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Milan Design Week 2017: School is in Session

By Ray Hu - April 18, 2017

Aalto University presents Nakuna To celebrate the centennial of Finnish independence, the university staged a large-scale exhibition and public program at the Circolo Filologico in Milan's city center. Ray Hu 1 of 58

Aalto University presents Nakuna Organized by the Department of Design within the School of Arts, the exhibition comprised several parts across two floors, starting with the installation in the atrium Ray Hu 2 of 58

Aalto University - "Laavu" "Laavu" is a parable about the "Everyman's Right" to forage in Finland. The story is literally told through an illustrated book... Ray Hu 4 of 58

Aalto University - "Laavu" ...intertwined with a gastronomic experience, in which visitors were invited to sample Finland's native berries, mushrooms, and water (in the form of popsicles). Ray Hu 5 of 58

Aalto University - "Laavu" The thoughtful, quirky installation was just one of the exhibitions at the Circolo Filologica. Ray Hu 6 of 58

Aalto University - "LOUD" The other presentations were rather more conventional, but equally well executed. Ray Hu 7 of 58

Aalto University - "LOUD" For one thing, the Collaborative and Industrial Design Masters department presented "LOUD," a collaboration with Bang & Olufsen. Ray Hu 8 of 58

Aalto University - "LOUD" For the Form Exploration course, students developed a collection of contemporary home audio products. More details about the studio and each project are available online. Ray Hu 9 of 58

Aalto University - Aamu Salo, "Fictional Functions" In one of the project rooms upstairs, textile/fashion designer Aamu Salo examined the rituals around personal possessions. Ray Hu 10 of 58

Aalto University - "Barewood" The wood studio at Aalto University's Department of Design is just 16 years old, but of course the material itself has a long tradition in Finnish culture and design. Ray Hu 11 of 58

Aalto University - "Barewood" Nathalie Mussi's bench was among the dozen or so objects and articles of furniture on the mezzanine. Ray Hu 12 of 58

Aalto University - "Ikkuna" A darkened gallery a series of digital "windows" into the Finnish hinterlands and the culture's attitude towards nudity ("ikkuna"). Ray Hu 13 of 58

Aalto University - "Ikkuna" The full-height displays were partially mirrored, a means of challenge visitors' notions of body image. Ray Hu 14 of 58

Aalto University - "Biomaterials for the Future" Back on the mezzanine, a showcase of materials research from the school's CHEMARTS program, an ongoing collaboration with the School of Chemical Engineering. Ray Hu 15 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life ECAL's flagship exhibition at Spazio Orso marked a departure from past years by staging a dialogue between Industrial Design and Fine Arts students. Ray Hu 16 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life Curator John Armleder set out to challenge the "flimsy distinctions between 'objets d'art' and practical objects." Ray Hu 17 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life The ECAL's Christophe Guberan (industrial design) and Stéphane Kropf (fine arts) tasked students in their respective departments with exploring certain materials and processes. Ray Hu 18 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life The scenography is expressly intended to blur the distinction between art and design. Ray Hu 19 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life For example, the display undermines the notion of what, say, a tablecloth (Cécile Polito's "Fossile") is for. Ray Hu 20 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life Yet some objects retain their transparent functionality, as in Nathan Baraness's "Manta" desk lamp. Ray Hu 21 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life Others clearly fall on the art side of the spectrum, beyond facile juxtapositions, as with Margaux Dewarrat's monolithic "Megalitos" (at left and center), in recycled polyethylene and OSB wood. Ray Hu 22 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life The mylar-covered project room was a mash-up of lighting: Hanieh Rashid's "Badbadak" inflatables, Géraldine Guillaume's "Traffic" LED strips, and Dimitri Nassisi's "Meta" mirrors. Ray Hu 23 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life Detail view of two projects by the BFA students Ray Hu 24 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life The unmistakable magenta backdrop served as the overall identity and editorial styling. Ray Hu 25 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life Moments of visual dissonance abound; here's Emeline Herrera's "Sans titre" (left) and Jasmina Celikovic's "Corbi" (center) Ray Hu 26 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life Armleder included his own "Furniture Sculpture 254," a piece dating from 1991, as a kind of cryptic reference point and mission statement Ray Hu 27 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life A few pieces, such as Mélanie Therond's "Nadir," could be regarded independently of the greater context of the exhibition. Ray Hu 28 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life For better or for worse, Jérémy Aberlé & Loris Gomboso's "Cardboxes" were presented with rather less visual clutter. Ray Hu 29 of 58

ECAL presents More Rules for Modern Life Yet the question remains: What does it all mean, especially in the context of the biggest furniture fair in the world? Ray Hu 30 of 58

Elite Hotel by ECAL Another ECAL exhibition took a more traditional approach as a collaborative workshop between Swiss mattress brand Elite and Bachelor Industrial Design students. (Pictured here, Iskander Guetta's "Baldacchino" mosquito net.) Ray Hu 31 of 58

Elite Hotel by ECAL Spearheaded by Chris Kabel, "Elite Hotel" offered various bed and bedding concepts, such as Hanieh Rashid's "Chalipa" quilt, made from offcuts from bed production. Ray Hu 32 of 58

Elite Hotel by ECAL Other projects included Jonas Béguin's "Sleepy Slippers" and Yohanna Rieckhoff's "Oblomov" pajamas; students and tutors also developed the branding and identity (and carpet) Ray Hu 33 of 58

PUMP: The Punkt. Urban Mobility Project ECAL was also one of three acronymic design schools — the other two being the Design Academy Eindhoven and the Royal College of Art — that participated in Swiss brand Punkt.'s E-bike project PUMP, on view in the courtyard of Palazzo Litta. Ray Hu 34 of 58

PUMP: The Punkt. Urban Mobility Project - DAE, "Bike for Two" The DAE's proposal is a riff on the custom of cycle-'chauffeuring' a friend on the rear rack of the classic Dutch bike. Ray Hu 35 of 58

PUMP: The Punkt. Urban Mobility Project - ECAL, "e-CAL 1020" Meanwhile, theECALteam opted to retrofit a vintage townie with a regenerative motor — a means of addressing the formidable hills of Lausanne. Ray Hu 36 of 58

PUMP: The Punkt. Urban Mobility Project - RCA, "EB01" The Londoners, for their part, set out to create the quintessential urban bike, loosely inspired by the versatility and flexibility of co-working culture. Ray Hu 37 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures As for a conventional presentation of graduation projects, Central Saint Martins' MA Material Futureswas a standout, offering a tantalizing glimpse of the future, both two months away (at the graduation show) or anywhere from two years to two decades out, given the speculative nature of the projects. Ray Hu 38 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures The students even launched a modest Kickstarter campaign to bring their projects to Ventura Lambrate. (Unfortunately due to time and space constraints, only half of the 26 projects are included here.) Ray Hu 39 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Candyce Dryburgh, "Carniculture" Dryburgh tackled the question of cultured substitutes for meat, noting that no less than six biotech companies are promising to produce scalable lab-grown protein sources in the near future. Ray Hu 40 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Gamia Dewanggamanik, "(Im)Measurable Footprint" This simple but effective visualization shows the invisible environmental impact of server farms, using the most streamed songs on Spotify. Ray Hu 41 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Victoria Adams, "Crop Cults" Extrapolating from climate change projections, Adams speculated on the future of the UK dairy industry. Ray Hu 42 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Christine Lew, "Humanising Mars" Amid the hype about space travel and colonies, Lew was curious as to what life on Mars might actually entail. Ray Hu 43 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Hannah Brooks, "Humankind" Brooks speculated on a future scenario in which humans can elect to donate their bodies not just for scientific research or education but as a source of raw materials. Ray Hu 44 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Inge Sluijs, "Plasma Rock" Research into solutions for potentially toxic landfill erosion, Sluijs discovered a technology called "plasma gasification," which yields the material "plasma rock." Ray Hu 45 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Dohee Lee, "Being, Becoming and Belonging" This social design project addresses the issue of integrating the elderly into the community through exchanging and combining clothing. Ray Hu 46 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Agusta Arnardottir, "Future Farming" Automation typically evokes images of industrial-scale farming, but what if robots such as the "Slug Sensor" — a kind of Roomba for crops — could help family farms as well? Ray Hu 47 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Lena Saleh, "Future Sleep" Based on recent research, Saleh developed a suite of smart devices to remedy insomnia. Ray Hu 48 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Marta Giralt, "Virtual X" Giralt explores the implications of VR pornography as an ethical frontier for new reasons and old. Ray Hu 49 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Margaux Hendriksen, "Space Mining" It is only a matter of time before countries and companies look to extract raw material from celestial bodies such as the moon. Hendriksen envisions potential outcomes and impacts of this development. Ray Hu 50 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Pauline Roques, "Anthropocae" Roques extrapolates the evolution — i.e. mutations due to manmade environmental factors — of plant life. Ray Hu 51 of 58

Central St. Martins, Material Futures - Bolor Amgalan, "The One" In the age of online dating and genetic sequencing, Amgalan consulted various experts in the interest of scientifically finding a perfect partner. Ray Hu 52 of 58

SAIC presents Whatnot at Rossana Orlandi This marks the tenth year that the School at the Art Institute of Chicago has exhibited in Milan. Known as "Whatnot," the exhibition is a partnership with Chicago-based manufacturer West Supply. Ray Hu 53 of 58

SAIC presents Whatnot at Rossana Orlandi Specialists in brass and glass, West Supply offered a nice opportunity for design students to experiment with those materials. Ray Hu 54 of 58

SAIC presents Whatnot at Rossana Orlandi SAIC returns to the legendary Spazio Rossana Orlandi for the sixth time. The limited-edition pieces were available for purchase via the gallery. Ray Hu 55 of 58

SAIC presents Whatnot at Rossana Orlandi Full details of each project can be viewed on the "Whatnot" website. Ray Hu 56 of 58

SAIC presents Whatnot at Rossana Orlandi As part of the Designed Objects program, this year's Whatnot studio was led by Professors Helen Maria Nugent and Tim Parsons. Ray Hu 57 of 58

SAIC presents Whatnot at Rossana Orlandi We look forward to seeing future editions of the exhibition. Ray Hu 58 of 58

Beyond the countless brands and blockbusters, design school exhibitions are easily among the more rewarding events in Milan during the Salone del Mobile. Not only do the universities and academies offer a highly visible platform for the students themselves, but the exhibitions also serve as inspiration for current and prospective students. Practicing designers, on the other hand, may appreciate the heady innocence of being in school and the excitement of showing on the world stage for the first time.

The most important point, of course, is that the school exhibitions offer a taste of the next generation of design and designers. We've already looked at HEAD Genève's "Salone Ludico"; here's a survey of several other strong showings, from the likes of Aalto University, a dark horse; ECAL, the powerhouse; Central St. Martins, an impressive pre-grad show; and the SAIC, the stateside contenders.