Archiproducts Milano 2021: Future Habitat

The project for the 2021 edition has the theme 'Future Habit(at)'. It is the result of collaboration with Studio Salaris and partnerships with 60 selected international brands. who contributed enthusiastically to the realisation of one of the richest versions of Archiproducts Milano in terms of design creativity, use of materials, furnishings, lighting, and integrated technology/design solutions. Above all, the installation anticipates scenarios that interpret the lifestyle of the future. Technology - increasingly silent and devoid of traditional interfaces - and cocoon spaces - as opportunities for intimacy - are the keywords for this new edition.

Cocoon spaces, between intimacy and sharing
In exploring the spaces of the future, the aim is not just social distancing but also new ways of social sharing. At Archiproducts Milano, this is translated into hybrid collective elements – kitchen counters that become co-working tables, living walls and cocoon spaces.

'Cocoons' are present in every room in Via Tortona - inhabitable arches that host people and technology. There are also interactive portholes with headphones and tablets, wall coverings that become habitable architecture, and office islands in the larger rooms.

Dematerialised technology
The home of the future will entrust more of its management to technology, which is becoming less and less obvious, and more integrated and silent. Objects and materials are the new intelligent interfaces between people and space that enable us to inhabit and experience the home, the office and the city with intelligence.

At Archiproducts Milano, you can sit in portholes and use headphones and tablets to enjoy a new domestic digital experience. The kitchen becomes intelligent with smart fridges, ovens and interactive tops; simple wood panels with touch displays become interfaces for home automation systems.

Pin Codes provide technical and purchasing information and about the products on display
The 'future of living' is an essential issue for the retail world. The furniture sector has recently seen a strong movement towards e-commerce. Does this mean that the physical shop will disappear? Archiproducts wanted to respond by showing the potential of a more 'phygital' customer journey. For this experiment, we partnered with Pinterest, the quintessential inspirational social media platform.

Each room in via Tortona 31 will have a unique Pin Code for personalised Pinterest access. Just open the app on your device and scan the Pin Code using the camera in the search bar. You can then access the room's board with the so-called Pin Idea. This is one of Pinterest's latest innovations: carousels of photos and videos that provide information about the products on display in the room, providing the possibility of purchasing them. Thanks to a tag with a link to the Archiproducts product information sheet, you can buy and 'copy the look' of the rooms in just a few clicks!

The arches, the project’s formal leitmotif, interpret the spaces of the future, and become the graphic symbol of the new Kriskadecor anodised aluminium chain façade designed by the Archiproducts Team illustrator, Carla Di Benedetto.

The arches welcome the visitor at the entrance. At the reception desk, finished in Floor Gres ceramics, they are repeated in the pattern of the Rex panels behind it, with a softer, denser motif that dialogues perfectly with the velvet Abitex backdrop. The pale, neutral Novacolor grey on the wall contrasts the desk's bright orange and blue.

Every domestic space is fundamental for individual well-being. The staircase takes on a new meaning and moves from being a transitional area to a real living space. The walls are decorated with repeated graphic patterns in relief, inspired by fabrics from Florim ceramic wall tiles to Officinarkitettura wallpaper, offering a tactile - as well as visual - experience.
The lighting is almost 'graphic'. Ribbons intertwine to support round glass objects designed by the Canadian brand D'armes, filling the staircase void with rhythmic light.

Comfortable Hobbyflower poufs arranged along the route allow people to take a break and admire the space. Paolo Castelli's luminous glass sculptures, a tribute to Morandi, highlight and illuminate an additional seating area.

BuzziSpace furniture and lighting solutions create small office islands.The future of living is also more sustainable. Sound-absorbing felt covering the furniture is made of 100% recycled PET. Soft, sinuous lines, combined with light wood and pastel-coloured upholstery, create an environment that provides visual comfort. There is also a meeting room, an all-in-one office solution.

Two rooms on the first floor house the BTicino Smart Apartment. Here is where you can experience a smart home, where technology gives value to everyday living. It allows us to comfortably and efficiently control video entry systems, lights, sockets, automation, temperature and security via App or voice controls.

The terrace hosts the Elmar freestanding cement kitchen. The patented Roofingreen soft lawn and a cement carpet serve the kitchen. In the evening, Ambientec Japanese lanterns create atmospheric light and move with our new nomadic needs.

The route continues along the corridor, which, like the staircase, becomes a place for a break and no longer a place only to pass through. The wall is entirely covered with sound-absorbing Knauf AMF wood wool sheets. It is punctuated by three portholes covered with soft fabric, where people can sit or even lie down comfortably to watch a film or listen to music on their tablets or headphones. Wood panels with touch displays (muilab smart home control) enable users to write messages with their fingers. On the ceiling, a spectacular ANDlight installation runs throughout the entire space.

The kitchen becomes a hybrid element, halfway between domestic use and a co-working space. Wing is a freestanding wood kitchen by True Design conceived as a 'piazza' that comes alive in different ways at different times of the day.

Wing has contemporary light lines, as does the room's lighting. The ANDlight chandelier, with its minimal, unconventional shape, expresses richness in brass. Adjustable aluminium office lamps by Re-volt extend from the walls.

The Dooor textile door separates the corridor from the next room, where Interna8's timeless furnishings take us back to a more familiar - but not banal - domestic environment. It could be a living area, but also a more luxurious and cosy office. In the future, everything will be more fluid and harmonious. Even the freestanding Samsung TV is a furnishing element.

The building’s largest room is transformed into an elegant set whose dominant colours are blue and teal. Here the walls are veritable living architectures, with arches and cocoons that become part of the structure itself. Velvet Abitex curtains, fabric-covered walls and sound-absorbing ceiling materials create a super-cushy space with maximum comfort and acoustic well-being. It is furnished with a long wood Buzzispace table, a Silentlab pod, Midgard lamps, the Samsung 360 cassette for air conditioning, framed by AMFknauf hanging panels, Braun wireless acoustic speakers, and Samsung TVs for videoconferences and meetings.

At Archiproducts Milano, we even ponder new way of living on the planetary scale. Econyl provides us with an answer, showing us the various applications of regenerated nylon - carpets, chairs, lighting and rugs show its potential.

Attention to the relationship between design and sustainability is also explored in a room by Milla & Milli. The love affair with nature ranges from searching for raw materials to focus on the production process and formal inspiration. Waves carved into a wood surface create plays of light and shadow, speaking of deep waters, Zen gardens and furrows in the earth. The lighting features soft profiles, with a Paolo Castelli pendant lamp and blown glass lamps by ANDlight. The plaster is more delicate and tactile, expertly trowelled by Detale cph. Kelly Wearstler wallpaper for Lee Jofa is displayed on the wall like a work of art.

The kitchen is a black steel futuristic sculpture that is both luxurious and highly functional. The FOLD Smart Kitchen by Steininger has an integrated high-tech M.POD worktop that controls anything and everything.

The blue paints by Detale Cph create an extremely glamorous kitchen. A niche in sustainable ceramic material, the result of the collaboration of Matteo Thun with Florim Group's casadolcecasa, creates a small space for dining at the new Desalto marble table complete with two stools - illuminated by a pair of lime-coloured easy-to-adjust Midgard pendant lamps.

Sustainability is not only in the upholstery but also in the appliances. Samsung's smart refrigerator reduces waste, constantly checking its contents and planning the family's meals.

2021 Archiproducts Milano is a manifesto for the living space of the future. It is an interactive, multimedia journey to the soft side of technology and a renewed way of understanding shared spaces in a 'new normal' guided by sustainability, aesthetics and comfort.

Partners
Abitex, Ambientec, Andlight, Astro Lighting, Bedont, BloomBoom, Braun, BTicino, BuzziSpace, CEDIT Ceramiche d’Italia, Centrsvet, d’Armes, Desalto, dooor, Econyl®, Elmar, Faema, Florim, Framery, Garda Furniture, Hobby Flower, Interna8, Kriskadecor, Midgard Licht, Milla&Milli, Meural powered by Netgear, Nicoline, Novacolor, Olimpia Splendid, Paola Paronetto, Paolo Castelli, Real Piel, Re-Volt, Samsung Climate Solutions, Samsung Home Appliances, Samsung Audio-video, Scirocco H, Serge Mouille, SilentLab, Slayer Espresso, Steininger, Tapis Rouge, Toscanini, True Design, Velux, Vetreria Vistosi.

Technical partners
Acqua Alma, Alcarol, Alchemilla Design Solutions, Arredo Creativo, Boglioli, Bombay Sapphire, Detale CHP, Dimensione3, Dlimit, Ego.M, Flos, Gypsum, Heymat, Identità Golose, Italian Converter, Kelly Wreastler X Lee Jofa, Knauf AMF, LaCimbali, Linvisibile, Marvis, Mon Ban,
Mui Lab, Netgear, noho, Nude, Object Carpet, Officinarkitettura®, Panzeri, Sapone del Mugello, Sarawagi, Saycheese, Simple Health Tech, Strackk, We Are Lovers, 101 Caffè.