Design Re-Generation is the title of the long-awaited exhibition event conceived by INTERNI, the Mondadori Group’s Interiors and Contemporary Design magazine, which will run from  6 to 13 June in the quads of the Università degli Studi di Milano, at the Orto Botanico di Brera and, for the first time, in Piazza Cordusio at the Audi House of Progress. In addition to these three institutional locations, this year there is also the Cappellini Exhibition @IBM Studios in Piazza Gae Aulenti, 10.

In collaboration with the City of Milan, INTERNI Design Re-Generation is one of the main initiatives of the Milan Design Week and FuoriSalone 2022, created in 1990 on the initiative of Gilda Bojardi, editor of the magazine, and universally recognised as an event of reference for international design and architecture.

“Design Re-Generation aims to stimulate new design proposals, both material and functional, in which sustainability is the key value for a new quality of life,” explained Gilda Bojardi, editor of INTERNI. “In other words, regeneration understood as redevelopment, recovery, rebirth. But also, as the formation of a new design awareness that sees design as a tool to encourage a harmonious merger between space and nature. Our exhibition wants to stimulate a collective reflection on design, in the sense of an approach to improve both our present and future. All this through creative, visionary but also concrete proposals, which foreshadow a future in which those who design, do business, invent and experiment are animated by a profound and responsible awareness of the things of the world, by a greater sensitivity, an attention and ‘concern’ for realities and natural resources, for the common good and the benefit of individual well-being.”

INTERNI Design Re-Generation was conceived with a view to activating and multiplying connections and relationships: a virtuous system between the leaders in creativity, and of companies and distribution networks that have an essential need to connect people and ideas from different places and cultures. In collaboration with companies, multinationals, start-ups and institutions, over 50 designers have created more than 40 creative proposals (installations, exhibitions, design islands, micro-architecture and macro-objects, all site-specific) to interpret the themes of this edition of the exhibition which are: the new aesthetics of sustainability, nature in the city, artificial intelligence for innovative design and a new future through conscious design.

Installations and designers

Among the proposals that come to life in the spaces of the Milan University, located inside the Cortile d’Onore, will be a series of impressive installations. Starting from Fabbrica, a work designed by Piero Lissoni and built by Sanlorenzo, which stands in the centre of the lawn and recalls the industrial nature of the boatbuilder’s yard, and the structures used for the construction of the boats. It is a large structure made of tubular scaffolding that recreates the experience of getting on a yacht: a path of ramps leads visitors to a nautical wooden platform that evokes, in terms of shape and materials, the deck of a ship.

Love Song, conceived by Studio Ron Arad and Associates, meanwhile, is a sculpture in white Carrara marble created by Citco. This installation highlights Ron Arad’s constant experimentation with materials and is a sort of visual palindrome: the word Love has been extruded and distorted so that on one side it reads ‘love’ and on the other ‘song’.

A metaphysical landscape of oversized minerals enclosed in large showcases in a sort of museum itinerary: this is the concept of New Mineralia by Diego Grandi. The project reflects on the importance of sustainability through the use of a new generation material that is totally recycled and recyclable: Mathera by SAIB, designed by Grandi himself for a company that has made regeneration its manifesto.

Chromosaturation is the title of the installation by Daniel Kainz and Hannes Boeker for the fashion brand AlphaTauri which exploits the physical phenomenon of chrome saturation for a visual and physical experience that involves the viewer and transmits sensations of hot/cold, without the need to use any media.

Water, change and interaction are the key words of La voce di Idra, the futuristic fountain imagined by Elena Salmistraro for Guglielmi Rubinetterie.

With The Giants, Antonio Marras transforms the entrance columns of the University into an army of mythological characters inspired by the history and culture of Sardinia, dressed in metals produced by De Castelli.

In the Hall of the Aula Magna, the exhibition The dancing furniture of the house of Enric Miralles & Benedetta Tagliabue. For the first time, 9 unique pieces are presented in Italy, reproduced thanks to the support of the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), in a selection of sustainable American hardwoods.

Spread across the Cortile della Farmacia, The A-maze Garden, a maze of curved walls of four different heights, celebrates the values ​​of environmental commitment sanctioned by Amazon with the Climate Pledge, in the interpretation of Lissoni Associati curated by Francesco Canesi Lissoni. A maze that reinterprets the compositions of Piet Mondrian’s trees and traditional Italian gardens to reflect on the idea of ​​a conscious regeneration of the environment.

In the Cortile dei Bagni, the past, present and future come together in a temple that alludes to antiquity but proposes an innovative construction principle. Phoenix, is the name of the creation by Jacopo Foggini and Beton Eisack which explores the theme of sustainability in aesthetic terms, combining two materials of different nature but both coming from a recycling process: PC/PET-G and Eurobeton concrete.

In the Cortile del Settecento there is the Labyrinth Garden by Raffaello Galiotto with Nardi, maze an outdoor multi-disciplinary maze comprising an articulated pathway, developed over some 625 square metres of lawn. An experiential structure that is also a metaphor for the sense of loss we are all experiencing, characterised by issues such as the environment, health and peace.

Participants include Gabriel Escámez – Cobalto Studio (with Roca), Giacomo Garziano – GG-loop (with Rubner Haus), Benjamin Hubert (with Deutsche Telekom), Michele Pasca di Magliano – Zaha Hadid Architects (with Tecno), Alessandro Scandurra (with iGuzzini Illuminazione), Bruno Simões (ApexBrasil), Filippo Taidelli (with Fujifilm Italia), and Isay Weinfeld (with Portobello, Mapei, Casone).

The design islands are by: Andrea Boschetti (with Mirage), Andrea Branzi (with Porro), Alberto Caliri (with Missoni), Nicolò Castellini Baldissera (with C&C Milano), Deanna Comellini (with G.T.Design), Giulia Delpiano e Corrado Conti – ovre.design (with Cerasarda), Roberta Filippini and Paolo Michieli (with Michieli Floricoltura), Nieves Contreras (with Lladró), Kenzo K3 Team, Francesco Lucchese (with Hitachi Cooling and Heating), Giovanni de Niederhäusern – Pininfarina (with Higold Group), Lorenzo and Simona Perrone (with Libribianchi), Gianluca Pugliese – Lowpoly Design Studio (the Italian embassy in Madrid), Catello Raffaele and Giovanni Maione (IUAD – Accademia della Moda), Franco Raggi and Maria Christina Hamel (Milano Makers), Gianni Ravelli and Paolo Castagna (Ledvance with Eurostands), Marco Nereo Rotelli (with Ever in Art), Massimo Roj – Progetto CMR (Focchi Group with Mitsubishi Electric), and Mac Stopa (with Forbo Flooring Systems).

The main sponsors: AUDI, Plenitude and Whirpool

There are 3 co-producers of INTERNI Design Re-Generation: Audi, the premium brand with a 360° commitment as an aware mobility provider with innovation and progress in its DNA, Plenitude, the new identity of Eni gas and electricity, on the market with a unique business model that integrates production from renewables, the sale of gas and electricity, energy services and an extensive network of charging points for electric vehicles, and Whirpool, one of the world’s leading brands in the domestic appliances sector, thanks to advanced solutions characterised by cutting-edge design and conceived to improve life in the home. Each of the main sponsors will present a high-impact installation giving its own interpretation of the theme of the exhibition.

Design and innovation are the protagonists of Audi’s usual appointment during Milan Design Week, as always organised in an unprecedented location for the FuoriSalone. This year the company has chosen The Medelan, in Piazza Cordusio: an historic building currently undergoing a conversion in line with the highest sustainability standards that will make it a futuristic centre for business, shopping and hospitality. With Audi House of Progress, the brand will open the doors to a place where a vision of tomorrow is already a reality and, starting from the evolution of the concept of sustainability in the broadest paradigm of Re-generation, will share with the city of Milan its own reinterpretation of the planet, of society and the individual through visual suggestions, panels, talks and exclusive premieres starting from 6 June.

Meanwhile at the Orto Botanico di Brera, an evocative green oasis squeezed between the buildings in the centre of Milan, will be Feeling the Energy, a project conceived for Plenitude by CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati – which is taking part in the third consecutive edition of the INTERNI exhibition – and by Italo Rota. Feeling the Energy interprets the Design Re-Generation theme with an interactive installation dedicated to multiple forms of energy, thanks to which visitors can discover and experience, in game dynamics, the phenomena of solar and wind energy and evaporative cooling. But re-generation also concerns ways of being together in safety: and, in fact, the entire path is made of antibacterial copper, to which the multinational producer KME contributed, and which, at the end of the exhibition, will be reused in a circular design perspective.

In the Cortile d’Onore of the University of Milan, will be Sidereal Station, the installation by Whirlpool, created in collaboration with Alucobond, which continues a project started in 2021 with the architect Michele De Lucchi and AMDL CIRCLE. It is a sort of “telescope” that points towards the sky and at the same time targets an objective: that of finding harmony to feel good with oneself and with others, while preserving the physical environment in which we all live. An incentive to think about a future of well-being for the individual and the environment. In fact, inside Sidereal Station it is possible to enjoy an immersive experience, explore emotional spaces, discover the beauties of our planet, be amazed and continue to dream of a better future. In an increasingly complex world, which constantly challenges people’s inner balance, it is important to find the time and ways to reconnect with yourself and your needs every day.

Cappellini @IBM Studios Milan

A new feature of this edition of the INTERNI event exhibition is the extension of its range of action to include another location in the heart of the city: the IBM Studios Milano Pavilion in Piazza Gae Aulenti, 10. In the spaces of the IBM Studios Milan, Cappellini gives voice to new concepts of living today and tomorrow and stages two exhibitions:

• Looking to the future, presents a vision of the contemporary product thanks to readings offered by a number of international creatives such as Bjarke Ingels, Patricia Urquiola, Jasper Morrison and some young people in their first design experience;
• The Slowdown Refuge, investigates the theme of living through an environment where design and technology merge; in which historical pieces find an aesthetic counterpoint in the most innovative products, poised between the material and immaterial, technology and memory.

The project was conceived by Giulio Cappellini, with the support of the international students of the Marangoni Design Campus Master. There will also be some virtual installations that give a new interpretation of the Metaverse by redefining the future home in space.

The INTERNI system

INTERNI’s integrated communication system is expanding and reaffirming its role as the leading source of news and information about the world of design. In fact, thanks to 3 printed publications (INTERNI, Annual Cucina 2022 and the FuoriSalone Guide) and two digital publications (INTERNI King Size and the legendary FuoriSalone Guide), a big event (INTERNI Design Re-Generation), INTERNI online (website and social media) and Interni Design Journal with insights and videos that will be conveyed through a system of newsletters, provides the tools that allow you to keep up to date in real time with trends, news and previews on design.

An authentic vademecum for all those who want to know and find their way around the increasingly rich panorama of Milan Design Week events, the print and digital versions of the FuoriSalone Guide (also available for tablets and smartphones and available online from today) are a must, offering a reasoned overview of some 350 events involving the companies, designers and architects participating in the FuoriSalone, organised both day by day and in alphabetical order.

The brand’s strength can also be clearly seen on the ground: an important street advertising campaign has been planned for Design Re-Generation which includes 15 banners positioned at the main entrances to Milan and in the historic centre, 1,000 flags at the locations of the events present in the FuoriSalone Guide, over 60 digital systems selected in the busiest areas, 10 retro shuttle buses, customised newsstands in the city centre, shop windows and led walls (Megastore Mondadori in Piazza del Duomo and Rizzoli Store in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele).

With this appointment, which gives Milan unique and exceptional visibility, INTERNI confirms its absolute leadership in the professional living segment, but also in the communication of the design system, transforming itself from a specialised publication into a mass medium.

For full information: www.internimagazine.it