During this year’s Salone del Mobile, I had the mission to spot a selection of projects that are shown at Yksi Expo. From 1 May until 29 June, the exhibition ‘Retour Milaan’ (Return Milan), a selection of sustainable projects’ will be exhibited.
A tradition that after a number of years of absence is picked up again at Yksi Expo. Fifteen projects, concepts and products have been selected that are not only functional, useful, aesthetically pleasing and user-oriented, but also sustainable. And they all help to establish a circular economy.
It seemed as if this year the Dutch designers were present in Milan in slightly less great numbers. There was no noticeable new work to be seen and I did not discover any new direction or focus. There were of course exceptions such as the work by Kiki & Joost, which was surprisingly different from previous editions. And Maarten Baas’s installation was also disarming. I saw several projects that had been launched during Dutch Design Week 2018 and were now on display in Milan, such as the New Material Award, for example. I thought that this was the other way around years ago, so you first showed new work in Milan, for instance and only then during the DDW. Of course, I as a promotor of the Dutch Design Week, found it rather funny that it is the other way around!
Yksi Connect – Leonne Cuppen
