Milano Design Week | 15 to 21 April 2024

Pro Helvetia and Presence Switzerland are presenting individual and collective creations by young designers, independent studios, established brands and universities from Switzerland at House of Switzerland Milano. The group exhibition JOY at Milano Design Week 2024 (15 to 21 April 2024) highlights the creativity, curiosity and dynamic quality of the Swiss design scene as a positive force for societal transformation.

The Swiss design scene in all its diversity is to be represented under a joint roof at House of Switzerland Milano. Each of the group exhibition’s 23 projects interprets this year’s topic JOY in its own innovative and nuanced way, revealing the potential that can be unleashed when emotions are acknowledged in the design process. 

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Emerging Talents 

What role can design play in society and how can joy be harnessed as a positive force for transformation?  In its ‘Emerging Talents’ selection, Pro Helvetia presents eight young designers whose work is based on shared values. With approaches such as the reuse of materials and playful interaction, they have created specific solutions showing how traditional handicraft techniques can be applied in a modern manner and how consumer habits can be changed. 

Estelle Bourdet uses discarded climbing ropes to create bright and multicoloured handmade carpets. NEUNOI demonstrates sustainable ways of producing children’s shoes, involving playful design and reused materials. The high-quality DJ equipment produced by Varia Instruments reflects both their passion for music and their artisan skills. What emotions can be evoked by a robot’s arm is shown by design studio CLAIRE + LÉA in their latest project Anima IV. With OruBench, Luc Reinacher presents a modular bench that can be used very simply in multiple ways, while VIDY Chair by ScheideggerPauli proves both practical and elegant thanks to its form and its wheels. The limited-edition collection of vases called Seilinee by design studio SALIENTI was created in an innovative and experimental collaboration project with workshops in Murano. Tabea Wschianky’s rain protection designed for people in wheelchairs stands for independence, inclusion and a creative combination of aesthetics and functionality.  

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In Collaboration 

This year’s topic of JOY also gave rise to four collaboration projects between young designers and established brands, the outcome of which can be seen at the House of Switzerland Milano. The designers involved are Dimitri Bähler and Sébastien El Idrissi, supported by the Swiss Design Awards of the Federal Office of Culture, as well as Super 150 and Hannes & Fritz. The exhibition ‘In Collaboration’, presented by Pro Helvetia, reflects their joy in collaborating across borders and forming a living community with mutual inspiration and exchange. 

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Universities 

Four universities of design took up the subject of JOY, too. In collaboration with FREITAG, Industrial Design students from ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne explored various loan offers based on one of the brand’s guiding manifesto principles “Access over Ownership”, that reflects the values of sharing and access to products. In their project ’Taking Joy in Responsible Design’, graduate students of the Höhere Fachschule für Technik und Gestaltung Zug (HFTG) found answers to the challenges of the urban heat island effect. With ‘The Factory of Joy’, the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW presents productions combining state-of-the-art technology, culture and sustainability. HEAD-Genève is scheduled to introduce its new book on the nocturnal history of architecture.  

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Institutions, galleries and brands  

The exhibition OUT OF THE WOODWORKS by NOV Gallery is dedicated to young Swiss design that gives new forms and meanings to objects made of wood. mudac and Felipe Ribon jointly invite viewers to reflect on Switzerland’s natural water resources and their spiritual potential. 4321-MARKET is a collaboration project by 20 designers creating souvenir products in Switzerland and Seoul to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and South Korea. Various international brands are also due to present their collections created in collaboration with designers from Switzerland: Karimoku New Standard x BIG-GAME and HAY/New Works/Vero x Hannes & Fritz will be displaying their collections in the in-house restaurant; the furniture chain Micasa will be introducing its SOLE collection, developed together with the design studio SULA.  

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House of Switzerland Milano 

House of Switzerland Milano is a three-year project jointly run by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and Presence Switzerland. The aim of its curated exhibition located in the Casa degli Artisti is to introduce international audience to the dynamic quality of Swiss design. With a new, future-oriented topic each year, House of Switzerland Milano showcases Swiss design tradition, innovation and emerging talents under a single roof, promoting collaboration and enhancing the scene’s visibility. 

Responsible for the scenography and visual communication of the exhibition JOY are Dorothee Dähler, Kaj Lehmann, Lukas Marstaller, Oliver-Selim Boualam and Yeliz Secerli.  

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Extra muros  

Istituto Svizzero is due to present ‘From Killjoys to Joys’ Sparks’, an exhibition by Fatima Wegmann Guinassi and Karen Pisoni, in its localities at Via del Vecchio Politecnico 3 in Milan. Switzerland Global Enterprise will be showing the collective exhibition ‘Living Design’ with MAXAKUSTIK and Schindler. The entire Swiss presence at the Milano Design Week 2024 can be viewed on the Swiss Design Map, curated by the Swiss Design Association.