Salone del Mobile, Fuorisalone, Milan Design Week—the past week’s thousands of events blur together in a spritz-induced haze. With no way to even see a good chunk of what was on view, the best strategy was to make a strategic plan that was flexible enough to allow changes and, like a surfer, suit up to go catch some waves.

The year’s trends are already evident in the ocean of other coverage: an interest in re-issued pieces, oversize echoes of postmodern designs collided with minimalism, a surge in popularity for industrial metals like stainless steel and aluminum, and wide concern with material sourcing as the design world responds to the climate crisis by shifting its manufacturing processes. Scroll down to see my decet of favorites. We came, we saw, we Bar Basso’d.

Universo Satellite

Now in operation for a quarter of a century under the imaginative eye of Marva Griffin, SaloneSatellite’s selection of emerging design is a constant inspiration and has jump-started the careers of many famous names. Beyond the strong showing at the fair, a show about SaloneSatellite’s history was on view at the Triennale. It gave detailed information about each instance of the pop-up exhibition on large boards and gathered furniture from prior editions in mixed ensembles. Brava, Marva!

Io sono un drago

Milan’s Triennale hosted a number of great exhibitions during Milan Design Week, including Inga Sempé’s The Imperfect Home (which runs through September 15), but this retrospective about the work of Alessando Mendini, produced with the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain and curated by Fulvio Irace, is a showstopper. Witness Mendini’s poppy paintings and color-dot furniture, in addition to a long table of models that could have been on the moodboards for Nickelodeon set designers in the 1990s. I also appreciated seeing grids of Mendini’s sketches alongside the covers he directed while editing Casabella and Domus. The exhibition is on view through October 13.

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