The Superdesign Show in Tortona completed its 7th edition, having invited some of the most influential designers to participate with the goal of generating reflection. Guest designers sought not only to highlight sustainability and eco-friendly solutions, but also the tech-design combo trend. According to Superdesign studio CEO Gisella Borioli, in an interview with ArchiExpo e-Magazine:
“Technology, sustainability and design have to work together.”
The big names, innovative projects, lifestyle trends and technological solutions that improve the environment and everyday life reflect this year’s manifesto Only The Best, proposed by Gisella Borioli, founder of Superstudio Più.
“There’s a big mess in Milan at the moment, where visitors no longer know where to find what. Good and bad design are being mixed together. I wanted to make sure my visitors would understand that at the Superdesign show they would find nothing but good design.”
In a video interview with Oki Sato, we guide you through one of the four compass points of the show: the Forms of Movement exhibition by Nendo. The application of technology and the search and use of new materials for sustainable products was direct and visible throughout the exhibition.
Forms of Movement exhibition by Nendo. Photo credit: Takumi Ota.
However, Oki Sato does not think that sustainability should be a theme, but a mindset.
“We should always consider sustainability when we design or produce things. It’s another rule that we need to follow.”
Forms of Movement reunites design with people while incorporating new materials that have already been used in the robotics field.
“I try not to start a project by thinking about new technologies. In this exhibition we use some new materials such as a low-friction material used in the joints of robots and in the medical field, but the exhibition is all about people and objects and this movement created by people.”
You can learn more about Nendo’s zipper designs here.
The other three notable points were the high-tech and sustainability collaboration between Dassault Systèmes and Kengo Kuma—which you can learn about in our video report here—, the Smart City exhibition under the direction of architect Giulio Ceppi, founder of Total Tool Milano, and the Superloft house, with top Italian brands, imagined by Cappellini—the house everyone dreams of living in.
An Ongoing Reflection
Smart City: Materials, Technologies & People is a month-long event which introduces materials and technological solutions for advanced building and infrastructures, connected cities, smart living, smart people, sustainable and circular cities, integrated mobility, food policies and urban agriculture. Superdesign studio CEO Gisella Borioli spoke to ArchiExpo e-Magazine about her idea of the smart city of the future:
“I imagine the city of the future as a place where people live in good health because pollution has gone away; where we have vertical vegetable gardens in our houses; where we have robots that help us; where smart technology makes living in and controlling our homes easier; where the garbage is recycled to generate clean energy; where all of that includes beautiful design because we need beauty to live better.”
An Elite Selection
Superstudio pushed the boundaries of contemporary living by exhibiting the “Nile Selection” in MyOwnGallery. Giulio Cappellini chose between the best proposals of Egyptian furniture to explore the theme of color through materials—wood, fabrics, lacquering. The selected products portray the braiding of tradition and modernism with art, handcrafting and graphics; all set on a base of contemporary design.
Fine woven art was included in the exhibition. Courtesy of MeisterWerke.
Superstudio’s artistic board exhibited a special selection of small innovative companies and individual iconic objects such as Barcelona Rugs, furniture and accessories from Faina, handles and jewel knobs from NJ Interiors, a wardrobe-to-playground transformable piece from Size M design studio and more.
Furniture and accessories from Faina. Courtesy of Faina.
Superdesign Show participating brands and designers: Nendo, Kengo Kuma and Associates, MIT Design Lab of Boston, Material ConneXion, Boffi, Cappellini, Linvisibile, Living Divani, Magis, Ron Arad, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Tom Dixon, Konstantin Grcic, Jaime Hayon, Marcel Wanders, Jasper Morrison, Philippe Starck, and more.
You might also enjoy this video preview of the show.
