Forum and events in Zona Sarpi

Fuorisalone events are an extremely interesting opportunity for international networking. For this reason, several forums were organised within the Zona Sarpi setting, where design-related figures on different levels had the opportunity to exchange ideas and suggestions.

In addition, the events organised also involved the neighbourhood inhabitants and shopkeepers of Sarpi through workshops and activities.

Some examples are the ‘FORUM Rebirth – Urban Renewal for the Future & Thinking About Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality’ hosted at the ADI Museum, the events ‘2024 CHINA-EUROPE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION PROJECTS SIGNING’ and ‘BUILD IP TO HELP URBAN DEVELOPMENT’ curated by Lin Cunzhen, then ‘DESIGN FOR NEXT: The Future of Design Cities’ organised together with Shenzhen University, Master Teacher Ji Qun’s talk “Chan and Design: Mindful Peace International” or the event organised by Boloni “The World Design” featuring Ma Yansong.

ZONA SARPI was born during Milan Design Week 2024. This platform is developed in collaboration with the hybrid and active community of the district: designers, companies and institutions tell the quality of Chinese design and lifestyle in connection with the projects of the Milanese and international design community.

The ZONA SARPI project was born and is led by the artistic direction of Michele Brunello and Luca Fois, who have always been promoters of international relations and collaboration between Italy and China, with the aim of creating a platform that promotes the network of design-related cultural projects and events, between China and Italy, in and around the Paolo Sarpi district. To this end, in addition to the exhibitions at Fabbrica del Vapore and the ADI Museum, an open-air exhibition was set up along Via Paolo Sarpi, where Chinese and Italian shops made their shop windows available to display projects by selected young international designers. In addition, the Chinese Cultural Centre hosted various events and workshops aimed at raising awareness in the neighbourhood on the issues of reuse, through various themed installations created by the RO.UP collective and activities dedicated to children in the neighbourhood.

At the entrance to Via Paolo Sarpi, the temporary portal ‘NOI-MEN’ (Italian for ‘our door’) was designed and set up, realised by the DONTSTOP architecture studio in collaboration with the creative designers Tommaso Lanciani and PAO, involving Italian and Chinese children from the neighbourhood. Portals are a symbol of overseas Chinese neighbourhoods all over the world and have been a desire of the Chinese community in Milan for years. The installation, which represents a Chinese portal with Milanese stylistic features (the Visconti bison meeting the Chinese dragon), through its design represents the growing openness of the neighbourhood and embodies its characteristic spirit of ‘unity in diversity’, receiving wide acceptance among the inhabitants of the area and positive comments from the media.

In addition to the portal, the entire Via Sarpi was set up with a graphic work entitled ‘Dragon Falgs’, made with flags designed by graphic designer Silvan Boer, with Tommaso Lanciani, to represent the meeting of cultures through the convivial practice of food: from cultivation to preparation to eating together.

The spaces of the Fabbrica Del Vapore (‘Cisterne’), hosted the exhibition ‘Changes! Know Now China’, with a selection of projects exploring the ongoing changes that are radically altering the Chinese lifestyle, and consequently contemporary design worldwide. Universities, research institutes, designers and companies with a focus on research and development presented projects that strongly represent the contemporary changes taking place.

In addition, the ‘Cathedral’ space hosted the exhibition ‘Voidscape of Zen: Oriental Chan’, which seamlessly merges Zen philosophy with tea culture, offering a calm space for meditation and immersive tea ceremonies. With a focus on simplicity and connection to nature, the space offered a tranquil escape for inner peace and mindfulness. Visitors were able to participate in authentic tea rituals, experiencing the richness of tradition and delving into the historical and philosophical aspects of Zen and tea culture.

A marathon of interventions, exhibitions, and dialogues was promoted by the Chinese Creative Cities to invigorate the dialogue among the Chinese, Italian, and international design communities.

In 2023, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Chinese presence returned in grand style to the Milan International Furniture Fair with a series of events sponsored by the Cultural Office of the Embassy and the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Milan. The event and exhibition, curated by DONTSTOP at Piazza del Cannone, hosted the capitals of Chinese Design, including Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Hainan, and Wuxi, which showcased their prestigious Design Weeks and featured distinguished guests such as Master Zhu Xiaojie. Innovative projects, companies, excellent local products, and services established a fruitful dialogue with the vibrant Milanese design community, opening up new prospects for collaboration and friendship. The evening was masterfully concluded with an engaging DJ set by Marcobaleno and a buffet, providing a more informal moment to wrap up the event.

ArtiJanus/ArtiJanas is a cultural project born in Sardinia. It was created to stimulate local productive realities operating in the various sectors of craftsmanship to reinterpret their productions, hybridize them, and generally innovate. Following the presence of the products at Homo Faber 2022 in Venice, Dontstop curated the installation at Palazzo Litta of the work of Collezione Terre (Terrapintada + Zanellato/Bortolotto and Laboratorio Tessile M&Dusa and Serena Confalonieri). The installation is realized using a sinuous shape as a backdrop for the products, made from the typical yarn of Sardinian textiles, and echoing some of the typical stylistic features of vase work. The decision to use a material such as threads to create space is also a tribute to the Sardinian artist Maria Lai.

Hainan, thanks to its recent Free Port status, is becoming the bridge between South East Asia China, and the rest of the world, and has invited Italy as a Partner Country for its first Design Week. The ‘Window of Italy’ exhibition, curated by Michele Brunello, which DONTSTOP designed the set-up, explores the innovations taking place in the various fields of design, which can be traced back to ‘Made in Italy’ and the Italian territory. The general theme of Design Week is “Low Carbon and New Consumptions”, and a particular focus of the exhibition addressed the theme of the Mediterranean dimension, which creates a bridge with Hainan, an island with a climate and historical/geographical conditions similar to some Italian regions.
Italy, one of the laboratories of possible (and necessary) transitions for the future, is presented through the involvement of partners, designers, and enterprises, design, and business projects, divided into five thematic sections: Design, Fashion, Food, Cities, and Education.
These thematic sections will represent some case studies of realities that represent Italian quality in the various fields, and as is usually the case, the cultural content reinforces the entire system of business operations that accompany the event. The layout is conceived as a dynamic wave-shaped path, which the visitor passes through, delving into the various institutional presences, including the Marche Region and Milan Polytechnic, and industrial and commercial realities.

From Beijing, at the China-Europe (Italy) Creative Industry Digital Exhibition, a panel discussion was held on the theme “Heritage & Innovation”, with Michele Brunello speaking live via streaming at the table with Luca Fois, Zhang Yi, Fu Zhiyong and many other experts from the creative sector.

A new model of event and exhibition fair that gives great space to digital to create collaborations and synergies between the two countries.

The exhibition “How do you play” collected a selection of 12 objects inspired by the theme of the game, developed by the designers of the LABA Academy in Douala, the main urban centre of Cameroon. The exhibition was the final stage of a design training course led by Dontstop Architettura, as part of the “CAMon! Promoting art and culture: capacity building, social enterprise and education in Cameroon”, coordinated by the COE Association and supported by AICS – Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, aimed at cultural promotion through the creation of a HUB integrating tradition and technological innovation.

The exhibition explores the relationship between cities and their landscape systems linked to water: today we need a new architecture capable of recovering urban qualities starting from the relationship between cities and their water. The metaphor of “posture”, of how the body reacts to its surroundings, is placed in different environmental contexts. The exhibition combines the postures of the “men of water” (such as the gondolier of the Venetian boat or Suzhou) with contemporary reflections and projects on the relationship between space, people and water. The exhibition, through symbolic objects and metaphors, helps viewers to understand how urban environments, in dialogue with water, are the most important resource for a sustainable and good quality future development. In China we play along the blue infrastructure of the Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which dates back over 2000 years of history: 1700 kilometers of canals connecting the most important cities of China. Today, as in the past, the link between Venice and China passes through water.