Swatchbox Announces ‘True Cost’ Exhibition at Milan Design Week 2024
Milan, Italy – Swatchbox, the leading global sample platform for architects and designers, has announced its highly anticipated exhibition for Milan Design Week 2024. Titled ‘True Cost’, the exhibition will shed light on the significant impact of construction waste on the environment.
Located at Via Fiori Chiari, 12 in the heart of Milan’s renowned Brera Design District, the exhibition will feature two distinct elements. The first is an evocative material installation made entirely of construction waste, accompanied by an audio-visual experience that showcases the grim realities of construction waste on the planet.
In the second room of the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to explore the 2024 Milan Swatchbox Sample Gallery. Curated by Marco Castiglioni, Senior Project Architect at Il Prisma, the gallery will showcase a collection of modern materials that are available for free to architects and designers through the Swatchbox Pro platform and Swatchbox Mobile App. The aim of the gallery is to empower designers and architects to make more informed and sustainable choices in their projects by showcasing innovative solutions and alternatives to traditional sampling methods.
“This exhibit is a powerful demonstration of the impact of design in driving positive change,” commented Castiglioni. “It serves as a reminder that we must reevaluate our approach to construction and prioritize sustainability in all aspects of our work.”
Swatchbox has collaborated with various architecture and interior design firms in Milan, including GBPA Architects, Genius Loci Architettura, Park Associati, Cino Zucchi Architetti, Il Prisma, Matteo Thun, BBA Studio, and Coima Image, to source real examples of material waste for the exhibition.
“We were eager to collaborate with Swatchbox when we first heard about their exhibition highlighting the excessive waste generated by construction,” said Dora Renzulli of GBPA Architects. “Seeing the sheer volume of materials that our firm alone works with on a monthly basis is eye-opening.”
“We wanted to create a space that not only captures the attention but also challenges the current norms,” explained Isabella Maiocchi, Regional Manager at Swatchbox. “The traditional approach to construction is undeniably wasteful, and it is crucial that we, as an industry, acknowledge and address this issue.”
The Swatchbox Milan Sample Gallery and ‘True Cost’ Exhibition will be open to the public from April 16 to April 20, 2024, during Milan Design Week. Private tours of the exhibition can also be arranged for press and media upon request.
The next Swatchbox exhibition will take place in London on May 23-25 as part of Clerkenwell Design Week.
About Swatchbox
Founded by architects in the US in 2018 and established in Europe in 2021, Swatchbox is the leading global platform for architects and designers to sample sustainably. The company offers a fast and sustainable way for designers to discover and receive material samples. To explore the Swatchbox platform and request samples, visit www.swatchbox.com/pro or download the Swatchbox Mobile App at www.swatchbox.com/app. To learn more about sustainable sampling through Swatchbox, visit go.swatchbox.com/join.
Media & Partnership Inquiries:
Isabella Maiocchi
imaiocchi@anguleris.com
Ethan Adams
eadams@swatchbox.com
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.