Ventura Centrale 2019: Expanding the design story
Ventura Centrale is returning to the Milan Design Week (9-14 April, 2019) for its third edition. The massive industrial warehouses under the Milan Central Station will once again be filled with majestic installations and compelling design stories that need to be told. It is with pride Ventura Projects announces their creative turf is expanding from nine to fifteen vaults this year.
Many international companies will present their work at Ventura Centrale, among which Japanese materials specialist AGC Inc., Dutch labels Weltevree and Lensvelt, Belgian brand Modular Lighting Instruments, American design studio Rapt Studio and Swiss company Sky-Frame.
The expansion of the Ventura Centrale exhibition area has led to more vaults being opened, even though some of them were closed for many years. This means more room for impressive and overwhelming design experiences and - literally - more rooms for the public of the Design Week to discover and visit. In the last months the spaces under the railway tracks have been cleaned out, finding hidden treasures of Milan’s history: old bikes, church furniture, a station clock, station benches and much more. The neighbourhood is applauding the second life that has been given to these spaces, which hold so many memories for the Milanese. Slowly but surely these memories are being transformed into design experiences and revealed to the city, its citizens and the Milan Design Week public.
From old stagers to newbies
Some familiar faces and some Ventura Centrale newcomers will check in to the vaults in April. Years ago Dutch label Weltevree was one of the first exhibitors at Ventura Lambrate. Both Ventura Projects and Weltevree have grown over the years and we are thrilled to see them transform one of the Ventura Centrale warehouses in the coming edition. In the madness of the Milan Design Week, Weltevree Unplugged will be an oasis where you will be encouraged to activate and enrich the use of your environment. Interdisciplinary design firm Rapt Studio is new on the Ventura Centrale stage but for years they have been creating connected, transformative experiences for the world's most valuable brands. Their agile teams specialise in working at the intersection of spatial experience, brand expression, and cultural connection. They believe that experiences should be fully felt, and their first-ever exhibition at Milan Design Week titled Do You Belong? will challenge visitors to see their surroundings through a new lens. It promises to leave you with a story worth telling.
Lensvelt will return to the vaults. In recent years, the Amsterdam-based label has won two Milan Design Awards for presentations at Ventura Projects’ events. Whether featuring dozens of whispering horns or thousands of crumpled paper balls, they have proven their ability to always showcase influential designers and well-thought-out narratives. This year they are collaborating with Modular Lighting Instruments, high-end architectural lighting experts with an attitude and the other rebel on the block. Modular have been conquering the world with their unique DNA, bold designs and cutting-edge technology. They are opinionated in the best possible sense and don’t believe in blending in.
AGC Inc. who will present the next episode in the future of materials. Last year they brought sound-generating glass. This coming edition AGC Inc. will work together with Keita Suzuki, a Japanese designer known for seeking harmony between tradition and innovation. The installation will once again be a palette of technologically advanced materials that trigger all senses.
A Piece of Sky by Sky-Frame and Stephan Huerlemann. Photo credits: Mark Cocksedge
Sky-Frame and designer Stephan Huerlemann will return to the vaults where last year he exhibited the award-winning Giants with Dwarf. Sky-Frame’s A Piece of Sky will be a thought-provoking interactive installation aiming to create feelings of positivity amongst visitors by telling an unexpected story about the sky and orbiting around the earth.
