Ten blooming exhibitions in Milan. SUPERBLOOM by RIOS – Image by RIOS.

Milan 2022 – The desire and need for more nature in our homes and cities is palpable at Milan Design Week. Architects and designers embrace the biophilia – the innate human instinct to connect with nature and other living beings – with blooming exhibitions at Fuorisalone.

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Florilegio by Cristina Celestino

‘Florilegio’ exhibition, Cristina Celestino @ Fioraio Redaelli – Photo by De Pasquale+Maffini.

Cristina Celestino takes over the historic Fioraio Radaelli, initially designed by Guglielmo Ulrich in 1945. The Florilegio exhibition reinterprets the spaces with sustainable furniture establishing a fertile harmony between an idea of design and domesticated nature. On show furniture by Society Limonta, Billion Design, CC-Tapis and more [Via Manzoni 16, Map].

The Art of Dreams by Ruby Barber x Porsche

‘The Art of Dreams’ exhibition by Ruby Barber – Photo by Benne Ochs, ©Porsche.

Porsche goes on display for the first time at Milan Design Week with The Art of Dreams immersive installation at Palazzo Clerici [Via Clerici 5, Map]. Australian flower designer and artist Ruby Barber, founder of Berlin studio Mary Lennox,  explores the relationship between nature and technology. The fragility of flowers dialogues with choreographed drone performances.

The Floating Forest by Stefano Boeri interiors x Timberland

‘Floating Forest’ by Stefano Boeri interiors x Timberland – Courtesy of Timberland.

Leather fashion brand Timberland presents FMilan’s Forest, a multisensory, independent ecosystem on the water of Milan’s Darsena [Map]. Created in partnership with Stefano Boeri Interiors, the installation’s mission is to equip and inspire the new generation to move the world forward in terms of sustainability. After the design week, the trees will be donated to the Soulfood Forestfarms Hub Italy, a non-profit organization’ committed to the ecological transition.

Superbloom by RIOS

‘SUPERBLOOM’ exhibition, Sprout Room, by RIOS – Image by RIOS.

All the power and energy of Southern Californian springs explodes in Milan with the Superbloom exhibition by Los Angeles-based studio RIOS. Guests are invited to a sensory-filled journey from the Rain Room, with dripping sounds and earthy scents, to the Sprout Room’s aromatic and subtle appearance of shoots and buds. The otherworldly Bloom Room is filled with exaggerated and vibrant floral installations and scents recalling nature’s powerful reemergence. After the design week, part of the exhibition will be donated to a charity initiative to decorate the interiors of refugees welcoming structures [Viale Umbra 49 [Map].

Germogli by Marcantonio x Natuzzi

‘Germogli’ by Marcantonio x Natuzzi Italia -Courtesy of Natuzzi.

For Natuzzi, Italian designer Marcantonio transforms one of Milan’s finest courtyards into a fairytale world where giant olive shoots with golden leaves stem from the ground. Germogli – sprouts in Italian – is a tribute to the rebirth of nature but also a poetic warning on the Xylella epidemic that is plaguing olive trees across Apulia and threatens to ruin harvests all around the Mediterranean [Palazzo Durini Caproni, Via Durini 24, Map]

Mood in Bloom by Studiopepe x Mohd

Mohd exhibition in 2021 by Studiopepe – Photo by Silvia Rivoltella.

Furniture retailer Mohd presents Mood in Bloom, an installation curated for Officina Milano by Studiopepe. The installation recreates a summer garden that multiplies its effect to infinity through the addition of mirrors. A light installation by Czech brand Bomma illuminates the space, creating a suggestive scenographic effect.

Feeling the Energy by CRA and Italo Rota x Plenitude

‘Feeling the Energy’ by CRA and Italo Rota x Plenitude – Courtesy of INTERNI magazine.

CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota design Feeling the Energy, an interactive installation at the Brera Botanical Garden [Access from Via Brera 28, Map]. The project uses 500 meters of anti-bacterial copper pipe to create an energy park through a linear path. People can experience different forms of sustainable energy while interacting with the elements and their multiple uses to produce sound, light, and evaporative cooling, in an interactive experience. The exhibition is developed for ENI Plenitude in collaboration with metals manufacturer KME. 

Florae Folium by Sam Baron x Tai Ping carpets

‘Florae Folium’ by Sam Baron x Tai Ping carpets – ©Tai Ping.

Sam Baron reinterprets the classic floral motif of the bouquet in a contemporary way for luxury carpets brand Tai Ping, blurring the lines between floor and space, mixing sketches and the brand’s classicism and visionary modernity. The French designer has also imagined a unique mise-en-scè‘e by incorporating three original carpets pushing the brand’s limits [Piazza San Simpliciano, Map].

As it is – equilibrium flower by TAKT PROJECT

‘As it is – equilibrium flower’ exhibition by TAKT PROJECT – Photo by Masayuki Hayashi.

TAKT PROJECT fills the church of San Bernardino alle Monache with countless manmade fabric objects standing on their own, barely balanced. Like a Japanese flower arrangement ikebana. The installation finds balance with the atmosphere and gives a harmonious feel to it [Via Lanzone, 13, Map].

Masterly’s Dutch orchid field

Masterly 2022 – Image by Studio ZAZI.

At Masterly, Milan Design Week’s Dutch design platform and group exhibition, a field of orchids thrives in the grand courtyard of Palazzo Turati [Via Meravigli, 7, Map]. Here, iron animals peep out. This colourful and poetic presence is the Animal Factory playful series by toy designer Luca Boscardin. On Sunday afternoon, the plants will be given for free to visitors.