Milan calls for design

Gilda Bojardi talks us through her city

Editor of Interni magazine, Gilda Bojardi had the calling to invent an event that has brought Milan to life in a celebration of design, architecture and creativity since 1990. She lives in central Brera. You’re famous all around the world as being the creator of FuoriSalone. Where did the idea come from?

It came about as an Interni event in 1990, when the September date for Salone del Mobile was moved to April. I liked the idea of coordinating and bringing together everything new that was happening in the design world. When we talk about design in Italy, everything always comes back to Milan, the true capital of this phenomenon. Is that also why FuoriSalone started here?

It’s a phenomenon that complements the established Salone del Mobile, a model that has been copied worldwide, yet one that remains unparalleled. It occupies entire parts of the city, from the usual showrooms to more distinctive places like museums and art galleries, without overlooking ‘unusual’ spaces such as workshops, depots,

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This year, FuoriSalone can rely on another location, Portrait Milano. What makes this place so special?

It’s special because this wonderful place, which is historically, architecturally and culturally important for Milan, is part of the image of an inclusive city that’s open to the vast, spectacular and must-visit happening of FuoriSalone.

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Gabriele Chiave and Controvento about evolutionary thinking that can promote better interaction between humans and the environment.

Milan’s vocation for design and fashion runs in the veins of the Ferragamo family comes through in the art project at Portrait Milano, which focuses on Salvatore Ferragamo’s patents. Is there a story that encapsulates the city’s dual vocation?

I like to remember it with the 152 granite columns that mark the double loggia in the old courtyard. They contributed towards calling “Milan, the city of columns” in Taine’s Voyage in Italie (1876). From then on, that paired and architrave appearance has been a metaphor for the city’s dual vocation, considering the hundreds of design stores and showrooms and fashion boutiques that have emerged in the meantime.

Which area or place best embodies design?

Without a doubt, the Quadrilatero della Moda, between via Monte Napoleone and via Manzoni, San Babila and corso Monforte, as well as all the neighboring streets that changed the perception of the morphology of Milan in this blend of fashion and design.

Where in Milan do you feel the fullest sense of belonging?

Via Solferino, where I live, and the University of Milan, where I studied and which has hosted our exhibition event for FuoriSalone since 2008.

What are the main focus and what’s new for FuoriSalone 2023?

This year, we’ll be talking about Interni Design Re-Evolution in four locations: the University of Milan, Brera Botanic Gardens, Portrait Milano (with Audi House of Progress) and Eataly Milano Smeraldo. The theme is a multitude a project tool that can activate the necessary synergies between varied knowledge and stimulate virtuous regenerate local area, products in a broad sense (from objects to vehicles, material inventions and fashion) and new living spaces.

Your favourite places in Milan?

Adi Design Museum, Fondazione Prada and Triennale Milano, as well as Fioraio Bianchi Caffè, Marchesi in via Monte Napoleone and Portrait Milano: each provides comfort, social settings, focus and service in a different way.

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