The Alternative | Furnishers Market
Milan Design Week 2016
12 -17 April 2016

During Salone Internationale del Mobile, better known as Milan Design Week, Connecting the Dots will be presenting two international exhibitions under one roof, between 12 and 17 April 2016. Under the names Furnishers Market and The Alternative, twenty design agencies will be presented, reflecting two divergent aspects within the design sector –market versus experiment.

With The Alternative and Furnishers Market, Connecting the Dots aims to connect two apparent opposites that demonstrate the topicality of the design sector. ‘Designers are interested in solving problems, both practically, when creating products for our living and working environments, as well as socially,’ says David Heldt of Connecting the Dots. ‘I want to present that stratification here side by side. If we want to do something about the negative effects of our prosperity, we can’t do so on product level alone. Society will also have to make different choices. Designers are using their position to provide radical solutions for this that, for example, politicians dare not propose at the moment.’

Big Mushrooms by Arnout Visser. Image by Ilco Kemmere

The two exhibitions will be taking place under one roof, at BASE Milano on Via Tortona. They embody the two themes that are the driving force of the design sector: that of the market and the experiment – commerce versus culture. Milan Design Week is the international design fair par excellence for the manifestation of these two opposites. For Connecting the Dots, this is the occasion at which to present these two apparent extremes in an international context. The exhibition design was created by Studio Haller Brun.

The Alternative – solutions for the social domain presents social developments and shows the work of designers who design for the public domain. The work and the methods of, amongst others, Meike Fleskens (NL), Caravan Collective (Dubai), Parson The New School (US) and Arnout Visser (NL) offer solutions to social issues.

Image by Ilco Kemmere

Furnishers Market – the market place for furniture contractors is literally the market where architects, contractors and interior designers can learn about the latest developments. The interiors market is changing quickly and drastically. The hotel business is booming, offices are becoming meeting places and people’s homes are being turned into workplaces. This exhibition includes designers such as Rik ten Velden (NL), Cyrcus (IT), Klaas Kuiken (NL), WET (IT), Jolanda van Goor (NL), +K (IT) and Romain Gaillard (FR).