The number of events, installations and pop-ups taking place during Milan design week has reached staggering levels with brands from every sector trying to cement a sense of cool cachet by aligning themselves with the design world and its biggest global showcase.
For some the links are tenuous at best, for others they’re just beyond baffling, a famous banana producer and toothpaste holding activations are just two examples that immediately spring to mind, but there are far more. Hotel and hospitality firms getting involved is less of a credulity-stretch given they’re locations inextricably linked to architecture, interior design, art and furniture. What happens, however, when these companies don’t have an existing location in the northern Italian city that is home to all things design.
Rosewood, the Hong-Kong based hotel firm, which recently opened its second London property to much fanfare, isn’t due to open a Milan outpost until 2027/28 after one in Rome, but this hasn’t stopped it wanting to make its presence known at this year’s Milan design week. ‘The company’s design philosophy is rooted in stewardship and discovery,’ says Trish Luyckx, Rosewood’s Chief Design Officer, ‘with each hotel shaped by its cultural connection to place.’
Leaning into this strong sense of space and not shying away from the intellectual discussions which surround design, for its Milan design week debut Rosewood has chosen to present an exhibition which shines a spotlight on the legacy of iconic Italian designer Andrea Branzi who shared similar core values, placing real importance on ideas of culture, craftsmanship and connection coming together.
Rosewood worked with Deyan Sudjic, director emeritus of London’s Design Museum, who co-curated the show which includes a series of Branzi’s signature paper lamps created by local craftspeople alongside two murals painted by the designer himself before his death in 2023.
‘What stays with you about Branzi was that his work was about ideas,’ says Sudjic, ‘but he also had the kind of design sensibility to make objects that weren't just representations of ideas, but actually had a physical presence, a kind of quality of colour, a sense of form about them. That’s a very unusual mixture. Normally people who have strong ideas don’t always manage to do that.’
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Also on show will be a collection of commissions by a new generation of designers, artists and craftspeople that demonstrate Rosewood’s values and its ongoing commitment to design. ‘There was a long list of people we wanted to approach,’ says Sudjic. ‘I advised on which ones seemed to have the most direct relationship with what Branzi was trying to achieve. Also being in the same room as Branzi, you want pieces that actually stand up to that context, so they needed a certain level of accomplishment.’
‘Hotels are spaces that can be seen as an interesting hybrid, between expressing that homeliness that we expect from somewhere we spend the night to a more public space. So it’s neither a gallery nor a home, but semi-public. That’s quite an interesting frame for contemporary art.’
Rosewood: Objects that Speak. A conversation continued with Andrea Branzi is on show until 25 April at Via Vincenzo Capelli 6, Milan.
