Milan Design Week is a celebration of creativity, innovation and excellence in design, captivating audiences from all over the world. It is an event that encompasses various design-related exhibitions and activities in Milan, while Salone del Mobile is Milan Design Week's main trade fair focused specifically on furniture and interior design. Every year, the city is transformed into a vibrant hub where designers, architects, artists and enthusiasts converge to explore the latest trends, ideas and innovations in the world of design. The instance is a catalyst for inspiration, promoting dialogue, collaboration and discovery across a range of design disciplines, from furniture and interior design to architecture, fashion and more.

In 2024, the event witnessed a strong presence of Spanish brands among the many exhibitors. This impact was fostered by ICEX (Spain Trade and Investment), a Spanish government agency responsible for promoting the internationalization of companies and the expansion of the country's exports, providing support and services to companies looking to enter or expand in international markets. In addition, the institution organizes trade missions, participates in international fairs and exhibitions and provides training and consultancy services to Spanish companies looking to succeed in the global market. Here is a summary of the exhibitions and activities of seven outstanding Spanish brands at the various events that took place during the week of April 15-21, 2024 in Milan.

When it came to designing a nature-embracing modern home in Palo Alto, California, USA, architect Tai Ikegami took his responsibility to protect and venerate the magnificent trees on the lot seriously.

“The house is designed around a series of trees on the site—an oak in the front, another oak on the side, a redwood in the back. These are dramatic trees with a large scale,” says Ikegami, a partner at Feldman Architecture, San Francisco.

Acquiring diverse expressive possibilities within interior design, the use of wood in regions with a wide range of climates and temperatures such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, or Ecuador enables the creation of attractive and captivating spaces that capture the attention of their users by contrasting, blending, or integrating with their surrounding environment. Being a natural element and presenting a negative carbon footprint at the end of its life cycle, wood offers multiple finishes, textures, and tones that can be associated with being outdoors and providing, on some occasions, spaciousness, warmth, and relaxation at the same time.

When Wallace S. Broecker first introduced the concept of global warming in the 1970s, society probably didn't anticipate the implications of this phenomenon. Today, more than 50 years later, we have stopped predicting an adverse climate scenario and have begun witnessing it directly. It is now evident that the earth is breaking temperature records year after year, as a result of a disparity in the global response to the issue and a slow-moving reduction in carbon emissions.

To reduce CO₂ emissions in architecture, it is crucial to implement effective strategies that address both the manufacturing of materials and the life cycle of buildings, as well as energy consumption during use. In countries like the US, approximately 45% of energy consumption in the residential sector is allocated to heating and cooling spaces, making it essential to address efficient building design, especially on the façade. To achieve this objective, policies are being implemented that promote a conversion towards a more sustainable model. In this new model, sustainability certifications for buildings provide a framework for measuring and evaluating resource consumption.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

On April 10, 2024, the New York Landmarks Conservancy bestowed the Preservation Leadership Award to author and urbanist Roberta Brandes Gratz. A longtime preservation activist, Gratz served on the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. She also led the successful effort to restore the Eldridge Street Synagogue, now the Museum at Eldridge Street. The following is a slightly edited version of the speech Gratz delivered at the 34th annual Lucy C. Moses Preservation Awards.

Architectural awards serve as a fundamental platform within the profession and the wider community. They recognize and celebrate outstanding achievements in architectural projects, promoting excellence and innovation, while also providing visibility and exposure for architects and companies, highlighting projects that might otherwise go unnoticed. This impact is particularly evident in collective housing projects, which face a range of challenges, from issues of cost and compliance with urban planning legislation to the need to create welcoming and functional environments for residents. By highlighting diverse initiatives and approaches, awards inspire and educate, stimulate dialogue and the exchange of ideas, and contribute significantly to the advancement of architecture by recognizing projects that address specific themes such as sustainability or social impact.

Housing is a diverse architectural typology whose configuration is determined not only by those who design it but also by the use of those who live in it. Therefore, homes are fundamentally adaptable structures that evolve in line with their time and users, undergoing constant changes manifested in the ways of living. The house conceived today will not be the same as the one built tomorrow, so it becomes necessary to maintain a critical and profound approach to the role it plays in the built environment.

In this sense, modular architecture has consistently presented itself as a dynamic design strategy that has revolutionized housing, developing versatile solutions for sustainable spaces and construction practices. Thus, modular housing has been fertile ground for exploring and deepening ways of inhabiting space and addressing human needs. From the prefabricated catalog houses of the 19th century to the post-World War II housing boom, its evolution reflects both past proposals and the exploration of new concepts for the future.

Social infrastructure encompasses the resources and services that allow the creation of communal bonds and social connections. Within the built environment, it manifests through public spaces like parks, libraries, and community centers alongside threshold spaces such as public transportation stops.

These public social spaces play a crucial role in strengthening communities and, in turn, their ability to respond to catastrophic climate-related events. They can provide physical shelter to the populations most vulnerable to these events and foster resilient networks of people who can more quickly recover. Given the escalating frequency of extreme weather events in the United States due to climate change and its social infrastructure inadequacies, examining public spaces as a critical tool for climate resilience becomes vital.

Milan Design Week rarely fails to deliver on compelling showcases of design and innovation.

One of the exhibitions this year, created by Swatchbox, conveys the “true cost” of traditional approaches to construction. The sample platform founded by architects to provide sustainable sampling methods to the design community launched its thought-provoking showcase at the heart of the Brera Design District in Milan.

The exhibit boldly confronts the issue of wastefulness inherent in traditional construction practices. Installed inside an office in Brera that is ordinarily occupied by a Milan architecture firm, the exhibit displays a large pile of construction materials typically destined for landfill. The materials are meticulously arranged to showcase the sheer volume of waste generated by the design community.

ZEB Living Lab is a research building that stands out for its pioneering initiative among zero-emission buildings, seeking to have a significant impact on the future. Located in Trondheim, Norway, it is much more than just a building; it is a tangible manifestation of the global commitment to sustainability and innovation. Conceived as an advanced research laboratory and a practical example of sustainable construction practices, it represents the point of convergence between architecture, technology and environmental awareness. Managed in collaboration between NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and SINTEF (Scandinavian Institute of Technology), this center of scientific excellence is a platform for living experimentation, where innovative materials and solutions are developed, tested and demonstrated in direct interaction with the building occupants.