Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

Monday saw the end of design week, an unmissable event that each year, never fails to offer a few days of true innovation to the Italian metropolis. Even this year, the event was successful in the eyes of the critics and the public, which confirms Milan as the epicentre of one of the flagships of Made in Italy.
The traditional Salone del Mobile, organised by Cosmit through the new Milan fair, was an event to remember for millions of worldwide visitors. Designer international could present all of the latest novelties in the sector to a public of experts and art fans. But as always, the most interesting events were especially those linked to the main exhibition.
The Fuorisalone, a true indicator of new design trends, animated the streets of Milan with a thousand events and dates involving the city in a climate of genuine frenzy. They are in fact the streets of the Tortona area, the place in which the most avant-garde creators have dates with well-presented and surprising exhibitions, impromptu performances by artists and presentations from designers worldwide.
The Fuorisalone which is engaging and fun not only for the art fans but also for those who are simply curious, has livened up the city, restoring for one week only that cosmopolitan and dynamic spirit which makes it the capital of the design world and that too often is forgotten in the pallor of daily life.
As always, the combination of art and design was further reinforced during this week of creativity. Cosmit, promoted two important events confirming its attention to the contemporary artistic scene and its unbreakable bond between art and design. The first is Peter Greenaway’s performance at the Palazzo Reale, which will stay famous not only for its splendid outcome but also for the huge controversy that accompanied it, confirming how bureaucracy is one of the greatest problems in our country. The second installation is by Michelangelo Pistoletto, realised at the Loggia dei Mercanti on the theme of “Office, creative factory”. At the core of the medieval city’s commercial life, the artist who is from Biella, again suggested his vision of “office”, the same that he created in his Cittadellarte foundation.
Through project developments and artistic and creative activities, art meets other aspects of the company: production, communication, politics, economy, work, and spirituality. The event “Segno Arte Uffici” represented the structure of the Cittadellarte offices in eight modules with furniture in the form of Segno Arte (Art Sign) inside, thought of by Pistoletto in 1976 which signified the balance between man and the universe. It involves interactive furniture where the public produces the personal energy necessary to make relative images of each Cittadellarte Office appear on the mirrored surfaces of the furniture, calling attention to its eco-sustainability.
During the week the first truly roving photographic show was also organised. The National Association for Professional Photographers actually organised a photographic exhibition in a “non location”. Some youngans, dressing in appropriate costumes to be televised in, took the exhibit from within the path of the Fuorisalone creativity regulating whoever had a winning impromptu image taken with a Polaroid, an honour with an historical nostalgic value: since last February in fact Polaroid films have no longer been produced, squashed by impossible competition from the digital camera. These images are therefore a true subject for collection.