Milan Design Week – ellectric’s mobility front runners
The Milan Design Week is internationally known for its abundance of great creations shown yearly in one of Europe’s most fashionable cities – Milan. Because this is design we’re talking about, ellectric was of course in attendance, and here we are reporting back on all things mobility-related to all of our design-hungry readers.
There was certainly a lot to see and a lot to write about in terms of beautiful design, so here are our highlights of the Milan Design Week from a mobility perspective.
Porsche’s “The Art of Dreams”
This was by far one of our favourites: the exhibition series created in 2021 by Porsche featured another one of its installments in Milan, after exhibiting previous parts of the series in other big cities such as Paris. The installation was created by Berlin-based artist Ruby Barber with the help of Porsche, and really did feel like a dream.
The piece, titled “Everywhereness,” was a labyrinth of wild roses that brings into question the relationship between nature, human-made spaces and technology. A section of the footpaths is made of mirrors, while live drones add surreal effects. Next to the installation, a Porsche 911 from 1972 was featured on a bed of white roses, further intermingling nature with mobility.
“Our studio is very inspired by the intersections between the human environment and the natural world. Working with a brand like Porsche offers a wonderful opportunity to explore these connections with emphasis on technology, architecture, design and beauty.” – Ruby Barber
House of BMW
Next up was definitely this amazing interactive centre created by BMW. For the duration of the event, the House of BMW, located in the heart of Milan’s fashion district, was turned into a centre for dialogue between people, art and technology. Designer and artist Mike Meiré curated a programme of installations, performances, workshops and discussion formats for the Salone del Mobile design fair in which the focus was on connectedness, digitality and circularity.
The six-day event was titled “House of BMW: In residence Mike Meiré – Tales from a Neo Collective Future'' featured artists such as Botter, Claudia Rafael and Anna Deller-Yee, and their reflections on the spirit of the times and tackling opportunities and challenges of technological developments by interpreting strategies of digitalisation and circularity. The space thus transformed into an open space of possibilities, where artists and visitors ventured together into the sphere between perception and poetry, factual and fantastic.
Hyundai Transys x Lineapelle
This project was perhaps the most impressive one if only in the depth of its undertaking. In partnership with Lineapelle and the Milan Design Week, Korean brand Hyundai created a project aimed at minimising waste and regenerating tanning waste into new innovative materials. The culmination of this project is their new concept seat, which embodies the shared value of sustainability of the collaborators through its use of regenerative materials, and visualises that value through transcending time and space with a design concept called ‘Seoul to Milan.’
The concept links the cities through colours and patterns, particularly the two main hues dubbed ‘Seoul Grey’ for the Korean capital’s metropolitan cityscape and granite peaks and ‘Milano Brown’ for the Italian city’s classical buildings. This was a real treat to see in person during the exhibition as it felt like a physical embodiment of what the future might look like.
The Citroën Ami
The creative project created in collaboration with internationally renowned collectible design gallerist Rossana Orlandi was perhaps one of the most surprising. The gallerist and Milan Design Week ambassador decided to personalise the Citroën electric vehicle by having it painted in pure white to symbolise positivity, and renamed it “Mon Ami,” with said name featured on its door. A four-leaf clover was also featured on the car to send the message that “living in the green is a real fortune.”
Rossana Orlandi also invited five other internationally renowned designers and artists – all female – which she named “Les amis de Ro” and whom she entrusted with the customization of as many electric and unique Citroën Ami vehicles. First off, stylist and designer Daniela Gerini’s AMI called “Kerryon,” featured a lively combination of colours. Yukiko Nagai, an artist designer from Japan reproduced the textures of various materials with mosaics for her AMI named “Tessera.” Third, visionary designer, architect and curator Paola Navone named her vehicle “BRUM,” and adorned it with polka dots, all different from one another. Draga Obradovic , a multidisciplinary design artist who works in the field of furniture, textiles and interior design decided to call her Citroen AMI “My Way,” and focused on delicate and subtle colour shades. Finally, multifaceted designer
Ludovica Serafini drew her inspiration from the beauty of nature with her AMI “Oxygène” featuring trees in the “green” colour, on a light background.
Audi House of Progress
For this year’s Milan Design week, the Audi House of Progress on Piazza Cordusio in the heart of Milan chose to focus on socio-ecological change and responsible design under the theme of re-generation, which was also the subject of fascinating panel discussions on site. Among other things, discussions covered how people can live sustainably, what design has to do with it, and the role that Audi can play. Inspiring ideas, for example pertaining to materiality, were presented by Tiziana Mauri, Head of Color & Trim at AUDI AG.
“Re-generation” also came to life at the Audi House of Progress through the concept vehicles on display, such as the Audi grandsphere and a completely new interior approach for the Audi urbansphere concept, which we have previously written about on ellectric. For Audi, the term “re-generation” describes its vision of progress in tomorrow’s world – for the good of the planet, society and every individual.
Audi x Poliform
Founded in Italy, Poliform sets uncompromisingly high standards in aesthetics and quality. As a result, it has risen to become one of the most influential companies in the industry worldwide – so it is only logical that Audi and Poliform should cooperate at Milan Design Week: Under the name “Audi x Poliform – Vision of a mobile private sphere.”
For this collaboration, which was also on display at the Audi House of Progress during Milan Design Week, the furniture company offered a virtual presentation of its interior design for the Audi urbanspere concept. Featuring the most spacious interior of any Audi model to date, the concept car has been designed with the involvement of potential customers in China and their wishes for urban metropolitan centres around the globe. This particular vehicle, however, featured a whole new approach to the Audi urbansphere we wrote about on ellectric.
MINI Recharged x Paul Smith
This was perhaps one of the most iconic collaborations featured at Milan Design Week. Most of us know (or should know) the legendary designer Sir Paul Smith, so it was quite the treat to see that he was the brains behind this customised car project. In short, the British designer converted a classic Mini from the 1998 MINI Paul Smith Edition and reinvented the classic in the process. The customised car is part of the MINI Recharged project, which celebrates the fusion of tradition with pioneering technology, by installing an electric motor in the original model.
Through this project, the classic car was transformed into a newly designed and modernised electric car for emission-free driving. This was an important message for a more sustainable mobility of the future, with iconic design. The presentation of this sustainable project at the Salone Del Mobile 2022 in Milan also provided an opportunity for Sir Paul Smith and Oliver Heilmer, Head of MINI Design, to discuss sustainable approaches to automotive design.
As big design fiends, it was of course an honour for to us to attend the Milan Design Week and to witness all of the beautiful and forward-thinking design projects featured in Milan. Because we are passionate about mobility and design, it was a particular pleasure to be able to see first-hand such interesting collaborative projects, and we got it all: talks, workshops, dazzling new cars, art, and progress. We can’t wait to take you along next year and hope you’ve enjoyed getting a glimpse of our experience at the Milan Design Week 2022.
Picture 1: ellectric
Picture 2+3: Porsche
Picture 4-8: BMW
Picture 9-11: Hyundai Transys
Picture 12: Citroen
Picture 13-16: Audi
Picture 17-19: BMW