Open Borders – between design and architecture at Milan University

General view of the Great Courtyard of the Statale University of Milan, photo © Inexhibit, 2016

Open Borders – between design and architecture at Milan University

As usual, each year, during Milan Design Week 2016 courtyards and porticoes of the Statale University of Milan accommodate installations and micro-architectures which, for this year’s edition, are inspired by a theme entitled “Open Borders”.

The idea was to invite designers to go beyond the traditional distinction between architecture and design and to create proposals, quite different from one another, which also involve visual arts, cinema, social sciences, new lifestyles, and sustainability.

Here we present five projects in detail:

Radura – Stefano Boeri

Radura (clearing) is the title of a work by Stefano Boeri, installed in the magnificent courtyard of the Farmacia.
Composed of four hundred wood columns, plugged into a circular base which is also a collective bench, creates a “space into a space”, enlivened by lights and sounds, that can be used as a meeting space.

Stefano Boeri, Radura – installation views, photos © Inexhibit, 2016

Invisible border – MAD architects

In the Great Courtyard, Los Angeles and Beijing-based office Mad Architects created Invisible Border, a giant sunshade structure, vibrant and trembling, made of plastic strips fixed to a wavy metal structure.

Invisible border by MAD architects, photos © Inexhibit, 2016

La stanza del vuoto – Parisotto & Formenton

Also installed in the Great Courtyard, La stanza del vuoto (the vacuum room), an installation designed by Italian architects Parisotto & Formenton, is a micro-architecture in “black & white” inspired by that post-war Milan which was the scenery of the movie “La Notte” (1961), a masterpiece by Michelangelo Antonioni with Marcello Mastroianni and Monica Vitti.

Parisotto e Formenton, La Stanza del Vuoto, installation views, photos © Inexhibit, 2016

Along the Lines of Happiness – Laura Ellen Bacon and Sebastian Cox

Along the Lines of Happiness is a joint project of sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon and designer Sebastian Cox. This experimental design, which is also a research on form, is based on a thorough knowledge of the physical and aesthetic qualities of hardwood from U.S. forests, namely American red oak, American cherry, and American soft maple, from which a sustainable and malleable raw material originates.

“Along the Lines of Happiness” by Laura Ellen Bacon and Sebastian Cox, general view during construction and details; photos © Inexhibit, 2016

Home of the Wayfarer – de Lucchi, Ferreri, Giovannoni, Santachiara

Home of the Wayfarer is a project developed in the framework of the 21st Triennale of Milan. A minimalist home module with a floor area of 9 square meters (97 square feet), intended as a contemporary pilgrim’s shelter, accommodates two small beds, a table and two folding chairs, a shower, a toilet, a sink, and a kitchen desk. The four tiny houses on view, all identical from the outside, have been internally customized after designs by Michele de Lucchi, Marco Ferreri, Stefano Giovannoni, and Denis Santachiara.

“Home of the Wayfarer” will be on view until September 12, 2016, in the Cortile del Settecento

The four “homes of the wayfarer, which look identical from the outside

The house designed by Stefano Giovannoni

The house by Michele de Lucchi

The house by Denis Santachiara

Along with exhibitions and installations, the program of Open Borders, organized by Interni magazine, includes conferences, special events, concerts, and meeting running from April 11 through 23, 2016. Besides the Statale University, the event takes place also at the botanical gardens of Brera and in the Audi City lab at the Torre Velasca.