What not to miss Milan Design Week, if you haven't been there yet

In its fifth edition, the “Dutch pavilion” of the Fuorisalone, curated by Nicole Uniquole, continues to unite and promote young designers, research projects, production and craftsmanship in the setting of the neo-Renaissance Palazzo Turati (via Meravigli 7). Among the 80+ participants divided between the courtyard (this year submerged by a carpet of orchids) and the two floors of the building, the following are worthy of note: “Elements of Time”, silicone pouf-sculptures by artist Nynke Koster made from casts that replicate architectural details; the green projects by the young studio  House of Thol (the terracotta fruit and vegetable holder to keep them fresh is particularly successful). Not to be missed is Stefan Scholten's The Stone House collection, furniture made from travertine waste skilfully combined to create a Terrazzo effect. Palazzo Francesco Turati, Via Meravigli, 9, M1 Cordusio (Elena Sommariva)

La Pelota is always a guarantee and the French maison has not betrayed the audience of the Salone and the desire for spectacularity. After two years of virtual appointments, Hermès wants a return in the most physical way possible. Five large architectures recalling conceptually five houses, finished in soft lime and hand-decorated by La Scala artisans with colorful geometric patterns host home collections signed by names such as Studio Mumbai or Jasper Morrison. In an organic environment with walls that curve and become supports for objects, warmed by red lose soilon the floor, niche craftsmanship is celebrated. We find a hand-decorated papier-mâché armchair made in Lecce, enameled copper plates made in the Veneto, cashmere dyes from the Punjab, and so on. The installation bears the signature of architect and designer Charlotte Macaux Perelman. La Pelota, via Palermo 10 (Marianna Guerieri)

The unmissable exhibition at Supersalone. Halfway between a Salone Satellite and a Dubai Global Grad Show, this year the Fair will fill the gap of almost two years of distance learning in universities and theses discussed online. At the Lost Graduation Show, students from all over the world can finally present their theses live (and what thesis!) and to the best possible audience. The projects touch the most disparate themes, from humanitarian to climate emergencies, from domestic well-being to new forms of life in nature, in the form of product design, interior, textile, fashion, graphic and interaction design. They must all be seen, one by one. Among the most scenic, surprisingly, we finally find two Italian schools: Politecnico di Milano with Micromort, a speculation on the ‘value of death, and the prototyping of a car by IED Milano in partnership with Suzuki.
Rho Fiera, Halls 2-4 (Marianna Guernieri)

From the center and the north of Milan, the spotlight now moves to the south, to the Inganni area. Inside the huge complex of the Military Hospital of Baggio, between Via Forze Armate and Via Simone Saint Bon, is the new home of Alcova, the curatorial project by Space Caviar and Studio Vedèt, which for some years now is themust-see destination for the Fuorisalone. Within its 3,500sqm of exhibition space, made of gardens, outdoor paths and ruined buildings covered with vegetation, once inhabited by nuns and nurses, this week the work of 50 exhibitors including independent designers, galleries, schools and innovative brands, can be found.

We recommend all the exhibition spaces –Outdoor, Lavanderia, Tempio and Casa delle Suore – where you can appreciate Schemata Architects’ reuse of construction waste into objects of high Japanese craftsmanship, Marc Leschelier’s autocostruzione (diy construction, ed.) in cement fabric, the interior design work of Head Genève curated by India Mahdavi who asked students to deconstruct the spaces of A Clockwork Orange, the research on the future of living of young talents promoted by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, the long series of art design pieces proposed by Nilufar Gallery, the honest design of DuccioMaria Gambi, Sasha Ribera and Daniele Giannetti, the masks Made in Calabria by Trame, the organic lamps of Fabio Hendry for Carwan Gallery, the functional art of LABINAC, the new archaic world of Lindsey Adelman Studio, the artificial flowers of Spread and the magnificent “ugly” fake grass carpets of Ignacio Subías Albert.
Alcova is located in via Saint Bon 1, M1 Inganni. (Marianna Guernieri) 

“Which is your favourite?” Raquel Quevedo reaches down and grabs a multiform, shaggy sculpture, a whitish mound that turns blue along the ridges, perfectly sized to fit in the palm of her hand. She says she appreciates its complexity, the cross-references between organic and inorganic, and how each time she finds something new in it. It is one of the 200 sculptures that the Barcelona-based artist presents at Marsell Paradise as possible fossils of the future, thus nothing new that hasn’t already been seen before, yet entirely in line with the mainstream wave of our era, where people at happy hour talk about the post-anthropocene with the same fluency with which we wore a suit in the 1980s.The exhibition is completed by a screening, graphic design works, and a beautiful hardcover book, which combines narrative and non-fiction texts, and in which one can find a font especially created by Quevedo, which also features on the exhibition poster. A choral gaze that embraces the planet. Marsell Paradise is located at Via Privata Rezia, 2, M3 Lodi. The exhibition is open until Saturday 11th  September, visiting hours 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. (Alessandro Scarano)