There were a few exhibitions I was elated to see and experience while in Milan during the Salone Mobile. One was the Greenergy Design Exhibition. This exhibition seemed to be a rather big deal about town as it received a particularly large amount of exposure and press. It was even advertised in the window-fronts of the giant department store across from the world famous Duomo (right at the heart of the city and the tourist shopping district). When standing in front of these ads in the windows that were ironically juxtopposed with Dior Homme cologne ads and Louis Vuitton purse ads, I was approached by a few tourists asking where to find this exhibition. I had not visited the exhibition yet but was sure it was something to be excited about, so I eagerly gave out a map and directions to inquiring enthusiasts.
The exhibition was on the south-east side of the city center. It was in a large open courtyard area of a museum exhibition space and crowded with people on the bright sunny afternoon I visited. Despite the press and pleasing atmosphere, people (including myself) seemed to be rather disappointed with the overall event.
Granted I can not read Italian that well and may have missed a few important points about certain pieces in the exhibition, i felt as though the curator might have missed the point behind green energy and our high hopes for the future. One of the first peices you see when you enter the couryard is the one that makes the most sense. It is public outdoor bench with “sprouting leaves” coming out the center. Atop these leaves are solar panels and on the underside- LED lights. This installation is designed for an outdoor public space to self sustain itself, and attract seaters at night my illuminating the bech with the energy made by the sun during the day. The next few peices that began to strike my confusion were environment installations. One was a meditation chamber (pictured below right) you walked into that was meant to be a clean escape from the polluted everyday. It was equiped with small air purifiers in each corner releasing aroma-therapeutic essences of green tea and cypress. Also in the space were rocks, a small wave/ripple pool, and puffy seats to sit on, relax, and reflect. This stood out to me as a reaction to a lack of green energy or a sustainable environment, but not a solution.
Many of the remaining pieces were on the smaller scale like furniture and products. A beautiful, yet not-so-green in my opinion, chair (pictured above left) was designed with a planter at the top to give the sitter the environmental aroma of lavendar. It is an outdoor chair where one might drink their morning cafe. Upstairs there was an excercise machine that worked the legs via vibration. The hired promotional team was there to invite participants to try it out. I didn’t quite understand the relevance to “green” or “energy” except for maybe the fact that it was promoting exercise.
Unfortunately, one interesting piece that I wasn’t able to see as it was being repaired was an installation by LOT-EK (famous for their shipping container prefab dorms and homes). This could have won the installation some merit.
The final piece a visitor passes as they leave was an installation by Phillip Stark called Democratic Ecology. Although the installation didnt speak to me as very powerful in content, the written content was simple and bold. He stated that more materiality equates to less humanity, and “the first environment friendly step is refusing”. At the end he says, soon “Everybody shall be a part of the big image. Everybody will be able to produce energy”.
Overall, I was confused why some of these items were chosen for exhibition over many of the interesting alternative energy products introduced to the market in the last year. I realize it was an exhibition of many Italian and younger designers, but possibly the scope could have been focused a bit more. As we face an era where energy conservation is critical to our vitality, I hope to see educational green energy exhibitions providing us with real solutions for the everyday citizen.
