‘Future to Share’ by Tortona Design Week 2023 edition

The 'Future to Share' exhibit by Tortona Design Week was a focal point of the 2023 Fuorisalone. Various installations, exhibitions, events, and talks adorned the Milan exhibit between a Mediterranean terrace and a deep dive into nature. Tortona Design Week presented ‘Future to Share’ for the first time in collaboration with the integrated communication agency Double Malt for its 2023 edition. This ambitious project was set to become the forerunner of a future to be written with a view to sharing and inclusivity. It held a unique appearance and a communication proposal intended to bring together and narrate the realities of the Tortona area. In recent times, technology, innovation, and circularity serve as the pillars on which one can reshape daily life and create a future that will foster self-production and sustainable urban manufacturing. This year’s protagonists are TCL, Nardi, GAC Europe, Hainan Lizu, Delta Light, Decor Lab, Lechler, Festool, Lexus, Zip Zone Events, YOOX, Keio SDM, Freehand Furniture Co, Officina 14, ADF-GARDE, Noroo, Swatchbox, UMPRUM (The Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague), Institute for Material Design IMD together with Mazda Motor Corporation, and IAB Italia.

There was a comprehensive program of immersive installations, exhibitions, events, talks, and meetings to invigorate the entire area and make it a point of reference for the sizable expected audience. These events are designed to make the audience knowledgeable and critical spectators towards the present.

Here, STIR lists exhibits showcased at the ‘Future to Share’ inspired by technology, sustainability and a better future.

‘Shaped by Air’ showcase by Lexus

Luxury automotive design brand Lexus displayed 'Shaped by Air', an immersive installation made by architect and artist Suchi Reddy from New York, at Milan Design Week 2023. The sculpture, a forest of composite forms evoking the brand's electric vehicle, is both an interpretation of the company's effort to create noise- and pollution-free electric vehicles for the future and an experiential setup to communicate the idea of the Lexus Electrified Sport's concept and quality of being 'shaped by air'. Moving through the naturally curved, leaf-like fixtures which are activated by movement, sound and light allows for a multisensorial experience. The fixtures are activated by movement, sound, and light.

‘Strange yet Beautiful’ by Superdesign Show

The Superdesign Show 2023, an annual event hosted by Superstudio as part of Fuorisalone during Milan Design Week 2023, featured designs by about 40 different designers and was centred around the topic of 'Inspiration Innovation Imagination'. The Superdesign Show was held at Superstudio Piú, Superstudio's multicultural private exhibiting space in the city's formerly industrial Tortona district. It explored the use of chatbots, augmented reality, metaverse, and humanoid robots in the design sector. The event features program like Today is Already Tomorrow, Asian R-Evolution, Starts of Today and Tomorrow, Under the Art Sign, Other Horizons and Talk, and Strange Yet Beautiful within this wider theme and was directed by Gisella Borioli, CEO of Superstudio.

Elements by TCL

The exhibit by TCL served as a reminder to visitors that nature has always been and continues to be the most significant source of inspiration, creativity, and innovation. It is presented as part of the "Inspire Greatness" -- the brand signature. Visitors experienced a horizon, a near future, in which nature and technology coexist peacefully through sustainable works of art, interactive experiences, and cutting-edge products.

Limonaia by Nardi

With the airiness, hues, and aromas of a Mediterranean terrace, Nardi's installation Limonaia depicted the idea of life outside in via Tortona 30. The Net Lounge armchair, with its distinctive wave profile, creates a space where the guest will feel as though they are floating in the air between videos and special effects. The space hosted two talks moderated by journalist and author Antonella Galli – "The extra room: designing terraces and gardens" with the architect and well-known TV personality Diego Thomas and "Wellness and nature in the contemporary garden" with the landscape architect, Antonio Perazzi, and the doctor and phytotherapy teacher, Stefania Piloni.

WunderDecor by Decor Lab

With WunderDecor, Decor Lab, the interior design laboratory in via Tortona 37, showcased a new exhibition with new decoration ideas composed of individualised, imaginative, and cutting-edge surroundings. They delivered a variety of coordinated and adaptable solutions, presenting events, art exhibitions, and showcasing new collections, in collaboration with their 20 partner firms.

momentUM by Delta Light

With the release of the catalogue The Lighting Bible 15, Delta Light introduced its new collection momentUM -- an evocative installation that revitalised the Delta Light Studio in via Gaspare Bugatti, animated with the new products of the Belgian multinational as the main attraction. The improvements of linear lighting systems, as well as outdoor solutions, including cutting-edge precision optics, colour and design advancements, along with tasteful decorative expressions.

TDW Hub

The TDW Hub, a public area in via Tortona 12 devoted to creativity and innovation, was a fresh feature of this edition. A place of meeting and engagement where a number of businesses coexist and communicate with one another to provide visitors with an understanding of how design permeates our lives in various and occasionally unexpected ways.

The Way of Relations by Lechler

The new concept "The Way of Relations" by paint company Colour Design® Lechler, which focused on creating spaces for relationships, transitions, and reflection, as a response to the new idea of living in the home. In all of its manifestations, the link is revived and relaunched, enabling - through colour, materials, and finishes - the harmonies between outside and inside, between actual and virtual environments, and between the past and the future.

GAC Car Culture Series

The second edition of the ‘GAC Car Culture Series’ – ‘Car Culture #2 - The Van life’ was on display for the first time, owing to the youthful automotive design firm GAC. The new vehicle enables you to move easily and softly while surrounded by beauty thanks to a configurable cockpit and technology that let you reach isolated locations without generating particles into the atmosphere.

L’hub 35 by nhow Milano

From a former factory that has been transformed into a hotel, nhow Milano opened the doors to L'hub 35, a significant event that turned the building's chameleon-like spaces into true laboratories of innovation and creativity by bringing together the works of significant international brands that, like nhow, see an opening to a new world in a crack in the wall rather than something broken.

The Colour Squad by YOOX

YOOX presented The Colour Squad - Designing Tomorrow Together during Milan Design Week, a project where artists, writers, and creators interpret the main theme of this edition, "Future Laboratory," according to their aesthetic sensibility. Owing to the collaboration with Posca, the main partner of the initiative, creativity comes alive at La Torneria, an underground space in the centre of Milan's Design District at via Tortona 32, transforming into a blank canvas ready to be filled by performances by artists and visitors who were invited to express themselves and their visions and give voice to their ideas. The artists Domenico Formichetti, Disegnetti Depressetti, and Tancredi Galli, collectively known as SighTanc, were the spokespersons for new perspectives, sparking a conversation with the public about the values of the new generations, and they appeared in a series of events over the course of three days.

STIR’s coverage of Milan Design Week 2023 showcases the best exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands, and special projects to look out for. Explore Euroluce 2023 and all the design districts—5Vie Art and Design, Brera Design District, Fuorisalone, Isola Design District, Tortona District, and Milano Design District—with us.

Text by Ria Jha.