Green Island 2017: Botanik Project Blends Botany and Design in Milan's Isola District

During Milan Design Week, the Isola district presents Green Island, now in its sixteenth edition. Since 2001, the initiative has brought design to the area through a network of over 100 local businesses, workshops, and artisan labs. For 2017, the project launches on April 3 with Botanik, conceived by Claudia Zanfi. This three-stage route features vegetal sculptures by artist Emilia Faro, starting from Stazione Garibaldi. At Tiger store windows, a display is set up; then at Algranti Lab in via Pepe, reused materials are showcased. The final stop is the eco-furnishing showroom Riva Viva in Via Porro Lambertenghi, where a site-specific installation recreates a natural botanical garden. Faro's works are vegetal sculptures—Mediterranean flowers, agave leaves, aquatic plants, budding branches—coated with volcanic sand and resin, crystallizing them. The black volcanic dust, a potent fertilizer, regenerates the flora, inspired by Mount Etna's eruptions that cover everything in soot. The pieces become eternal jewels, poetic and nostalgic in their frozen perfection.