Milan Design Week /// Trip N.3

“Tortona Zone” is probably the most visited district during the design week. Lots of exhibitions and parties and showrooms are opened, but not all is really interesting. Be careful! We went there last night and this is what we have seen.

First Stop: Tortona 37 by Matteo Thun & Partners.

Matteo Thun is the famous Italian architect and designer, awarded three times for design excellence by ADI Compasso D’oro. He’s interested in Eco–sustainable projects, and “Cantiere 37” (Tortona 37) is a complex designed by Thun: 5 buildings set out like the courtyard around a garden planted with trees. Architecture has been designed with a low environmental impact and they are capable of incorporating eco-sustainable design solutions. Here showrooms, laboratories, professional studios, shops and offices find their own custom design: the highly flexible interior spaces also ensure sustainably over time.

In the occasion of design week thanks to the partnership of Valverde (special brand water), “Cantiere 37” has organised a special event (opened 23 and 24 Apri only): we visited the site, discovered the exclusive Valverde bottles designed by Thun and tasted specialities by the chef Pietro Leemann. An example? A strange ice cream: rise + saffron + basil. But the best was the Thun’s sustainable buildings’ project.

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Second stop: Tortona 58. Richard Ginori and Taste Lounge.
Richard Ginori, the important porcelain’s company since 1735, celebrates Made in Italy. We visited the exhibition in a big stand where all is a tribute to porcelain, from the row materials to finalized manufactures. At the entrance the designers’ photos, that have been worked in Richard Ginori during the time, are displayed into side plates. A good idea was to offer the possibility of eat Italian specialties making on order on the paper plates designed by Arabeschi di Latte. Polkadot loves the Porcelain’s chandelier.

Third stop: Via Forcella 13. Ciclotte and Controprogetto Laboratory.

Ciclotte is a project of the Italian designer Luca Schieppati, and it is exhibited at the Triennale Design Museum also. Ciclotte wants mixing the fitness and functional properties of a cyclette with an innovative design and an aesthetic approach. The bike is all realized with carbon for a high quality. According to Luca, Ciclotte is an expression of contemporary lifestyle, where all the objects are harmonized together in the living space, in the house or in the office. Beautiful project in our opinion.

Controprogetto Laboratory is focused on the recycled materials. Controprogetto (Valeria Cifarelli, Matteo Prudenziati, Davide Rampanelli, Alessia Zema) is a collective of artists since 2003. It was born into Stecca degli Artigiani (Isola Zone, Milan). The Philosophy is to invent and experiment with solutions using only recovered materials. They work for interior or urban design. But the really interesting side is that Controprogetto is open to all the people that wants to learn following their philosophy, like an academy.