Outside of Rho Fiera, Zona Tortona is one of the must-visit places during Milan Design Week. Apart from brand showings like Poltrona Frau, Established & Sons and Bisazza Bagno, the area also served up a few interesting exhibitions and installations to spice things up. Rachel Lee-Leong brings us the highlights.

Milan Design Village

Every year, the Poltrona Frau Group’s Milan Design Village hosts the trinity of brands: Poltrona Frau, Cassina and Cappellini. Usually found on Via Savona in Zona Tortona in past years, it shifted into the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation gallery just a street away this time round.

’Superheroes’ by Glimpt Studio for Cappellini

Of note was Benjamin Hubert’s ‘Juliet’ armchair, the winner of Poltrona Frau’s competition to find the brand’s centenary armchair in celebration of its 100th anniversary.

’Juliet’ armchair from Poltrona Frau

Superstudio Piu

The Superstudio Piu Temporary Museum for New Design is a one-stop design destination at Zona Tortona.

This year, it housed Diesel’s new collection for 2012, including its new range of kitchens in collaboration with Scavolini.

Diesel kitchen

Consentino partnered with the Campana brothers, who came up with a Swiss Army knife concept for a kitchen where Silestone quartz samples and surfaces could be pulled out as and when desired.

Consentino kitchen

Toshiyuki Kita worked with Japanese textile and industrial materials company Ichimura Sangyo to come up with super lightweight chairs made of carbon fibre and upholstered with colourful swatches from Alcantara.

Lightweight chairs from Ichimura Sangyo

Corian

The Corian® Colour Evolution international design exhibition brought together creative units like e15, Moustache and TAO Esterno. In particular, the projects by Moustache, a French creative co-op of sorts that includes designers such as Inga Sempé, Francois Azambourg and Benjamin Graindorge, offered refreshing perspectives on the use of Corian® as a material.

Corian’s collaboration with Moustache

Ex.t

The bathroom and home furniture brand Ex.t featured its trademark quirky designs in an appropriately quaint space. Simple shapes and forms continue to inform the new collection that includes the ’Drip Lights’ by Gemma Fabbri.

From Ex.t

Established & Sons

Finally joining in the festivities at Zona Tortona, Established & Sons showed at Via Savona this year. One of the more interesting releases included ’Floating Table’ by Ingo Maurer. It is a table that comes with attached chairs, which are also its support.

’Floating Table’ from Established & Sons

Stay tuned to Indesignlive for more coverage from Milan.