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5VIE to prototype equitable utopias at Milan Design Week 2022
Pulpo pilota design by Studio BrichetZiegler mood 05
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5VIE to prototype equitable utopias at Milan Design Week 2022

Through a series of artistic, functional, experiential and gastronomic experiences, the 5VIE district will prick the idea of utopia and what it means to different people.

by Almas Sadique
Published on : May 18, 2022

The inordinately anticipated Milan Design Week 2022, scheduled from 6 to 12 June 2022 this year at Milan, Italy, will witness a flurry of contemporaneous displays and discussions centred around sustainability and ideas for the future. Amongst the several design districts that will host brands, galleries and their associated designers and artists at the Italian design festival, is the 5VIE design district, which is aptly named after the ‘five streets’ that make up the district. Now in its ninth edition, the 5VIE Design Week will focus on acknowledging, highlighting and discussing equitable futures for all through ‘Prototyping Utopias’, the district’s theme for the upcoming edition.

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Diorama by Laboratario Paravicini is a collection of installations and paintings Image: Courtesy of 5vie

Under the tutelage of Ernesta Del Cogliano and Emanuele Tessarolo in 2013, 5VIE was envisioned with the aim of relaunching the historic centre of Milan that houses the remains of imperial Rome, some of the earliest Christian basilicas and courtyards from the Renaissance period. Divided into three parts that are themed on art and design, experience and social innovation respectively, the 5VIE project hosts galleries and institutions, collaborative events and art installations, and discussions and debates that help revive the historic design district, develop and enhance local traditions and craftsmanship that carry heavy artistic and cultural value, develop and disseminate projects pertaining to sustainability and promote dialogues, discussions and collaborations with international stakeholders. Over the years, the district has hosted “It’s Circular Forum'' and “Tourism is Culture”. While the former was centred around the circular economy in all its forms and versions, the latter was dedicated to the exploration of the present condition and future possibilities available for the tourism sector.

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Maehwa Branch Chandelier by Giopato & Coombes Image: Courtesy of 5vie

For the upcoming edition, Cogliano and Tessarolo cite Oscar Wilde’s stern tenet that highlights the uselessness of a design, concept or idea that does not envision or attempt to contemplate a better society for the future generations. Following this thought, they are set to lead a powerful discourse about the importance of seeking utopias that are consistently defined and redefined to suit extant circumstances, while also catering to the distinctive visions of people from different stratas and sections of the society. Portraying these utopias as conceptual locations towards which we can collectively orient ourselves in order to construct an ideal common future devoid of tangible and intangible boundaries and demarcations, Ernesta Del Cogliano and Emanuele Tessarolo have beckoned creatives to present their versions of these futures that we seek.

Through this vision of inviting and presenting the ideas and designs that explore possible utopias, 5VIE will transform their district into a metaphysical space dedicated to visually staging various prototypes of idyllic scapes as well as hypothetical ideas that are still in their evolutionary phase. In doing so, it ceases to function as a design event alone and instead, takes on the role of an interdisciplinary space that encourages experimentation in the realm of design, art, fashion, crafts and everything in between.

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Amalgam Collection by George Geara Image: Courtesy of 5vie

From amongst the vast array of projects, installations and interactive sessions that are set to feature at the six day design fair, let’s have a look at some of the most invigorating and promising showcases:

1. Centro Studi Poltronova’s showcase of Archizoom Associati’s work

As part of their annual dedication that is accredited to an eminent and noteworthy architect, designer or collective, 5VIE will honour Archizoom Associati, a Florentine architecture and design studio that existed from 1966 to 1974. In the short span during which they operated, the four founders, led by their collective desire to push avant-garde design to its extremities, heralded investigational projects and initiatives that piqued the interest of people and presented intriguing ideas pertaining to utopia. The ideas augured by them continue to serve as critical topics of discussion in creative and intellectual spaces, while the physically sculpted objects by them are part of prominent museum collections across the globe.

In the spaces of 5VIE’s headquarters, Centro Studi Poltronova, an appendage of the Italian furniture and interior design brand, Poltronova Company will curate the exhibits to reference Archizoom's visions. The showcase will include a reading corner comprising Archizoom Associati’s Superonda chair in a new Farfalla print, Nigel Coates's Plasma Chair, Ultrafragola mirror by Ettore Sottsass, Superonda's new Terrazzo print version by Laura Bethan Wood, two volumes of the series “Le Monografie di Poltronova, Superonda: Archizoom Associati” and the last issue of “Mies + Sanremo: Archizoom Associati”. Designed to induce a sense of nostalgia for the eminent design studio and its proprietors as well as for Poltronova, the interactive exhibition is a perfect blend of ‘showing’ and ‘doing’, an aspect that lends it an edge despite its simplicity.

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Rebirth by Giulia Archimede Amala Image: Courtesy of 5vie
2. Woven Whispers by Richard Yasmine

Richard Yasmine, a Lebanese interior designer and product designer, has created this unique installation that personifies the social system and its psychological roots. The showcase, standing tall as a monolithic pillar that is reminiscent of extremely archaic structures, especially the tower of Babel, also serves as a symbol of communication, union, solidarity and harmony amongst humans. Placed alongside Yasmine’s latest furniture collection, the pillar will contextualise the latter. By placing the archaic pillar against the contemporary furniture pieces, Yasmine attempts to praise and celebrate the craftsmanship associated with both.

3. Installation that highlights sustainability by 5VIE x Astrid Luglio x Erbert

In a collaboration between 5VIE, product designer Astrid Luglio and Milanese concept store Erbert, ideas of territoriality and sustainability will be explored by taking daily food as the point of inception. By combining Astrid Luglio’s creative and technical offerings with Erbert’s philosophy of promoting quality and simplicity in healthy eating, an installation that visually presents a dialogue between the two distinctive worlds will come alive at Erbert’s store in Piazza Quasimodo, 2. Products by Luglio and fruits, vegetables and other edibles from Erbert’s store will sit alongside each other like distinct sculptural objects happily coexisting, as in the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, thus prompting viewers to explore an alternative future where co-existence on every level seems feasible and pragmatic.

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Famiglia Oliva as part of Eleit Image: Courtesy of 5vie
4. Design & Taste Experience by Eleit

Stepping aside from the norm of showcasing artistically driven projects, Eleit, a startup that attempts to promote and enhance the Italian food experience through a line of exclusively designed objects, will present an experiential showcase ‘Design & Taste’ which will comprise moments of tasting and witnessing Italian design through Famiglia Oliva’s oil tasting and Pyxis’s buffalo mozzarella tasting, which are two icons of Italian food.

5. Allegory G_B: a collection of NFTs

Sebastiano Deva’s Allegory G_B, created in collaboration with Apptripper srl, Innereo and IrrationalTheory, is a collection of NFTs that are based on the painting “Allegory of Good and Bad Government” by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Its visual appearance is derived from biometric fingerprints measured and reproduced using Artificial Intelligence. Enhanced by Innereo’s all-consuming music, the digital artworks transcend the realm of staticism and can be viewed and experienced as invigorating and layered crypto art pieces that enunciate the emotions of the maker.

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Timelessart Nuova collection 2022 by Isabella Accenti Image: Courtesy of 5vie

Some other showcases that will also exhibited at the 5VIE headquarters during the Milan Design Week this year include ‘little monsters / scary beasts’ by co/rizom, ‘The Absolute Surface’ by HoperAperta, ‘Masterly - The Dutch in Milano’, an event dedicated to Dutch design and art, and group exhibitions presenting the works of London based studio Ahu’s ‘Modern Heirlooms’, The Empty Dinner’s ‘Absence Stool’, Moure/Studio’s Silvia Table and Hughes Stool, Zarolat’s ‘Luna Chair’ and Giulia Archimede's ‘Amala and Rebirth lamps’ among others. A few exhibits that will feature in different locations in the district include ‘La’ by Camilla Bellini of Studio Deco, lights collection ‘Fold’ by Formafantasma, and ‘Tiepolo’ by Palmalisa Zantedeschi, among others.

STIR takes you on a Milanese sojourn! Experience Salone del Mobile and all the design districts - 5vie, Brera, Fuorisalone, Isola, Zona Tortona, and Durini - with us. STIR’s coverage of Milan Design Week 2022, Meanwhile in Milan showcases the best exhibits, moods, studios, events, and folks to look out for. We are also excited to announce our very own STIR press booth at Salone del Mobile - Hall 5/7 S.14, Fiera Milano RHO.

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