Porta Venezia Design District Launches at Milan Fuorisalone 2023

The Porta Venezia Design District, dubbed 'L'ALTRO distretto,' was officially launched at MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan during the 2023 Fuorisalone. Conceived by Marco Samorì and Carlo Barbarossa of FLOAT in ideas, the district aims to present an alternative vision of design that embraces digital language, inclusivity, and diversity, reflecting the character of the Porta Venezia neighborhood. The project involves local stakeholders including ASCOBAIRES, Rainbow District, and RAFFLES Milano. A key installation is 'Everything' by Turkish studio NOHLAB (founded 2011 by Candas Sisman and Deniz Kader), an immersive video art piece hosted at MEET. The district also looks ahead to future urban regeneration projects like MNAD (Museo Nazionale d'Arte Digitale) and LOC (Loreto Open Community), set for 2026. Carlo Forcolini, scientific director of RAFFLES Milano, recalled that the first Fuorisalone took place in 1980 at Galleria Giò Marconi in Porta Venezia, where Alias exhibited the Spaghetti Chair by Giandomenico Belotti, now in MoMA's collection. The district seeks to reconnect with this history while fostering new creative stimuli.