Need to Know
13 : 04 : 18

Scarcity of living space within our growing cities has resulted in a rise of standardised housing that does not fulfil individual inhabitants needs. In response to this, MINI LIVING has collaborated with London architectural firm Studiomama and created Built by All, an installation that encourages residents to shape and contribute to the development of their future micro-neighbourhoods.

‘Built by All turns people into active creators and puts them back at the heart of the design process. We believe the quality of a living space is determined by how well the residents identify with their home,’ explains Oke Hauser, Lead Creative at MINI LIVING.

Four separate living propositions that reflect the different residents will be centred around public zones that include a kitchen, gym and cinema. An adjoining area entitled the MINI Factory of Ideas will also give visitors to the installation an opportunity to envisage their own future-living concepts through interactive model making. For more on how brands are facilitating community centred placemaking initiatives, read our Civic Brands macrotrend.

Built by All will run from 17 to 22 April at Via Tortona 32, Milan

Set in the 16^th Century courtyard of Palazzo Isimbardi, Swedish fashion brand COS have partnered with visual artist Philip K. Smith to create a site-specific installation titled Open Sky. Smith, who is known for his large-scale light-based work, has created a mirrored, circular sculpture that is tilted upwards, reflecting fragments of its surroundings and revealing a 360 degree view of the sky.

Each visitor is encouraged to take a moment to pause, and will have an entirely unique experience when they visit the space depending on the weather, location and time. A series of small, freestanding sculptures will also be spread throughout the venue as a way to distil the overarching concept.

Open Sky will run from 17 to 22 April at Palazzo Isimbardi, Corso Monforte, 35

Design Academy Eindhoven will present a street-long installation on Milan’s Via Pietro Crespi that aims to revalue and question alternative definitions of design. Set amidst the daily life of a typical Milanese street, Not For Sale will explore what can and cannot be bought or sold through systems of exchange and the emerging micro-societies designed around transactions of goods and services.

Graduates from each of the Academy’s eight BA and four MA departments will exhibit site specific work that explores these themes including Donghwam Kam, who freezes iconic moments of mass media through the virtual reality of Second life in his After-photography project, and Martina Huynh’s, whose Basic Income Café visualises the economical principles behind two basic income scenarios through the flow of coffee.

Not for Sale will run from 17 to 22 April Via Pietro Crespi, 14, 20127

Debuting for the first time at Milan Salone, Google will be presenting their new Softwear range at the Rossana Orlandi gallery. The tech giant has developed the consumer products in collaboration with trend forecaster Lidewji Edelkoort with the aim to provoke a conversation around the future of technology and how it should seamlessly fit in to our lives. The hardware will be presented across three sprawling rooms of the gallery in a series of domestic settings, and feature six newly commissioned wall hangings by Dutch designer Kiki van Eijk which are based on collages of hand-cut textiles taken from Google’s new range.

On Tuesday 17th April there will be a panel discussion entitled Soft Futures, exploring the intersection between technology and lifestyle design and the increasingly sensorial experience of engaging with electronic devices. Chaired by Dezeen founder and editor in chief Marcus Fairs, the panel will feature Edelkoort, head of design at Google Hardware Ivy Ross and The Future Laboratory’s very own co-founder Martin Raymond.

Software will run from 17 to 22 April at Rosanna Orlandi, Via Matteo Bandello, 14