Milan Design Week

NIKE

NikeAir_Lab, created in collaboration with the Dropcity centre for design and architecture on Via Giovanni Battista Sammartini, is an immersive exploration of air. Visitors will move through a series of tunnels showcasing everything from Frank Rudy’s original experiments – the aeronautical engineer worked with NASA on Saturn and Apollo rocket engines before transitioning to athletic footwear – and Air Max icons to innovations and never-before-seen prototypes. The experience will host live talks, workshops and hands-on sessions, with the Air Lab set to continue as a permanent makerspace at Dropcity beyond MDW.

NILUFAR GALLERY

The famed Milan design gallery founded by Nina Yashar in 1979 (and extended with an industrial space, Nilufar Depot, in 2015) is hosting two new exhibitions at its venues. Nilufar Depot on Viale Vincenzo Lancetti, will become the Nilufar Grand Hotel, an immersive space of interiors and collectible design transporting visitors to the environs of a storied luxury hotel. At Nilufar Via della Spiga, it is presenting La Casa Magica, curated by Valentina Ciuffi with the creative direction of her Studio Vedèt and a set design by Space Caviar, which explores the home as a symbolic and ritual space through objects that reflect on belief, domestic archetypes and re-enchantment.

OSANNA VISCONTI

Osanna Visconti’s Atelier on Via Santa Marta will transform into the exhibition space The Permanence of Bronze featuring a set design by Dimorestudio – an ode to bronze furniture and objects experienced through a sequence of interconnected rooms, creating a "gradual intensification of perception”. At its centre, a mirrored space explores the solidity of bronze, which becomes a point of reflection.

POLTRONA FRAU 

The Italian furniture house’s installation True Over Time at its flagship store on Via Manzoni celebrates timeless design. The collection introduces a raft of new pieces for each room of the house. Debuts for the living areas include the Archibald Sofa System by Jean-Marie Massaud, an evolution of the Archibald family,  and new configurations of the Blisscape sofa by Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba. Faye Toogood’s Lie Low bed and nightstands; and the Stock’n Roll console, designed by Sebastian Herkner, are part of the new designs for the bedroom. There are more pieces for the dining space as well as standout lighting collaborations, including Atelier Oï’s undulating Tullissè table light and the Gio Ponti Oro floor lamp,  bringing into production a historic design that had remained unpublished until now.

Poltrona Frau has also collaborated with the street artist Shepard Fairey and will unveil Archibald Delicate Balance Limited Edition, a reinterpretation of Jean-Marie Massaud’s iconic armchair feauring Fairey's visual language, available in only 200 numbered pieces.

PRADA FRAMES

Returning for its fifth iteration, the Italian fashion house’s symposium, staged within the historic complex of the Santa Maria delle Grazie church, and curated by design and research studio Formafantasma, presents In Sight, a new instalment focusing on the role of images in modern society – and how image-making and “its preference for representation over facts impacts cultural and political forces. The symposium unfolds through a series of lectures and conversations, but guided visits are offered to small groups. There is also an evening event presenting a curation of the ideas and discussions developed over the three days in combination with a music performance.

RANGE ROVER

The British brand has partnered with Storey Studio, the spatial design practice led by Robert Storey to present an installation focussing on Range Rover Bespoke, exploring craftsmanship, materiality and sensory design through an immersive concept at Galleria Meravigli onVia Gaetano Negri.