Milan preview: Top twenty events

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Maarten Baas at Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan 2011


From April 12-17, more than 300,000 international vistors will descend on Milan for its annual Furniture Fair - by far the biggest event on the international design calendar. This year, the fair is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

WGSN-homebuildlife has been trawling through the invites and guides for several weeks now, bringing you individual highlights - and now subscribers can read our guide to the top twenty events.

Rest sofa by Anderssen & Voll at Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan 2011


Spazio Rossana Orlandi is an annual highlight of the fair, with Orlandi's serene courtyard, shop and gallery spaces alone worth a visit. This year, Orlandi's Design Week exhibits include new launches by Naoto Fukasawa for PlusminuszeroJasper Morrison for Punkt, Omar Arbel, Atelier Forte, Anderssen & Voll, BCXSY, Piet Hein Eek, Maarten Baas and Jaime HayĆ³n for Se and Metalarte. We are particularly excited to see an exhibition called Botanica by Studio Formafantasma - a collection of furniture and accessories made from natural, pre-industrial plastics.

Scribus and Others by Atelier Forte at Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan 2011

Dutch designers Droog always have an interesting concept, and this year they are focussing on open-source design (read our report on the topic here) - which is sure to be unmissable. On show will be a range of furniture and accessories designed for download by EventArchitectuur and Minale-Maeda and customised by Droog to form their new 2011 collection - alongside a series of digital design tools that allow ordinary computer users to easily make functional design decisions. 
Design for Download by Droog, Milan 2011



Subscribers can access the full report here - and don't forget our special design guide to Milan, on hand to offer alternative activities if the hustle and bustle of the fair gets too much.