How can designers respond to the present challenges while imagining a future for innovative, sustainable, and hopefully inclusive design? Perhaps, as this year’s Superdesign Show hoped, the answer lies in thinking differently. Embracing individuality, the event showcased the imaginative power of design in addressing the uncertain future. With participants from 11 nations and 80 companies presenting 40 projects, the design event once again demonstrated itself as an epicentre for design trends and forward-thinking concepts.

As Gisella Borioli, CEO of Superstudio Group and curator of the Superdesign show noted in this year’s event publication, “It is a time to reflect on the signs of the times, how we were and what we will be, how we live and where we are going. I think about it all year round, trying to activate my radar and pick up the vibrations. The idea. It takes ‘the idea’ to set in motion the whole creative mechanism that precedes the birth of the Superdesign Show at Superstudio, where nothing happens by chance.” We stand at the crossroads between an analogue present and a digital future, at the precipice of a world mired in conflict and resource and environmental degradation, and it’s a future with which we will have to interact. Thinking Different offers a provocation to designers to imagine otherwise.

Since 2000, when Superstudio initiated the project that spread design into the city of Milan from its institutional headquarters, Superdesign Show has highlighted the inexhaustible potential of human ingenuity through its displays. Led by Borioli with the collaboration of Giulio Cappellini as art director, a unique aspect of the Superdesign show has always been its curation which can place young designers alongside reputed design brands, art pieces next to design, and even virtual installations amidst immersive experiences. Through it all, this year, the disparate threads of the product designs, brand showcases, and installations were connected with a common question, WHY NOT presented by an artist at the show, which accentuated the message of freedom, originality, courage, and transgression put forth by Borioli.

For this edition, the focus was on virtuality to underscore the pervasiveness and advancement of digital technologies in design. The Superstudio Digital division created three Virtual Points for visitors to experience a digital universe replete with holograms, metaverse avatars, and immersive experiences, while a project by SURTECO transformed white spaces into vivid environments through virtual reality. Students from Istituto Marangoni Milano’s School of Design added their voices to this tech-driven future by reimagining iconic furniture designs for our virtual future. Many other displays highlighted not only tech-enabled design but also grounded themselves through the use of sustainable materials and techniques. While on the one hand, the interjection of technology within our daily lives is inevitable, the showcase also provoked questions on the future of sustainable design, and the home of tomorrow, with installations such as The Fireplace, a striking wooden structure by Pritzker Laureate Francis Kere for next125.

Through its showcase this year, the event tried to highlight the future of design, where we are headed and how we might do it differently. At the close of one of Milan Design Week’s most diverse and creative showcases, media partners with Superstudio, STIR spoke to Gisella Borioli, curator for the Superdesign Show about our responsibility as designers, and the future of design in the face of virtual technology and artificial intelligence.

Mrinmayee Bhoot: Could you guide us through the conceptualisation and curating process of this year’s showcase based on the theme Thinking Different?

Gisella Borioli: As every year, I asked myself what would be a strong, current, incisive theme, broad enough to engage the likely exhibitors on a shared thread for a coherent and stimulating event despite such diverse products and projects.

I identified the theme Thinking Different! as an invitation to step out of comfort zones, out of normality, out of habits, and channel that into products and installations while experimenting with new virtual technologies. We asked ourselves to think differently. This resulted in the new exhibition layout with a long, green, immersive labyrinth and keywords inviting us to think about the future. We also enhanced our internal digital area and presented a hologram that brings art to life, an interactive avatar that answers 'humanly' to every question, the exploration of the metaverse with the help of touch screens, and a virtual reality experience that changes the appearance of the furniture; all of this to bring the visitor closer to the simplified use of new technologies and an in-depth exploration of the potential of A.I.

Each likely exhibitor was invited to submit a project before their participation was accepted. All projects were examined by the artistic board, suggested modifications and settings that would enhance their message, and established the positioning according to overall harmony.

Mrinmayee: As you mentioned above, several presentations included in this year’s show used technology as a bridge between real and virtual worlds. To what extent do you think virtual reality and especially artificial intelligence will influence the design of the future?

Gisella: I think artificial intelligence, in all its forms, will influence everything, far beyond design. It will change our way of thinking, of informing ourselves, of working, of having fun, of spending our free time, of caring, of travelling, of studying, of creating, perhaps even of dreaming. It will help us, speed us up, and broaden our horizons and possibilities. The important thing will be to always master it without letting it overwhelm us.

Mrinmayee: An interesting and crucial aspect of the show has been the inclusion of student work and highlighting how education will shape the future of design. What potential do you see in the younger generation and how are they currently shaping design practices?

Gisella: When I talk to students at the Politecnico and these hybrid faculties of contemporary culture, I realise that they are already inhabitants of another planet, accustomed to other technologies, consumers of other devices, friends of algorithms and chatbots, in an ever-deepening gap with the adults of previous generations. I think that the world that awaits them will be built by them, the 'digitarians' who have come out of university. And we will be watching.

Mrinmayee: The Superdesign show has always highlighted projects that speak to sustainability. In what ways do you think we can work towards more ecological and environmentally friendly design practices?

Gisella: We are doing a lot—though not enough—with communication and these kinds of events. Initiatives such as our Superdesign Show and others during (Milan) Design Week—where the message of sustainability, energy and resource saving, reuse and recycling, regeneration and metamorphosis of materials, respect for nature, and ecological culture are at the forefront—do a lot by helping educate and inform visitors about the options we have.

We must continue to push environmental and scientific research, condition big companies (from fuels to fashion) in this sense, but also insist on more action at all levels—starting from kindergarten as they do in Japan—to inculcate in individuals the awareness of how important it is for everyone to contribute to halting the ecological disaster before it is too late.

The problems ahead of us are immense, but so are the possibilities. We need curiosity, creativity, expertise and knowledge.

Mrinmayee: This year's theme also brings to mind the idea of the power of individual creativity. How do you think we, as individuals, have the power to drive change, through our design practices?

Gisella: I think culture, education, study, experimentation, research is very important. Looking inward by asking questions and looking outward, trying to find personal answers. Which will always be less homologous and more individualistic. In short, less superficiality and more in-depth analysis. Perhaps even less social and more print media, fewer influencers and more masters.

The problems ahead of us are immense, but so are the possibilities. We need curiosity, creativity, expertise and knowledge. Human genius, also with the support of AI, is at the centre of everything.

Stay tuned to STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2024 which showcases the best of exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands and events to look out for. Explore EuroCucina and all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5vie Design Week, Isola Design Week, Brera Design District and Porta Venezia Design District.