"Visitors will leave the installation in a state of wonder, as well as with some physiological and neurological parameters modified by the experience." This is the statement of the author (we won't tell you who) of the 10 large installations we selected from the dozens of proposals for Milan Design Week. These projects often offer a momentary suspension from reality and have the ability to completely transform the places they temporarily invade as they are conceived for a wide audience.

STIR picks a selection of 10 installations at the intersection of art and design, scattered throughout the city between April 15-21, 2024.

SR_A x Kohler

At Palazzo Senato — via Senato, 10, Milan (April 16-21, 2024)

Samuel Ross is one of the most interesting representatives of the contemporary art scene. Painter and sculptor, fashion and product designer, he was a disciple of Virgil Abloh and has worked for Donda, Kanye West's creative company. The American brand Kohler commissioned his industrial design studio, SR_A, to design a new smart toilet with a brutalist silhouette, Formation 02 and a large sculptural installation representing the complexity of water flows and their management. It will be interesting to see how Ross manages to apply his aesthetic canon to this new industrial product. It is not the first time he has done this and usually the results are always consistent with his ambitions (and our expectations).

Flower Up

At Gattinoni Hub — via Statuto, 2, Milan (April 15-21, 2024)

Agostino Iacurci, Sara Ricciardi and Nico Vascellari are some of the artists/designers who have worked with glo for art in recent years. The itinerant project was created to support art and spread culture, with the realisation of installations in dialogue with public space. This year's artist is illustrator Emiliano Ponzi, who will present Flower Up: a tunnel that promises to take visitors from reality to dream through a riot of shapes and colours.

Data Bugs – AI is a mirror

At Studio dotdotdot — via Tertulliano, 70, Milano (April 15-19, 2024)

We leave the centre and move to the south-eastern outskirts of the city, via Tertulliano, where Dotdotdot is based. The multidisciplinary studio, known for its ability to hybridise spatial projects with interaction design and technological innovation, presents Data Bugs - AI is a mirror, an experience that explores and narrates, through an interactive installation, the generative power of AI to reflect on the social implications of data representation and polarisation. In the selection of 10, this project seems to be the most nuanced and suggestive, although it may not reach the levels of spectacularity of the big brands.

Flowair

At Base Milano — via Bergognone 34, Milan (April 15-21, 2024)

Last year, Ingo Maurer delighted the Fuorisalone audience with a large site-specific installation at Porta Nuova. This year, the German brand is offering another major installation at BASE Milano, in Zona Tortona. With Flowair, it will offer a light and colour show, both day and night, open to all kinds of interpretation, according to the principles of Gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art. Amorphous textures, fluid forms and organic elements: Ingo Maurer uses light as a material and reminds visitors of the movement of air and its importance, bringing the wind into people's lives, into the place where they meet.

Re/Creation

At Palazzo Isimbardi — corso Monforte 35 (April 15-21, 2024)

Palazzo Isimbardi is one of my favourite buildings in Milan, and I discovered it during the Fuorisalone a decade ago. An excellent example of Milanese Baroque, it features frescoes by Tiepolo and Francesco Hayez and an architectural extension by Giovanni Muzio. It is the perfect setting for the big installations of the design week and this year it will be occupied by Lasvit, a Bohemian company specialising in glass for architecture, glass objects and site-specific light installations. Designed by Lasvit's artistic director Maxim Velcovsky, the monumental installation Re/Creation aims to highlight the Czech brand's mastery and its innovative approach to glass production.

L’uomo stanco

At Pinacoteca Ambrosiana — piazza Pio XI, Milan (April 15-21, 2024)

Gaetano Pesce is one of the few Italian designers who needs no introduction. Thanks to his recent collaboration with the fashion brand Bottega Veneta, he has reached unprecedented levels of veneration in recent years. Despite everything, the master—now over 80—continues to be prolific: the monographic exhibition Nice to See You at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana will present some 30 of his new works, almost all of them previously unpublished. In addition, Pesce will create a work entitled L'Uomo Stanco (The Tired Man) outside the building: a monumental installation that speaks of the ethical fatigue from which the contemporary male suffers.

Like Trees in the Woods

At Sala Loft — Via Tortona, 27, Milano (April 15-21, 2024)

The relationship between nature, materials and technology is one of the most urgent, complex and at the same time “easy” and attractive themes due to the multiplicity of possible interpretations. The installation Like Trees In The Woods, designed by Michele D'Agostino for NichelcromLab follows this vein, invading Sala Loft in Zona Tortona with a veritable forest of oaks, trees typical of the Italian territory, which are reflected and endlessly replicated thanks to the mirroring steel that surrounds them. In addition to offering a moment of estrangement to the public, the installation narrates the properties of a material like stainless steel, according to the company "totally eco-sustainable as it is one hundred per cent recyclable."

SunRICE

At Orto Botanico di Brera — via Brera 28 / via Fiori Oscuri 4, Milan (April 15-21, 2024)

The Brera Botanical Garden became the playground of architects Carlo Ratti and Italo Rota for the Fuorisalone. This year's—developed as part of the Interni Cross Vision event—starts with a simple traditional element: rice. The experiential path recounts the material cycle of the plant: from its birth to the use of waste for the construction of architecture. The project, which merges the spheres of food, energy, nature and architecture into a unicum, will also feature the well-known chef Niko Romito.

The Art of Dreams

At Palazzo Clerici — Via Clerici 5, Milan (April 16-21, 2024)

Taking the detail of a product and making it a space, an engaging situation, an immersive experience: this is undoubtedly one of the most popular modus operandi among brands to 'tell their vision'. The installation The Art of Dreams explores the concept of rhythm and repetition by taking inspiration from the Pepita motif, first used in the Porsche 356 C, 911 models. The design collective Numen/For Use takes the monochrome diagonals of the Pepita motif and brings them to life in a monumental immersive work of art.

Making Sense of Color

At Garage 21 — via Archimede, 26, Milano (April 15-21, 2024)

If a giant like Google is on the move, even at Milan Design Week, where design visions and brands are packed like sardines, perhaps it is worth paying attention to it. Certainly for those interested in interaction and tech design. This year, Google's research focuses on colour and its sensory qualities, staged in a site-specific installation that promises wonder through a high-tech multisensory journey. The installation was conceived by Ivy Ross, Google's Vice President of Hardware Design, and her design team, in collaboration with the arts+research laboratory Chromasonic.

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.