Sight Unseen is on the ground at the Milan Furniture Fair right now and we’ll be bringing you loads of coverage next week, but meanwhile we’re we’re featuring quick hits on the best things we’re seeing as we go. One thing we all know by now about design exhibitions is that they’re so much better when they’re contextual — when the work is presented in an interior or another kind of immersive installation. Several brands are exhibiting that way in Milan this week, including Artemest and Muuto, but our pick for today’s post is more of a collective than a brand: For Campo Base, curated by Federica Sala, six Italian studios have teamed up to self-produce a series of six rooms that act as a “manifesto on contemporary interior design.”

Ed note: Unfortunately, we posted this story before seeing the space in person, and we were unaware of the vintage glass sculptures depicting racist motifs that were included in one of the installations. We have removed that designer from our spotlight, and we apologize for sending anyone to the installation who may have been triggered. We will be leaving the rest of the post up with this note in order to facilitate conversation and transparency about these persisting issues in design. 

Marcante-Testa
“Marcante-Testa envisioned a heterotopic space in which the furnishings and spaces have been emptied and given a different context to find a new rituality, becoming devices to protect our intimacy.”Hannes Peer
“For Hannes Peer, intimacy is both a metaphysical and an utterly physical space, echoing the atmosphere of the ateliers of artists of the past, such as Monet in Giverny or Costantin Brancusi in Paris. Atelier des Nymphéas is a temporal journey that highlights the creative, by revealing the personal side of painting to the public, prompted by the designer himself.”Giuliano Andrea Dell’Uva
“Giuliano Andrea dell’Uva ponders whether it is possible to inhabit emptiness, a functionless space, in his creation, Ammonite, a unique space in which architecture and furnishings become a slow initiation journey in honor of intimacy.”Eligostudio
“A Tribute to Renzo Mongiardino, by Eligostudio, focuses on the importance of domestic conviviality as a supreme moment of intimacy. The ephemeral architecture plays upon illusion, along with the featured works by artist Lorenzo Vitturi.”
Studiopepe
“While the project by Studiopepe, Omphalos, meaning navel in ancient Greek, embraces us like a psychic skin, protecting our intimacy and while defending us from the exterior, thanks to a series of archetypal elements.”