Along with the participation of thousands of designers, artists, and craftsmen at this year's 2022 Salone del Mobile at Milan's Rho Fiera, renowned architects collaborated with some of the biggest local and international manufacturers to create installations, products, materials, and furniture pieces that explore the future of living, as part of the annual Fuorisalone.
This year's architectural contributions, which were on display across the busy streets of Milan, Brera design district and botanical garden, Alcova, BASE, and other cultural venues, highlighted this year's Milan Design Week theme of sustainability and environmental awareness with respect to furniture production.
Read on to discover our selection of 9 architect-designed installations, furniture pieces, and products displayed during the 2022 Fuorisalone.
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, Italo Rota, and Rhea
Coffee Landscape
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with architect Italo Rota and coffee vending machine manufacturer Rhea, unveiled a prototype of the Coffee Landscape at BASE Milano. The project is a reconfigurable coffee station for offices that transforms the experience of coffee making into one where colleagues interact and socialize while sitting on modular cushions of different heights.
Snøhetta x Studio Plastique x Fornace Brioni
Forite
Forite is a sustainable glass tile created from the recycled glass of ovens and microwaves by Snøhetta, Studio Plastique, and Italian tile manufacturer Fornace Brioni, which "signals a clear push toward a new form of aesthetic driven by resources and honesty in material".
OMA x UniFor
The concept of this furniture collection was to provide pieces that can be used by anyone, at any time, "to best support the flow of operations and communications required by the contemporary workplace". The collection features more than one hundred elements, in the sizes S, M, L, and XL, and organized into different categories which can be configured in various ways to complement working in groups or independently.
Peter Zumthor x Time & Style
Chaise Lounge
Swiss architect Peter Zumthor’s collection Chaise Lounge created for Therme Vals was reproduced by Tokyo-based Time & Style, a furniture manufacturer that uses traditional materials and techniques practiced in Japan. For the exhibition, the wooden frame was produced using a traditional Japanese steam bending technique.
MAD Architects / Ma Yansong x Sawaya&Moroni
Dynamik Chair and Thread Chair
On the opening of Milan Design Week 2022, Ma Yansong, the principal partner of MAD Architects, revealed two prototypes: Dynamik Chair and Thread Chair, under the theme of “back to the future”. Dubbed as "a sculpture to sit on", the dynamik chair is a hollow metal piece that focuses on motion and fluidity through a silhouette that shows traces of acceleration and strength. Thread Chair is created by binding an aluminum rod, amplifying the organic form and aesthetic value of its structure and material, turning the metal into an artistic expression.
Enric Miralles by AHEC
Perpetuum Mobile
Highlighting Enric Miralles' legacy in postmodern architecture, AHEC brought nine of the furniture pieces that Miralles designed with his partner Benedetta Tagliabue for their home in Barcelona. The exhibition featured tables, seating units, and shelving designed between 1992 and 1999.
OMA x Sabine Marcelis
The installation explored the potential of marble in furniture and interior design as a raw and a recycled material, featuring a furniture set designed by the architecture firm for SolidNature. The pieces captured the monolithic nature of the material through simple and clear shapes, giving people the freedom to use them in various ways, exploring what natural stone has to offer to contemporary design.
Stefano Boeri Interiors
Stefano Boeri Interiors collaborated with retail brand Timberland to create an independent ecosystem floating on the waters of the Darsena in Milan. The project emphasizes the brand's commitment to being a force for social and environmental good, by planting 610 plants and 30 species on the platform that multiplies biodiversity and activates environmental benefits related to urban forestry, in connection with other green spaces in Milan.
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota
The duo unveiled transformed the city’s Botanical Garden into an energy park using 500 meters of digitally bent copper pipes to create a sensorial path where people can explore different forms of sustainable energy production and consumption. The installation invited visitors to wander through Milan’s historical garden, in a sequence of six main stages: Energy Carousel, Garden Orchestra, The Leading Logo, Powering Vibrations, Blinds in the Sun, and Solar Garden.
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the Salone Del Mobile 2022, featuring exclusive editorial pieces and interviews with architects and curators of the event.
