Milan Design Week | Modular 4

If you are lucky enough to be in Italy this week you might want to take a train to Milan to check out the 2017 Milan Design Week. And if you do happen to stop in at Milan Design Week, be sure and check out the Capsule of Memorabilia from 3M and designer Patricia Urquiola. Based on the photos, it looks pretty spectacular.

Based on the belief that behind every memory, there is a story, and behind every story, there is a memory worth protecting, “A Capsule of Memorabilia” will give designers, creative professionals and thought leaders an experience of protecting memories into the future through a blend of architecture, design and innovative use of materials. 3M Design partnered with Studio Urquiola to bring the protection of memories to life using 3M’s Novec products which are designed to help protect, clean, preserve and cool products in smart, safe and sustainable ways.

Visitors will experience a one-of-a-kind photo booth where they can take photos with friends and colleagues using the components of a camera submerged in Novec fluid. The photos will appear on a screen that is protected by Novec, and then visitors will be given the opportunity to preserve the image and share it digitally through social media.

“It is exciting to be at Milan Design Week to share the magic of 3M material sciences to celebrate design and explore innovative possibilities that make people’s lives better,” said Eric Quint, chief design officer at 3M. “We have partnered with Studio Urquiola for this installation and together explored what’s possible through material science – reminding the world of the importance of protecting our collective memories.”

The inspiration behind the installation is the critical nature of ensuring that our memorabilia, whether physical or digital, will live on into the future – from precious artifacts and irreplaceable works of art, to books in a library that are historical and unique, and data centers across the globe managing the communication and storage, of all the digital artifacts that make up life’s special moments. 3M Novec is the featured material utilized throughout the installation, helping to provide the peace of mind that our collective memories are secured and live on into the future.

“The qualities of the Novec products are fascinating and triggered our collaboration to express a bigger story in an experiential way,” said Patricia Urquiola, founder of Studio Urquiola. “The collaboration with 3M Design was inspiring because we shared similar values and a vision about how design and architecture can amplify the qualities of magic materials, and in this case how they can protect our memories in to the future.”

The “Capsule of Memorabilia” exhibit is located at the Central Plaza of SuperStudio and will be open through April, 9.

Since it’s summer and I have a backyard again, I have been on the lookout for a stylish modern barbecue. I’m a huge fan of charcoal and wood burning grills and this morning I came across “Mangal” from Cisimdesign.

Cisimdesign is an Istanbul based firm that has been in operation since 2009. This year at the 2015 Milan Design Week, Cisimdesign introduced Mangal at Ventura Lambrate. Mangal literally means barbecue in Turkish. The design is indicative of Cisimdesign’s philosophy of taking every day objects and transforming them into an object with a different function.

“Although ” Mangal ” suggests an object of heating and cooking, it offers a comfortable resting place with storage place in the interior.”

The simple vessel shape is reminiscent of a vase or planter. The simple 3 leg stand gives it the appearance of perhaps a stool. The interchangeable grills are reflective of fabric patterns, another daily object transformed for another use. There isn’t any pricing info given on the website, but there is a contact email. It’ll be interesting to see if this makes it into large scale production. It’s a beautiful object, that I’d love to cook on.