The international Milan Furniture Fair “Salone del Mobile” is not limited to designers with world fame and paying audience in the exhibition halls, but also offers a stage for the new generation in the creative scene. During the “Milan Design Week” various districts of Milan are transformed for a week into a showcase for young creatives, craftsmen and designers, this year from 05 to 10 September 2021.

Also present this year was the Freiburg [p3] lab, which enables young people with a refugee and migrant background to enter the world of work as carpenters and at the same time makes a name for itself with innovative designs. One of the lighthouse projects, a mobile kitchen as a bicycle trailer had been selected as part of the exhibition of the cooperative exhibition “Multicultural Intelligence” organized by the Interreg project SEE ME IN. Through the coordination of the Municipality of Milan and the Fondazione Politecnico, the cultural center La Stecca 3.0. in the “Design District Isola” was chosen to host the exhibition.

Through our project SEE ME IN we had the opportunity to enable the participation of the [p3] lab. Four other companies were selected from the other project partners:

  • Ke Chic (Italy), an Italian-Sengali textile design collective based in Milan, which also decorated the exhibition space at Stecca 3.0 to become the “African House”
  • Puro Amor (Croatia), a Peruvian-born artist with a passion for Croatian wordplay
  • Multipraktik (Hungary), furniture and plywood creations from Serbian-Hungarian inspiration
  • Djeliso (Italy), workshop and courses for African musical instruments in cooperation between artists from Burkina Faso and Italy

On the evening of September 08, 2021 there was a public stage at La Stecca 3.0 for those involved in the exhibition “Multicultural Intelligence”. Under the moderation of Andrea Philipp individual ways and creative business concepts of the craftsmen and artists became clear, some hurdles that still have to be overcome, but also potentials. Some of these could already be tapped in the exchange among the temporary project design collective, others became visible in expert discussions with successful companies. Last but not least, the tours of the “Design Districts” accompanied by the Milan organizers and the visit to the official furniture fair “Salone del Mobile” provided further inspiration and contacts. The [p3] workshop also considered its participation in the Design Week a great success and will certainly turn some of the ideas, impulses and contacts into new innovations in its multicultural wood and metal workshop.

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