The Milan Issue
EST MAGAZINE SPECIAL ISSUE | MILAN
At Milan’s Opera House La Scala on the opening night of Salone del Mobile, Italian architect Piero Lissoni turned around and smiled, “Welcome to Milano”. With this same sentiment, I welcome you to our Milan issue, dedicated to Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week 2023.
We enlisted design commentators Karen McCartney and David Harrison to compile their Milan highlights in a detailed report covering the best of colour, Brutalist forms, organic shapes, iconic designs, outdoor installations, the revival of glass and resin, and evocative materiality.
Next, we return to one of our first stops for the week, Nilufar Depot, where Karen speaks with inimitable gallerist Nina Yashar. At the same time, I speak with Milan’s leading design voices in 2023, including Salone del Mobile president Maria Porro, architects Patricia Urquiola and Elisa Ossino, and multidisciplinary designers Federica Biasi and Bethan Laura Wood.
We ask five Australian designers and creatives to share their favourite furniture, objects, and materials from the week and distil exceptional lighting from the biannual Euroluce at Salone del Mobile and beyond. Outside of Milan, multidisciplinary designers Draga & Aurel invite us to their Lake Como villa, providing a personal perspective on upcycling and using innovative materials.
We leave you with Milan Always, our definitive list of places and spaces in Milan to visit, eat, drink and be inspired by all year round.
We hope this issue gives you a sense of Milan’s “different attitudes, thoughts and emotions” while being a pertinent expression of sharing culture and enlarging the design conversation, as Patricia Urquiola says in her interview.
– Sophie Lewis, editor
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