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If you’re in Italy this week and reading this site, it’s a safe bet that you’ll be interested in MINI’s contribution to Milan’s famous design week. However if you can’t be there we’ve got some an exclusive behind the scenes look at what’s in store for Milan in the form of a gallery above.
Official Release: In keeping with the brand’s “Creative Use of Space†philosophy, MINI is making a contribution to this year’s Milan Design Week from 13 – 19 April. Taking centre stage is the new MINI Countryman, which celebrated its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in March and will go on sale in September 2010. The car forms the centrepiece of installations at Milan’s state university and the Triennale Design Museum.
MINI@Interni Think Tank: MINI Countryman Design Studio (13 – 19 April).
MINI is the headline act in the Interni Think Tank – organised by Interni, the renowned Italian design magazine edited by Gilda Bojardi. The Fuori Salone 2010 show event will be staged in the courtyard of Milan’s state university. An installation dreamt up by Head of MINI Design Gert Hildebrand and his team centres on the new MINI Countryman and focuses on the number 4, which holds considerable importance for the car; this is the first MINI model to measure more than four metres in length and come with four doors and four-wheel drive. The installation is based on a rectangular container, whose longer sides form the word MINI in three-dimensional letters. The external profile of the letters is highlighted by neon colours. The inner side of the installation features prints illustrating the innovative design process behind the MINI Countryman. Inside the Think Tank the car itself is on display, its lines accented by a special lighting system. Access points at the front and rear of the container allow visitors to explore details of the new MINI.
– Opening times during Design Week: 13 – 18 April / 9.00 – 24.00 hrs
– Opening times after Design Week: 19 – 25 April / 10.00 – 20.00 hrs
– Venue: the courtyard of the Università degli Studi di Milano – Via Festa del Perdono 7
– Entry is free.
<p>Pictures 3 and 11 are really cool! I like the idea of the large letters that spell MINI from multiple angles and the MINI inside of it. Same with the letters that spell MINI in picture 4 with the design process inside.</p>
<p>Cool! Wish I could go see it in person!!</p>
<p>To lilcoopr: Ditto…</p>
<p>Bring an event like this to the U.S. I am sure it would be very well attended by MINI enthusiasts, as well as, by members of the advertising and design communities — particularly with no free entry.</p>