Design Week or Food Week?

How can one redesign the moka coffee maker? Perhaps only by making it more of what it already is (David Chipperfield).

Well yes, we too were at the Fuorisalone and could not resist. We went hunting for food at an event dedicated to design and found that once again it takes center stage.

Our brief experience begins at Mudec, the museum of cultures in Milan. In fact, for the duration of the Fuorisalone you can request a free ticket to Alessi's temporary exhibition A NEW MOKA IS BLOOMING, which traces the stages that led their world-famous moka to become what it is today: an international design icon. If you will be in Milan during these chaotic days, it will be impossible for you not to pass by via Tortona, so we recommend you go in, if only to marvel at the evolution of moka design over the decades.

What is immediately clear walking through the streets of Milan is that the city's most important week is a riot of installations of all kinds and a triumph of food.

Suffice it to say that Beko, a multinational home appliance company, has rented an entire streetcar - the Beko tramtram - totally branded from Wednesday to Saturday, in which Alessandro Borghese dispenses valuable food advice: a free tour around the city in the company of one of the most prominent chefs of the moment thanks to a brand that deals in kitchen products. It all adds up.

Then there's the usual but charming via Tortona, which is teeming with venues packed with hungry tourists who, between trying to figure out one concept and another, dive in to buy gourmet sandwiches and sample Heineken beer, which is always present in every corner of the city.

RG also did its small part, promoting its territory in Corsico Street, set up for the occasion as if it were the Via Emilia and enriched with photographs of the most typical places in our province. If you happen to pass by, enter the Liuteria, a temporary shop where you can buy the products of our very rich area, from coffee to organic juices, from wine to our wine bowls.

Contaminations between different art forms are becoming increasingly common, and Fuorisalone is the perfect context to realize this. Suffice it to say that many brands take advantage of the golden moment of food to win over their customers, taking them by the throat, as did Tasty foodtowear, which you can always find on Corsico Street.

Everything is design; it is up to the person who approaches it to interpret it or, even better, to grasp the artist's message. What makes the difference, however, is the usefulness of the different solutions and, even more so, the use of recycled products to create functional tools, as did Creative Cables, which took advantage of the historic Quattro Stagioni jar to create a lamp, thus transformed into a perfect design piece.

If in between installations you need a certain dose of sugar to get you going again, we recommend going into the historic Pasticceria Cucchi on Corso Genova 1 to enjoy irresistible pastries in their tea room, refurbished by designer Cristina Celestino, who, with wallpaper and carpeting, has brought a historic place back to ancient atmospheres with the effect of modernizing it. Miracles of design.

Then there are several unforgettable installations inspired by food. Many of them are a real cry for help issued to all mankind to save the environment from the scourge of plastic disposal. To bring attention to the most important example, we would like to remind you of the work of artist Maria Cristina Finucci, who created the HELP sign with 5 million plastic caps, which can be seen in the Cortile d'Onore. The message is simple and clear: everyone can do their part even if it is just by drinking a simple bottle of water or eating take-away food.