The debut of Alpha District among skyscrapers, towers and new squares
Milan’s new City Life district is a large area that replaced the old Fiera Campionaria (“Trade Fair”); of the pre-existing buildings, only the Palazzo delle Scintille, the three pavilions of Fieramilano at Portello, and little else remain. Between the towers designed by Daniel Libeskind and the new skyscrapers, the district is trying to build its own identity; it takes advantage of the Fuorisalone 2021 to create an exhibition route, with its epicenter on Piazza Gino Valle.
Alpha District is a marketing project by FORO Studio, under the patronage of the Municipality of Milan, Automobile Club Milano, Observatory for the landscape Monte Stella Milano and AC Milan – Associazione Calcio Milan. Not only Alpha District is a debut in the Fuorisalone, but it is also an official presentation of an area of Milan completed in very recent times. Actually, the whole district will become an open-air exhibition space, with many free open-air installations that can be visited at any time.
Alpha District: the Cathedrals
On Piazza Gino Valle, the Cathedrals, pop-up exhibitions will host brands, collectives of different creatives, and solo designers. The concept creates mini-architectures with different shapes and sizes, inspired by Giorgio De Chirico’s Italian Piazzas. Some cathedrals will host individual designers, including Antonio Aricò, AVA Wolff, Chendù, Duccio Maria Gambi, Gumdesign, and Serena Confalonieri. One of the mini-architectures will instead be curated by the MONOMIO portal. The collective MONOMIO aims to create a bridge between craftsmanship, design, and conscious production, emphasizing the uniqueness of national and international projects. The products on display will be available for sale in limited editions exclusively on the online store.
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Hysteria: a design for the most challenging themes
The Hysteria project deals with social and topical issues, with irony and lightness. The design, therefore, explores an aspect of life that concerns everyday life but which is rarely considered as a project topic: sexuality. Starting point is hysteria, a female condition that led to the invention of the vibrator, patented by Dr. Mortimer Granville. Valentina Cerra + Chiara Corbani; Chendù; Luca Cremona; Lorenzo Fabietti + Pietro Sganzerla; Lorenzo and Simona Perrone; Nicole Muroni; Miguel Reguero; Testatonda; Trepunti created different projects, each one starting from a specific sex toy. Therefore, the designers will be the leading actors of an exhibition mixing art and design, left to the visitors’ interpretation. Hysteria was produced with The Zen Agency, promoter of the event, and Magic America, sexy e-shop and technical sponsor.
Out Door: how children viewed design during the lockdown
The setup of the Out Door project includes a series of colored doors, leading to a set of objects made by the pupils of the IV Novembre Primary School in Parabiago, during the March-April 2020 lockdown. The colored doors hold the children’s creations, staging the emotions and feelings that the children experienced, through everyday objects.
Discover the book on the History of Milan Design Week
Other activities in the District
The events planned by Alpha District for the September Fuorisalone 2021 will also involve the art world with Le Strade dell’Arte, Kundalini, and Tape #04 – On wave; the cosmos with the Specula project; food with Larmandino.
Le Strade dell’Arte will be a photographic exhibition at the Tennis Club Milano Bonacossa, open to creatives and artists with the curatorship of Looking for Art, to promote young and very young talents. An opportunity to see up close the Club House, an architecture by Giovanni Muzio from 1923.
Discover all the Fuorisalone 2021 events
