Milan Design Week: at the INTERNI MATERIAE exhibition-event, a temporary housing solution for the immediate post-emergency period. A modular space designed for resilience, promoting both privacy and social interaction. April 20–30, Cortile d'Onore.
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IED at University of Milan with VIVO - Inhabiting the emergency
Date
01 April 2026
A reflection on the emergency that evolves into research and design, transforming a state of fragility into an opportunity for connection and, over time, a fresh start. “VIVO” is the installation through which IED contributes to the major INTERNI MATERIAE exhibition-event as part of Milan Design Week 2026: a temporary housing solution for post-natural disaster and various types of emergencies, a space of resilience designed to be set up quickly in Italian gyms—within 48 hours—and thus offer a concrete response that alleviates the hardship of those forced into a temporary shelter situation alongside dozens of other people.
VIVO INSTALLATION AT INTERNI MATERIAE
VIVO is the evolution of the Interior Design thesis project of the same name by alumni Tommaso Cavalli, Chiara Gorni Silvestrini, Sofia Lipoli, and Andrea Lombardi, recent IED graduates: The installation in the Cortile d’Onore of the University of Milan, curated by designer, professor, and IED alumnus Davide Angeli, allows visitors to immerse themselves in a portion of the emergency housing system, on a 1:1 scale. The experiential component unfolds on two levels: one dedicated to the private sphere, featuring housing modules with flexible partitions designed to offer privacy and comfort to those spending days or weeks in a shared space such as a gym; the other dedicated to the collective sphere, conceived as a space for sharing and social reconstruction.
Easily obtainable materials, reusable elements, transformable furnishings, and connection systems make the space adaptable over time. VIVO thus invites us to view the emergency not merely as a suspended interlude, but as the beginning of a new possible equilibrium: an open system that centers on life continuing and the possibility of rebuilding and rebirth.
MATERIAL AS AN ACTIVE ELEMENT OF RELATIONSHIP
The thoughtful use of lightweight, readily available materials—such as the steel tubes that make up the structure, illuminated by Genuit and punctuated by a few simple furnishings—becomes, in VIVO, a design tool for responding to ever-changing contexts, transforming the environment into a vehicle for cohesion, resilience, and social support.
The common space thus takes shape as a relational infrastructure: a place that welcomes, connects, and makes visible the social potential of materials, demonstrating how essential solutions can generate new forms of community and mutual support.
CREDITS AND TIMETABLE
April 20–30 at the University of Milan, Cortile d’Onore
Opening hours:
April 20–26 → 10 a.m.–midnight (last entry at 11:30 p.m.)
April 27–29 → 10 a.m.–10 p.m. (last entry at 9:30 p.m.)
April 30 → 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (last admission 5:30 p.m.)
Designers: Tommaso Cavalli, Chiara Gorni Silvestrini, Sofia Lipoli, Andrea Lombardi
Curator: Davide Angeli
Tutor: Maria Luna Ruggeri
Technical Sponsor: Genuit for lighting
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