Milan Design Week stands as one of the most important events in the global design calendar, serving not only as a showcase of innovation but also as a catalyst for critical discourse and creative exchange. This year, the event unfolds with a multitude of exhibitions, installations, and talks happening throughout Milano during the week of April 15-21, 2024. By bringing together diverse voices, perspectives, and talents, Milan Design Week becomes relevant for architects and serves as a nexus for interdisciplinary dialogue. To help you better navigate the plethora of events, conferences, and installations, this article highlights the main venues hosting activities revenant for architects and designers, from the expansive trade fair Salone del Mobile in Rho Fiera to design districts across the city and unexpected locations hidden in Palazzo courtyards or reimagined industrial heritage sites.
Neri&Hu: The Latest Architecture and News
The Second Studio Podcast: Interview with Neri&Hu
The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, founding partners of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, to discuss their upbringing, moving to the United States in their youth; meeting at Berkeley; studying and teaching Architecture; moving to China; starting their office together; running a multi-disciplinary office; their philosophy; and more.
"Liminality" by Neri&Hu Explores the Zone Between Theory and Practice at La Biennale di Venezia 2023
Neri&Hu presented “Liminality”, a multimedia exhibition selected by Lesley Lokko, at the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. The exhibition took place in the Dangerous Liaisons section of La Biennale di Venezia at the Arsenale. In response to Lokko’s curatorial statement, Neri&Hu’s display explored the concept of liminality, the “zone” between design practice and theoretical exploration. The display consisted of three adaptive reuse projects that represent the practice’s research in “Reflective Nostalgia, Recasting Vernacular, and Ruinophilia/Future Artifact.”
Fotografiska Announces Three New Locations in Berlin, Shanghai and Miami, Becoming the Largest Private Art Museum
Fotografiska Museum has announced its expansion to three new locations in Berlin, Shanghai and Miami, to be housed within existing buildings redesigned by Herzog & De Meuron, Neri&Hu and Rockwell Group. A former department store in Berlin's Jewish Quarter, a 1946 factory building in Miami and a historically significant warehouse complex in Shanghai are the future Fotografiska venues set for completion in 2022 and 2023. Together with the existing locations in Stockholm, Tallin and New York, these will form the world's largest private art museum in terms of size, number of locations, and exhibitions per year.
"The Section Is Where the Exterior and the Interior Comes Together": An Interview With Neri&Hu
During the latest Design Indaba Festival, we have the chance to interview Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, from Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, a Shanghai-based inter-disciplinary architectural design practice, about their work and way of thinking about architecture.
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Neri&Hu Designs the Pernod Ricard Malt Whisky Distillery in Emeishan, China
Neri&Hu has designed a distillery and brand home for China’s first whisky, in Emeishan, Sichuan, China. The Pernod Ricard Malt Whisky Distillery puts in place a timeless architecture, inspired by the site itself and its unique components, blending together whisky-making and the landscape into one holistic narrative.
New Video Explores Neri&Hu's Aranya Art Center in Northern China
Neri&Hu have unveiled a new video exploring the Aranya Art Center in Qinhuangdao, China. Designed to evoke notions of space for art versus communal space, the project places a strong emphasis on the spiritual nature of the seaside community. Drawing inspiration from the seasonal ocean waters nearby, the building seeks to encapsulate the natural wonder of water.
Neri&Hu Completes Aranya Art Center in Qinhuangdao, China
The Aranya Art Center in Qinhuangdao, China has been completed, designed by Neri&Hu. Situated in a seaside environment, the scheme was designed to evoke notions of space for art versus communal space. Despite the straightforward brief for the art center, the scheme reaches further to become a communal space for residents in the deeply spiritual community.
Architect-Designed Furniture Pieces at the 2019 Salone del Mobile
As the week comes to an end, Milan Design Week wraps up yet another successful year of creativity and innovation. Thousands of design companies displayed their creations to more than 200,000 visitors hailing from different countries, demographics, and career backgrounds. Although the design fair gravitated towards the world of interior design, many renowned architects participated in the week-long exhibition and joined their forces with interior and furniture design experts.
Along with the impressive collaborations that these architects created with lighting companies, take a look at how they used their expertise in forms and structures to develop unique furniture pieces.
"The Unfolding Village" Exhibition Celebrates Vanishing Cultures of Gossip and Eavesdropping
Shanghai/London-based firm Neri&Hu has published details of their “Unfolding Village” installation, set to take center stage at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair 2019. The exhibition, taking place in February, will see Neri&Hu depart from the traditional convention of furniture fairs, often purely focused on product design, and instead actively engage with pressing social issues unique to their base country of China.
Having recently studied the issue of disappearing villages and village cultures in China, the designers were alarmed by the impact of such a disappearance on community, family, and cultural roots. With many products centered on the ideas of nostalgia, dwelling, and “the individual’s relationship within a collective,” the firm created the “Unfolding Village” exhibition to capture the essence of traditional Chinese villages.
Yangcheng Lake Villas / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
-
Architects: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
- Area: 30000 m²
- Year: 2016
-
Manufacturers: Hansgrohe, Duravit, FSB Franz Schneider Brakel, nanimarquina, Bulthaup, +2
Take a Tour Inside Shanghai's Cultural Hotspot
Take a walk through the Hub Performance and Exhibition Center, designed by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, in the dynamic Hongqiao District of Shanghai, China. The video, produced with Pedro Pegenaute, showcases the Center's nature-inspired interior, featuring dramatic lighting and views framed by walnut- and oak-covered aluminum branches recalling forest canopies.
AMORE Sulwhasoo Flagship Store / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
-
Architects: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
- Area: 1949 m²
- Year: 2016
-
Manufacturers: Fritz Hansen, Arne Jacobsen, Carl Hansen, Classicon, De La Espada, +13
Neri&Hu: Redefining the Meaning of 'Made in China'
When Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu arrived in Shanghai in 2000, working on a project for Michael Graves, they had no plans to stay. "Three months turned into six, then eight," said Neri of his first visit; fourteen years later, Neri & Hu Design and Research Office operates from Shanghai with more than 100 multi-disciplinary staff. The firm has developed a reputation for their original designs in a landscape dominated by duplicate architecture. In a recent article in The Star Online, Leong Siok Hui maps Neri & Hu's road to success, featuring their work on Design Collective and The Waterhouse at South Bund. Read more here.