What should we expect this year as we stroll along Via Massimiano, Via Ventura and Via Conte Rosso, the three roads that make up the Lambrate Design District? Probably very little. After a big brand (IKEA) despoiled this sacred temple of experimental design last year, the large group of Dutch designers who typically occupied the district definitively abandoned Lambrate for new and more stimulating pastures. What remains is an agglomerate of large industrial space that often seek to fill themselves with overdone products and ideas, lacking in creativity and victims to a distorted conception of design that no longer even slightly includes any experimentation.

The events planned include, among others, two by local Lambrate architect Simone Micheli: Hotel Regeneration (16 – 22 April 2018) at Officina Ventura 14 and The Precious Apartment in Puntaldìa (17-22 April 2018) at the Simone Micheli studio. The first has installations and industry meetings on the schedule, while the second is an ethical project that virtually transports visitors into a luxury private residence. Lambrate has always been the place for large groups of emerging designers and artists to reveal their creations to a mixed public. These include: Din – Design In, event organised by Promotedesign.it within the strategic location at Via Massimiano 6/Via Sbodio 9, now in its 6th edition, and Design Circus with a wide selection of projects that range from abstract art to home automation, split across the rooms of Spazio Donno at Via Conte Rosso 36.

FUORISALMONE in the lofts at Via Massimiano 25 remains a happy stronghold in the area and is still able to connect professionals and entrepreneurs who swim against the current, offering concrete business and interaction opportunities. As well as a decent crowd of food trucks for the Street Food Experience, the SHARED HOUSE: Architettura CO-DIVIDUALE project is worth mentioning: conceived as an outpost of the Triennale di Milano “999 Questions About Contemporary Living” exhibition organised by Stefano Mirti. Fruit of the collaboration between FARM CULTURAL PARK, LAPS ARCHITECTURE, A14HUB and the POLITECNICO di MILANO, the project was born of a desire to experiment with new living technology, the shared house. Fun and contemporary living solutions which people use for short and temporary periods. This room would also have shared spaces for thinking up start-ups, cooking together and experimenting with new ergonomics and use of public space in the private space.