Lake Como Design Festival 2023 Explores Nature's Creative Power

The fifth edition of the Lake Como Design Festival, running until September 24, 2023, takes place across multiple historic venues in Como, Italy, including Palazzo del Broletto, Villa Olmo, and the former Convento Orsoline San Carlo. Guided by the ancient writer Pliny the Elder, born in Como 2,000 years ago, the festival examines how nature inspires artists and designers. Key exhibitions include 'The Other Animals' at Broletto, curated by Lorenzo Butti and Massimiliano Mondelli, featuring 60 passages from Pliny's 'Naturalis Historia' alongside design objects and artworks, such as Ettore Sottsass's Tahiti lamp and a toy hare by Friedl Dicker-Brandejs and Franz Singer exhibited for the first time in Italy. At San Pietro in Atrio, 'Stories of Fabrics' showcases textile works by Italian and international designers. The former convent hosts 'Between Art and Nature' with 80 photographs from the Fondazione Sozzani collection by artists like Alfred Stieglitz and Sarah Moon. Villa Casa Bianca features an installation by Dutch architects Van Beek & Dings with plants by Letizia Dei Fiori. Villa Salazar presents 'Contemporary Design Selection' curated by Giovanna Massoni, with works for sale on Catawiki. At Villa Olmo, 'Back to Nature' includes a waterfall of 30,000 stylized flowers and a mushroom-shaped glass sculpture by Melli Ink.