackle emerging markets. For this reason we have embarked on a collaboration with the new contemporary design fair Downtown Design, to which we took an exhibition of Iconic Design with a selection of small but first-rate companies at the end of October 2013, and where we will be returning this year with a new project. Highly promising contacts have been made with other Asian capitals. A Milan-Dubai lounge will be on hand during the next Temporary Museum to provide all the relevant information.

What is Superstudio’s engagement with sustainability? How is this manifested during the Milan show?

The attention paid to sustainability finds expression automatically, in all the choices related to mounting, materials and other interventions. We don’t want to treat concern for the necessities of the environment as a fashion to be shown off at all costs, but as a way, indeed “the” way of dealing with daily life. We are attentive to everything, and we ask the same of our suppliers and partners. In this sense I introduce SuperOrtoPiù, a unique project by the well-known artist Michelangelo Pistoletto-Cittadellarte, curated by Fortunato D’Amico, that combines ecology, architecture, food, design, art, on the Roof of Superstudio Più. The installation will transform our Roof in a special area dedicated to the green culture and animated by landscapers, architects, designers, agronomists, and other personalities involved in a multi-disciplinary approach for the construction of a new world.