Duets by Daily Tous Les Jours at 5Vie Design District 2024 – Photo by Vladimir Antaki.

Design—Archipanic Media partnered with 5Vie Design District in the heart of Milan. Under the theme Unlimited Design Orchestra, the event focused on the power of collaborative creativity. “We chose this musical metaphor starting from the fact that, in an ensemble, each instrument can contribute to a shared communal harmony while preserving its uniqueness.” 5Vie co-founder Ernesta Del Cogliano told Archipanic. From here, we selected six brand-new furniture collections fostering togetherness.

• RELATED STORIES: Read more about Milan Design Week 2024 on Archipanic.

Danto at Milan Design Week 2024 – Courtesy of Danto.

“We live in troubled times, and empathy is the key to moving forward,” continues Del Cogliano. “Unlimited Design Orchestra bears a message of hope. Will we manage to create new polyphonies that include multiple different voices? This year, 5Vie Design District aimed to act as a Maestro, bringing together designers, companies, design professionals, and the public to create a composition talking to the heart of those eager to listen.” 

Poetic communal upcycling by Jay Sae Jung Oh

Photo by Eugenio Novajra.

The Unlimited Design Orchestra concept was born from the poetic work of Jay Sae Jung Oh. The Seattle-based Korean designer brought together people from different parts of the world – from thrift stores and abandoned objects – to co-create furniture made of discarded materials, creating a small global reuse community. Each piece, whether a throne assembled from discarded bicycle parts, unused plastic items, or musical instruments, tells a story of metamorphosis and redemption.

Playful musical furniture by Daily Tous Les Jours

[su_image_carousel source=”media: 39897,39899″ limit=”0″ slides_style=”minimal” crop=”none” columns=”2″ spacing=”no” dots=”no” autoplay=”2″ speed=”immediate”]

Daily Tous Les Jours encouraged impromptu, collective compositions with two interactive artworks: a rocking bench that plays gentle music and a musical bollard that transforms the act of walking into dancing. Played by the public as they move, synchronised motions create harmonies, inspiring collaboration. The awarded Montreal-based studio creates unexpected experiences that invite people to playful cooperation. “Because strangers need strange moments together.”

Neighbourhood Greenhouses by Michele Perlini

Courtesy of 5Vie.

Close your eyes and imagine that small greenhouses are sprouting in your city’s neighbourhoods where one can find medicinal herbs and sprouts. This is the desire behind the project designed by architect Michele Perlini, founder of ARC Studio Perlini: modular micro-greenhouses tailored to fit within the city. The biophilic architecture closely connects humans with nature. Simple, clean, and linear, My Garden is constructed entirely from natural larch. Thanks to an automated, integrated system using recycled plexiglass, it transforms into a small medical greenhouse for experimenting with growing medicinal herbs.

Japanese ceramics co-curated by India Madhawi

Courtesy of Danto.

Brand-new Japanese tile brand Alternative Artefacts Danto debuted in Milan. Studio Teruhiro Yanagihara teamed up with India Mahdavi to create collections that not only reflect on history but also inspire the future of interiors. The result is a time capsule featuring mycelium-inspired surfaces and glossy desaturated colours. From sculptural ladders to hovering bookshelves and angular trays, these designs can herald an exciting new era in surface design.

Wearable objects by ELIURPI

[su_image_carousel source=”media: 39965,39964″ limit=”0″ slides_style=”minimal” crop=”none” columns=”2″ spacing=”no” dots=”no” autoplay=”2″ speed=”immediate”]

Barcelona-based design duo ELIURPI debuts at Milan Design Week with an exhibition curated by the Mr.Lawrence studio. The studio co-founders Elisabet Urpí and Nacho Umpiérrez present a composition representing their work: wearable objects, furniture elements, experiments in pure materiality. The site-specific installation included lamps and a surprising element with the function of a stage backdrop, designed with the human body in mind until reaching architectural volumes.

Maarten Baas + Valerie Objects

© Photo by Franco Chimenti.

Valerie Objects, an Antwerp-based design label, launched Aligned, an innovative outdoor furniture collection developed in collaboration with Dutch designer Maarten Baas. Baas has redefined the typical outdoor furniture, usually consisting of metal frames and wooden slats, by sketching them with a pencil on paper and then meticulously recreating them in real life. The result is a childish, beautifully imperfect collection that comes in slightly desaturated hues with matte surfaces, a testament to Baas’ unique approach to design.

Gufram in Motion

Photo by Eugenio Novajra.

The Gufram In Motion showcase was born from the encounter between Gufram, the design brand with a radical and nonconformist identity, and Motionitalia, a leading Italian company designing relaxation mechanisms to create maximum comfort for armchairs and sofas. The result was a quirky installation where the Bocca® sofa – a radical icon designed by Studio65 in 1971 for Gufram – came to life, dispensing kisses to all visitors.

StraordinAria installation by We+ for Elica – ©Antinori, courtesy of 5Vie and Elica.

Find out more about 5Vie Design District 2024. Elica teamed up with Japanese studio we+ to create a mesmerising installation in the courtyard of Palazzo Litta. Sara Ricciardi’s Under the Willow Tree installation invited visitors to embrace the soothing spirit of Nature. Nifemi Marcus-Bello paid tribute to migrants’ journeys across the Mediterranean Sea, and Gunjan Gupta’s Indian Tiny Mega Store brought the folklore of vernacular supermarkets to Milan.

‘Under the Willow Tree’ by Sara Ricciardi Studio – Photo by Eugenio Novajra.

All photos are courtesy of 5Vie Design District 2024.

Omi Iyọ installation by Nifemi Marcus-Bello – Photo by Amir Farzad.

Indian Tiny Mega Store by Gunjan Gupta – Photo courtesy of 5Vie Design District.