Inhabits – Milano Design Village was the first edition of a unique exhibition, dedicated to the world of design and architecture and to the ways of living and to live in urban spaces.

It is an event created by Re.rurban Studio, founder of Zona Santambrogio Design District, in co-production with Killer Kiccen, sponsored by the City of Milano and ADI-Italian Design Association

Inhabits – Milano Design Village occupied an area of some 700 sq mtrs in Piazza del Cannone within the green parklands of the Parco Sempione (near the Castello Sforzesco), were 5 housing units and some design projects dedicated to urban sustainability and renewable energy.

The theme of the event, which is part of the prestigious Fuorisalone del Mobile, are the changing habits, as well as the socio-political current affairs, which force us to reflect on the issue of housing and on the perception of the urban public space.

Inhabits – Milano Design Village was a meeting point between designers and institutions to find solutions and technologies that will change the way we live, conveying this message also through moments of entertainment and collective reflection.

Inhabits – Milano Design Village hosted housing units that were habitable, that can be dismantled and transported, exhibition spaces dedicated to design brands and self-producers designer.

On display were prototypes for sustainable minimal housing units and small pavilions, proposing new ways to live the urban space.

DoutDesign realised an event designed for everyone that explored architecture, habitual habits and new technologies related to the theme of Live and have fun together in an informal and surprising environment

Inhabits – Milano Design Village Projects

Living Unit – modular house

Living Unit is the outcome of a research project – developed by Ofis Arhitekti, C+C, C28, and AKT II in collaboration with Permiz – aimed to create a self-supporting flexible housing unit suitable for installation in different contexts, climatic conditions, and terrains.

The basic unit, which can accommodate 2 people, includes a double bed, a closet, a table , and chairs with the possibility to install a bathroom and a small kitchen.

If necessary, 2 or more units can be combined and grouped either vertically (as at Parco Sempione) or horizontally.

M.A.DI. – timber construction system

M.A.DI. is a construction system, conceived by architect Renato Vidal and produced by M.A.DI. HOME di Area Legno

Its key-points are the simplified assembling process and a structure which doesn’t require foundations.

The system allow to built a highly sustainable building in few hours.

The modular units are earthquake-resistant and can be used to create houses, emergency shelters, tourist accommodations, and public centers.

>The M.A.DI. system offers many typological solutions that vary according to the aggregation of multiple modules and / or the use of different materials.

The availability of modules of different sizes, and the ability to place them side by side, both laterally and in depth, allows to create valuable agglomerations.

The high standardisation of the production process and its dry assembled structure allow savings in terms of economic resources and time.

A M.A.DI. building can be habitable in two days

This product is eco-friendly, modular, removable, safe and cosy.

M.A.DI. gives the opportunity to own a temporary house wherever you want or a permanent house in a building area.

Moreover, you can customize it choosing dimensions and materials according to your needs and your financial availability.

Wunderbugs – interactive ecosystem pavilion

Wunderbugs is an interactive wooden pavilion with sensors collecting environmental changes and allowing insects to modulate music.

It’s a project curated and designed by Francesco Lipari and Vanessa Todaro from OFL Architecture and was presented for the first time during the second edition of the Maker Faire Europe and within the space of the hanging gardens of the Auditorium Parco Della Musica in Rome.

Things happen when you put together an architect, an entomologist, a sound designer and a composer.

The project takes advantage of the valuable collaboration of Chiara Settanni (biologist), Marco Pesoli (sound engineer), Vincenzo Core (composer) and Sebastian Di Guardo (architect).

Within the walls of OFL Architecture‘s open-air wooden pavilion, the term “built environment” truly earns its keep.

In Wunderbugs, humans become spectators of the natural world as insects toil away in six spherical ecosystems, and sensors weave movements into a web of data.

Upon entering the pavilion, visitors are transformed into components of an interactive soundtrack harvested from the sensors and broadcast in the space, uniting the insect and human experience.

Inside it, there are six interactive ecosystems equipped with an Arduino micro-controller, and an array of light, proximity, temperature, and movement sensors which measure, elaborate, and convert into music the main vital signs of plants and insects.

The entire pavilion was realised in wood combining traditional techniques and computer-numerical control machines.

Inspired by the typical shapes of the Roman Baroque, hybridized with geometries that the insects are capable of producing, the pavilion was seen as an aggregation of repetitive and simple elements.

Wunderbugs can assume infinite configurations thanks to its modularity realized through the careful combination of 1104 arc modules, 92 rhombuses which allow to alternate and adjust the pavilion’s fullness or emptiness, and 198 knobs in wood that regulate the circular or curvilinear progress.

Within Wunderbugs six spherical interactive ecosystems are equipped with Arduino and sensors for motion, humidity, temperature and intensity of sunlight.

This data, combined with the information collected by a network of ultrasonic sensors able to detect the position of the visitors, is used to modulate in real time the Wunderbugs musical composition implementing a complete integration between architecture and environment.

By playing with technology, the architecture and pavilion’s geometry create an outdoor room equipped with an audio installation in which the music makes through combining nature and human an inseparable (and abstract) relationship with the world’s harmony

” The whole concept is an attempt to put architectural thinking at service of other disciplines – like entomology, for instance – stimulating new interactions and possibilities within the domestic scale.

Wunderbugs is an interactive pavilion, a sound garden where humidity, temperature, wind speed and visitors’ proximity provide signals that are translated into a background music track

To provide additional music signals, each of the six insect bowls corresponds to a manual switch that can be turned on and off, depending on the soundscape you want to create. Through six switches it is possible to add the deep bass rhythms of the bumblebees or the acute accents of grasshoppers”.  ………… Francesco Lipari, curator of the project

Omnia Mobile – Tiny House

Designed by Studio Dedalo, Omnia Mobile-Tiny House can be used to fill unused spaces, such as flat roofs and residual urban lands.

Available to be carried, to occupy unusual spaces such as unused cover surfaces, the spaces between home and home in the fabric of the city Omnia responds to a new market demand and global metropolitan living

Conceived to communicate and share information with other similar houses, the dwelling unit can be easily removed and transported elsewhere, making it suitable for installation in protected natural areas or to be used as emergency shelter.

Equally the feature of removal and reversibility makes it usable also in places of naturalistic value or to quickly and concretely fulfill problems related to natural calamity events

SURI – emergency housing unit

This adaptable shelter system is providing temporary housing for refugees displaced by conflict in their home countries.

Designed by building initiative Suricatta Systems, the Shelter Unit for Rapid Installation (SURI) is both easy to transport and assemble, while still functioning as a comfortable habitat for individuals and families.

Originally designed to provide shelter after earthquakes, the system is now being deployed to help house the millions of people fleeing conflicts in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa

A number of designers have been calling for practical and innovative solutions to help manage the refugee crisis in Europe.

Vienna-based designer Talia Radford was among local residents offering aid in Austria and asked creatives to mobilise in response to the situation.

SURI’s modular design comprises sections that concertina open and attach together to create units of various sizes and functions.

” The advantage of SURI is a that this is a modular system that can be assembled to create a variety of facilities from family dwellings to primary healthcare centres,” said Pedro Sáez, director of Suricatta Systems.

“It is also ideal for emergency field hospitals or mobile operating theatres in advance positions. As the system can be connected in multiple directions it allows for the creation of virtually any type of temporary building,” he added.

The housing system is composed of a lightweight framework surrounded by multiple layers of DuPont Tyvek – a UV-resistant breathable membrane used in construction.

Produced by Spanish manufacturer Suricatta Systems, the housing unit provides a decent dwelling, good living conditions and comfort, and natural lighting and ventilation.

Thermal insulation is achieved through an array of containers, which are filled with sand and hung to the external walls.

Thanks to solar panels and a rainwater recycling and purification system, SURI is energetically self-sufficient.

The exterior of each habitat contains voids that can be filled using readily available natural materials such as earth or sand, making the housing stable and providing additional insulation.

A rooftop water collection system filters rain into drinkable water, adjustable apertures can be used to control interior light levels, and solar panels can power the habitat’s domestic requirements.

The walls of the structures are also treated to protect inhabitants against mosquitos.

All materials used in the habitat are recyclable or biodegradable, and Suricatta Systems claims SURI has a 10-year life span.

Repower Charge

A village within the village: Repower presents its temporary space dedicated to recharge your mind and body.

In front of Locanda alla Mano, founded by Repower, RepowerCharge area is composed of housing units dedicated to food and relax.

The best way to recharge the Design Village’s guests.

Red Bull Studios

The event also hosts “Red Bull Studio Mobile present Sound Tag”, the brand new recording studio on wheels: a sound laboratory where the public participates in the creation of the soundtrack of Fuorisalone.

Everyone can indeed leave their “sonic signature” and contribute to a collective composition.

During the week, the Studio also hosted sound designers and musicians who took part in the installation with talks, workshops and performances.

StartKube

Biostile, INCI srl and Radio Immaginaria ( all from the Emilia Romagna region of Italy), combined ideas, talent and skills to conceive and realize this innovative project: “Startʞube – Radioimaginary Station”

A collaboration – for rethinking and designing external spaces – that for the first time combined BioStile (Made in Italy design), INCI (leader in fast and anti-seismic metallic structures) and Radioimmaginary U17 teen radio, the first network in Europe run by teenagers 11-17 years

The “StartKube” is a versatile workshop and an ideal solution for those who want to reinvent themselves and turn their passion into concrete start-up opportunities.

The space was originally a construction container that was to be disposed of but was recovered and brought to life again. Good Design as well functionality and new on-board technologies for a minimum energy consumption.

Lancia Ypsilon Unyca

As part of the Inhabits – Milano Design Village exhibition, Lancia presented the new Lancia Ypsilon UnYca with a dedicated light installation.

The public were be able to admire the special Lancia Ypsilon Unyca series dedicated to women who want a glamorous, practical and modern car inside the Inhabits – Milan Design Village

The Ypsilon Unyca design has been given particular attention by Lancia’s Style Centre.

The model, in fact, stands out for even more personal style thanks to its dedicated aesthetic finishes, which represent a novelty in terms of design and urban character both in its’ exterior and interior

Lancia’s fashionable City Car shows itself in its new, inspired Athleisure style, the style that more than anything else reflects urban activities in the contemporary world.

In fashion, the trend is to wear comfortable headdresses, designed for workout and fitness even at other times of the day, in formal or casual contexts. It is the new trait of union between the sport and fashion, a symbol of physical and mental self-care.

Hyper Cube – Inhabit Grooves

Project by Re.Rurban Studio together with Killer Kiccen

A stage made of recycled materials, created by N_D Creative, a studio of Florentine architects, will give you light, special effects, video mapping and LED-laser show.

Dramatic music programming with international guests and the inevitable local DJs will be the right frame for a 6 day festival at Sempione Park

6 days of true artists called to interpret their vision and to give us free events all over their Passion through the different GROOVES that will alternate throughout this intense week.

Hyper Bar

Street Food

There was also good food: in the large food court, visitors enjoyed the best of street food through sophisticated menus and the highest quality products; there will also be a relax area that allowed visitors to recharge themselves.

Inhabits – Milano Design Village – Project Supporters

About Re.Rurban Studio

Inhabits – Milano Design Village is a project by: Re.Rurban Studio, a design studio for communication and design,

Re.Rurban was born in 2009 working on urban renewal projects, especially for Milanese farmsteads.

These experiences have allowed to achieve skills and to build the current team who provides integrated design services for communication and design to companies, social enterprises and organizations, offering consulting, design and implementation of communication strategies, services, products and events.

Re.Rurban Studio also develops self-produced projects from the events dedicated to design with Zona Santambrogio, the district of Milano Fuorisalone, to the traveling festival of street food Eat Urban, from product design to clothing items design.

About Killer Kiccen

Killer Kiccen, co-producer of Inhabits – Milano Design Village, was formed in a former mechanical workshop in via Pestalozzi 10, on the MIlano’s canals, an area that in the past included several laboratories and artisan shops.

A  multipurpose and multimedia container, in which music, art, light design and good food come together synergistically.

A creative space where it is possibile to look, draw, listen, enjoy and get lost.

Within Killer Kiccen was established the Killer Kiccen Production project, a source of ideas and creative laboratory where design objects, works of art on commission, exhibitions, set design and art exhibitions, come to life.

Killer Kiccen Production also deals video mapping and lighting installations: a team of technical experts in the field offers a 360 ° service with professional equipment