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Milan Design Week 2023 – a review

It was a pleasure to spend Design Week 2023 with valued partners and inspiring visionary minds from architecture, art, fashion and design. We hosted compelling conversations on the future of design and production, unpacking how we can improve quality of life through circularity. Meaningful discussions continued around the table and in our kitchen where we also shared delicious plant based meals and cocktails. With Milan Design Week 2023 coming to a close, we asked Martin, our V-ZUG Head of Corporate Design and Gabriel, our Global Interior Art Director to share their personal highlights with us.

  • HENRYTIMI interior art gallery

    Within a building from the late XIX century, artist/artisanHenry Timi opened the door to a space of purity and poetry. Martin von Freeden appreciated this quiet spot in buzzing Brera, where visitors could be inspired, and their senses activated, without being overwhelmed. This year’s installation featured a monolithic kitchen carved in stone – much more sculpture than fixture – where V-ZUG appliances are seamlessly integrated. According to Martin, these creations correspond to V-ZUG’s own design philosophy: anchored in minimalism, timeless, and always elegant, they create a sense of clarity and long-lasting perfection.

  • SolidNature x Sabine Marcelis

    For the installation “Beyond the Surface” by the natural stone experts of SolidNature, Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis created a stunning dining table composed of six different types of travertine connected by colour-treated glass. It is Sabine’s fearless take on colour that particularly fascinated Martin von Freeden: what was most mesmerizing in her creation was the warm colour gradient, ranging from deep red to orange, from yellow to beige, to a cooler grey-white. Sabine Marcelis seemingly let the natural colours lead her composition, which was framed by the most perfect backdrop - the “secret garden” of the Spazio Cernaia in full bloom.

  • Hermès at La Pelota

    La Pelota is a former ball game gymnasium, a legendary event space institution in Brera which is said by many to be “an event in itself". This year again, this extraordinary location became the stage for Hermès’ new creations for the home. Stripped of all excess to display a framework composed of iron rods and concrete, the space offered the ideal stage for the small and delicate interior items by the French luxury design house. What Gabriel Pinyon Castello found most interesting was the contrast between the refined items and  the raw, rusty, and unfinished industrial structure. The aesthetics of a work in progress pavilion  clashed powerfully with the finished and luxurious savoir faire of Hermès pieces.

  • Botanical Garden Brera

    Gabriel Pinyon Castello highly recommended the Botanical Garden Brera. Hidden behind the Southern walls of Palazzo Brera, home of some of the most important cultural institutions of Milan, it is a green lush oasis nestled between the buildings. The historical garden, recognized as an official museum, allowed you to immerse yourself in nature, being shielded from the noise outside. A perfect place to pause, retreat and recover, allowing you to reflect on new inspirations gained during Milan Design Week.

Fluxus – an installation by Elisa Ossino and Stefano Roveda

Elisa Ossino and Stefano Roveda curated an interactive art installation exploring the concept of circularity. On show at V-ZUG’s soon-to-open studio in the heart of Milan, the experiential artwork is inspired by the 65th anniversary of the brand’s iconic Adora washing machine. It represents the company's relentless activities to achieve a truly circular economy.
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How do you truly commit to circularity?

During Milan Design Week 2023, V-ZUG and Monocle hosted a series of intimate conversations on the future of design and production. Headlined by top names in the design industry, the V-ZUG x Monocle Talk series unpacks how we can improve quality of life through circularity.
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