In the world of design, today's challenges require a proactive vision to shape a future characterized by innovation, sustainability, and inclusivity. This is the core of the interview conducted by Mrinmayee Bhoot for STIRworld magazine with Gisella Borioli, CEO of Superstudio Group and curator of the Superdesign Show. With a professional background that includes experience as a director of major fashion magazines, art director for design events, and an observer of changes in the image society, Borioli provides a unique perspective on the 2024 edition of the Superdesign Show.

The Fireplace installation by next125 in collaboration with the architect Francis Kéré is an example of a creative stage outside the usual framework.

Pink  rules in a collection of objects between art and design that unleash the imagination of artists and architects. On sale under the name Qeeboo also online. 

Imagine being able to discover different worlds, each dedicated to a pillar of creativity: Art, Fashion and Design. And all this, simply by touching a screen.

ZED is good-looking, intelligent, appealing, stylish, but above all, he/she knows everything about the Superdesign Show. ZED is a friend, an advisor, who would be great to have around during design week and in the future.

The artist and sculptor Lanfranco brings to Milan his sculptures, archetypes of Peruvian and Latin American reality translated into contemporary Pop Art.

In the eclectic contemporary home, sometimes it is the little things that make the difference. A roundabout of five original products suggests how to give character to a room.

Graphic artist Daniele Cima’s caustic exhibition amazes with the strength of his artworks, large double-sided totems that are statements of innovation.

The site-specific installation Like Trees in The Woods by Michele D’Agostino, curated by Giandomenico DiMarzio invites the viewer to reflect on the dialogue between the natural and artificial environment. A combination that is possible when companies choose to implement green production that does not affect our delicate ecosystem.

The essence of the highly popular Designblok festival in Prague and the best of contemporary Czech design of glass land in Milan in a metal capsule on a six wheeled spacecraft, bringing on stage ‘The Intergalactic Beauty of Czech Design’.

A renowned brand and artist along with a young sculptor traverse parallel paths, offering a diverse range of new aesthetic expressions. On one side are the iconic pieces by Cappellini, thanks to the work of Giulio Cappellini who has enlisted the collaboration of the world's most famous designers. On the other side are the artworks of Flavio Lucchini, which engage in dialogue with design through multiple resonances. And furthermore, it's the first time for Sebastiano Pelli at the Milan Design Week, an artist and designer yet to be discovered.

In a world that is changing and evolving at an ever-increasing speed, natural stones are a pillar of stability, accompanying mankind on the path to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly contemporary lifestyle.

With think thank Atelier Mirage declines the Italian ceramic in a futuristic key thanks to the collaboration of international architects and designers.

Having always been a scouting location for young designers, this year the Superdesign Show has once again become a showcase for prototypes and experiments by design schools and design students. As in the case of the prototypes of the students from the School of Engineering at the Swedish University of Jönköping.

Imagine our planet speaking to us, imagine what it would tell us, what it would demand. A surprising installation takes us to listen to the Earth’s call, its call for help.

The story of Materially Now at Superstudio for the Milan Design Week began as a Material Village in 2014, with its white ‘little houses’ in the art garden, highlighting for the first time the creativity and research inherent in the most widely diverse materials, emphasising their innovative aspects and most original applications. 10 years later, the company has evolved into an independent consultancy firm that works together with manufacturing companies to enhance their issues of sustainability, creativity and aesthetics. Today, at the Superdesign Show, Materially Now focuses on the present with a multistage presentation. It is an exhibition, a forum, an active workshop, but also a networking hub: a multiple space to welcome and enhance different subjects and voices with the aim of presenting, recounting, deepening and understanding the uniqueness of the materials and of the participating firms. Through wide-ranging panel talks, it will also give space to the major guidelines that define research within the world of materials and that guide the scheduling of the proposed activities: Aim Net Zero, Nature in Lab, Impact by Industry.


www.materially.eu

CNA (Confederazione Nazionale dell’Artigianato e della Piccola e Media Impresa) presents the second edition of the FUORISERIE exhibition: a dialogue between handcrafted design pieces and others that can only be enjoyed through augmented reality technology in a unique and innovative immersive experience.

In the final project of the Product & Furniture Design Master’s Course of the Istituto Marangoni, excellence for training in Design and Fashion in Milan, Paris, London, Dubai, Miami, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen were presented suggestions for the launch of a new spin-off brand of the Cappellini Group targeted specifically at Generation Z consumers (1997-2012) and their needs, focusing in particular on decreasing digital anxiety. Because it has been proven that functional design, integrating technologies (e.g. AI, virtual design, etc.) into the physical object, can encourage harmonious coexistence between man and machine, promoting aesthetic empathy. NO CODE proposes, therefore, 13 products by 13 students. www.istitutomarangoni.com

At the end of the Superdesign Show at the FLA FlavioLucchiniArt Museum, among the works of the artist who gave it its name, a delicate corner welcomes the exclusive Nook collection by Mara Bragagnolo.

From the combination of the elegance and sustainability of LAPILLI’s lava stone coverings and furniture and the light-hearted creativity of the FoodDesign- Stories collective was born WE ARE ON THE MOON! An exhibition itinerary full of surprises.

Geberit, Swiss Group, European leader in the bathroom trade with two Italian sites, celebrates its 150th anniversary with the multi-media installation WATERSCAPE: a true experience journey for the visitor who finds himself pulled into a whirlpool between realism and non-materialism.

More than furnishing elements, the pieces in the NOBI collection are true scenes, conceived as artworks of contemporary design in which decoration returns as a protagonist of beauty after the oblivion of the years of minimalism.

The technical performance of carbon fiber, a different way of thinking design, strength and lightness. Karbony by Carlo Cappellotto proves this with a unique aerial project at the entrance, not to be missed.

When it is no longer necessary to question things and how they work, when all the answers are effortlessly available online, and when technology does it for us, perhaps we need to stop and... think. Creating devices that force the user to find a meaning to the object, to decide its function and purpose seems a step backwards compared to the frantic search for ready-made solutions to everyday needs. Instead, this is precisely the project that George P. Johnson Japan with Yutaka presents in the Superstudio spaces thanks to the Onefabrica System (an innovative technology for constructing shapes from aluminum tubes and fabrics with which it is possible to create flexible, light, reusable and sustainable furniture and fittings). To the visitor he seems to say “be a thinker”, you decide what to do with this product,you choose how and what it should be.

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www.gpj.co.jp - www.yutaka-inc.jp

The third chapter of the exhibition promoting Thai culture and design in the world plays on the dichotomy of order/disorder: the apparent urban chaos that seems to dominate the country’s cities and the

An immersive design experience redefines the concept of space as a gateway to a perfectly realized virtual showroom where every detail is rendered with precision.

Digital Home Dialogues, a reflection on the role of technology in the digital evolution of the domestic scenario. A collection of objects that interact with the environment as if they were endowed with sensitivity and the ability to adapt.

Transforming abstract digital concepts into tangible objects, with meaning and essence, is possible. Yesterday it was just a foolish idea, today it is an established and successful reality, an entire collection of furniture and lighting objects.

An infinite space-time continuum into which visitors are invited to enter and be amazed by the fusion of art, design and functionality. The challenge is to break out of the categorization of objects and redefine their perception. An installation curated by designers Kevin Chu and Andrea Cingoli.

“Tu chiamale se vuoi emozioni...” sang Lucio Battisti 52 years ago. A famous and timeless tune that became the title of a Talk, promoted by Matrix4Design and conducted by journalist Laura Ragazzola. We will discuss architecture and its ability to give us emotions with some specialists who have been able to discover and highlight the empathic power of building, giving us a new awareness of the spaces we live and inhabit. 
www.matrix4design.com 
The appointment is on 17 April at 6 pm at FLA FlavioLucchiniArt Museum - Atelier.

What happens when an entire metropolis becomes the stage for an event involving creativity at 360 degrees? Hard to imagine for those of us who are used to living ‘in sectors’. Yet in Tokyo, fashion, art and design conquer the city for a week in a blossoming of ideas that coincides with the blossoming of cherry trees.

The tea ceremony is an ancient and fascinating ritual that takes place in rooms with essential furnishings and soft lighting. It is considered something between the sacred and the profane. Superstudio is proud to feature a protagonist of excellence, Shizuoka tea, which is grown in the Shizuoka prefecture in central Japan. This region is home to the majestic Mount Fuji and Suruga Bay, and accounts for 40% of the country’s total green tea production. Kenzo Terada is a Japanese tea sommelier from Shizuoka, who aims to promote the high-quality teas of his native city worldwide. He opened Teaste IT in Milan, where he offers his customers traditional tea services, tastings, and great teas, including matcha from Shizuoka. Terada has now brought his products and knowledge to a real Cha Shitsu (tea house in Japanese) at Superstudio Più. 


www.teaste.it

Like the thousand lights and shadows of the Vietnamese city of Saigon, the traditional craftsmanship of the country is combined with the most modern production tools of contemporary design and becomes the focus of a multi-layered exhibition.

Deep Breathing Lounge is the relax area that Japan Tobacco has created for guests at the Superdesign Show. Here, visitors can embrace Breathing Cushion ‘fufuly’, an integrated cushion with deep breathing technology. The device expands and contracts, inhaling and exhaling and, when you hold it in your arms, you feel in tune with its slow and steady breathing. Breath synchronization with ‘fufuly’ has been proven to instill calmness and serenity, help you sleep better and, if done at work, improve mental performance. So: inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…

In 2024 Superdesign Show and ICFF + Wanted will be laying the basis for a cross-promotion that aims to create a bridge between the two events: between Milan and New York. The goal? The mutual enhancement of the two projects pursues the same purpose: the promotion and development of the best proposals of contemporary design and project culture. How? A pathway in two stages this year: the first at the Superdesign Show in Milan, through a talk entitled The role of education for the future of design; and the second in May, on the occasion of the international design kermesse in New York. The word is to the Universities - naturally - with the aim of investigating the role of academic education in the training of the new generation of worldwide designers. It starts in Milan, with an international panel featuring Sergio Nava, Director of Education at IstitutoMarangoni Milano • The School of Design, Caterina Rivadossi Professor of “Managing Furniture Design Company” @ SDA Bocconi School of Management - Mafed (master in Fashion, Experience and Design), Niklas Jacob, Professor of Industrial Design, Savannah College of Art and Design, USA, and Victor Strandgren, Programme Manager Product Development with Furniture Design at the Swedish Jönköping University. In the meantime, the partnership development for 2025 is already underway!

The soul does not grow by addition, but by subtraction. This is how the Chinese brand is approaching this edition of Milan Design Week, and in general, the search for human beings through furniture.

Certainly one of the most visited events during the past two editions, FORUM8 is back for the third straight year with a project that is promising new great popularity.

Is there really only a single black? By using traditional Japanese weaving methods combined with the most modern research techniques, the Japanese company Kawashima Selkon Textiles has created aa black that contains 100 shades of black.

Solving social and environmental challenges means thinking differently, thinking ahead, and should be a priority for companies globally. This is the case for the Japanese company DG TAKANO, which is tackling the problem of domestic water waste with its meliordesign brand products.

Primary school students, university students and architecture majors, each of the three categories exposes architectural models and visions of domestic environments. What did we inherit from the future when it became the past? And what from the present will we bring into the future?

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. The choice of imagining a Temporary Museum was a good one many years ago to begin to change course from the standardized presentations, and then the indications widened: Only The Best, Roots, Time to Colour, Looking Ahead, Inspiration Innovation Imagination, are some of the themes - always appreciated - that year after year have led us to the current Thinking Different. In its name, Superdesign Show, suggests a look towards a design that has gone beyond schemes, customs, conformism, hierarchies, categories, technologies, even dematerialising itself in many cases. The ‘themes of the year’ each time indicated a trend, either just becoming evident or still underground. They suggested a way to stage projects and objects.
Today, at the crossroads between the analogue age and the virtual future, where algorithms and blockchain will direct traffic, the ‘themes of the year’ are the ones that will be the most important and prepare a metaworld made to measure for digitarians, Superstudio adapts and in the great showcase of the Superdesign Show invites participants to Thinking Different. Accepting the challenge that is taking us into a promising or perhaps dangerous tomorrow, but one with which we will still have to interact. Thinking Different! is the imperative proposed and appreciated by exhibitors, planners, designers, artists and technicians who have translated it into projects and visions. You will find avatars answering you, art, fashion and design living in the metaverse, marvelous marble made of pixels, furniture that takes on colour through the viewer, unreal holograms juxtaposed with tangible objects, robots that make chairs before your eyes, reinvented and unimaginable materials, craftsmanship enhanced by augmented reality, utopian projects that anticipate the future. Artificial Intelligence has the task of helping us in our transit towards a new world with memory and secrets stored in the cloud and blockchain.

A hologram moving next to a real sculpture in the art.box, Superstudio’s window on Via Tortona. A surface showroom furnished with white, minimalist pieces that are virtually coloured in their preferred tone with VR in Daylight. A human-like avatar that answers all your questions in Central Point. A screen-touch on the path leads you to discover today’s fashion, furniture by SLIDE, sculptures by Lucchini. A moving video wall from the entrance anticipates the novelties on display in the rooms. SuperDigital Virtual Points are a wide spread project curated by Superstudio.

With the exhibition Time, Lexus returns to Milan Design Week with two interactive installations that explore the limitless potential for adaptation of design combined with technology at the service of each individual’s needs.

With the second work in the Time exhibition, Lexus continues its experimentationvwith sustainability, creating a memorable experience for the viewer.

Past, present and future meet in the unique experience starring the breathtaking hologram, directly inspired by the artwork of Flavio Lucchini, in the SuperDigital project by Superstudio.

The IN-FORMA exhibition investigates the philosophy of the materials that make up objects and artworks, starting from the idea that it is not just a matter of physics.

In the week that featured the presentation of Milan's fuorisalone, in a FLA FlavioLucchiniArt Museum particularly crowded with journalists and professionals, was held the press conference to announce one of the most highly expected events of Milan Design Week in the Tortona District: the Superdesign Show, a format conceived and promoted by Gisella Borioli with the art direction of Giulio Cappellini, produced by Superstudio Events and coordinated by Laura Vella.