From September 15 to 22, 2024, the 2024 edition of the Lake Como Design Festival returns to Como. Established in 2018 as the Lake Como Design Fair, curated by Margherita Ratti, over the years, it turned into the Lake Como Design Festival and is now in its sixth edition. Lake Como Design Festival is an annual themed event that develops in Como and around the lake. Exhibitions, talks and events take place in historical, unseen, or somewhat forgotten places in Como city and the area.
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9+1 Yuko Sakamoto, Contemporary Design Selection
A Festival of design and architecture in Como
The festival concept aims to establish an original dialogue between history, architecture, design and art. Lake Como Design Festival is conceived and promoted by the association Wonderlake Como. Wonderlake Como creates editorial projects and organizes cultural events to promote Como and the surrounding area in Italy and worldwide.
The Lake Como Festival 2024
For 2024, the Lake Como Design Festival enriches its program with a series of exhibitions and special events in Como, on the lake shores. The main theme of the 2024 edition is lightness. In the Como city center, the festival will take place between the Palazzo del Broletto and the church of San Pietro in Atrio. On the other hand, Villa del Grumello and the other locations within the Chilometro della Conoscenza (Kilometer of Knowledge) will be the stars on the lakefront. In addition, at Villa Anna in Cernobbio and Borgovico33 in downtown Como, there will be two special projects by Grieder Contemporary gallery. Finally, in various locations around the city, you will find site-specific installations by artist Valerio Eliogabalo Torrisi.
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Jorinde Voigt-Grieder Contemporary at Borgovico 33
The main theme: Lightness
“The theme of lightness, which we have chosen for this year, can be declined in countless forms of creativity,” explains festival artistic director Lorenzo Butti. “Developing exhibitions and special projects that can propose a dialogue between art and design has always been the stylistic hallmark of our program. Every year we strive to propose to our visitors a new way of looking at creativity, placing the exhibitions in unique architectural contexts, themselves an integral part of the exhibition itinerary.”
Lightness in progress at Villa Del Grumello
Within the late Renaissance spaces of the Villa Del Grumello, the Lake Come Design Festival 2024 will host the Lightness in Progress exhibition. It’s a selection of works, projects, objects and furnishings from different galleries, design studios, and archives on the theme of lightness. The scenic greenhouses and other spectacular sites of the Kilometer of Knowledge will instead host the projects of the Contemporary Design Selection. This is an exhibition dedicated to independent design, curated by Giovanna Massoni for the second consecutive year. In addition, in the villa’s ancient dockyard, there will be the audio/video installation Paesaggi d’acqua (Water Landscapes) by Stefano Larotonda and Niccolò Nessi, with narration by Giuseppe Innocente.
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The Form of Lightness
Downtown, in the Palazzo del Broletto, is the exhibition The Form of Lightness, a look at the theme of lightness in more than 100 years of design of a fundamental element of furniture, the chair.
The 13th-century church of San Pietro in Atrio, meanwhile, will host Lightness on Paper, an exhibition project created to celebrate 35 years of Lithos, a Como-based publishing house specializing in prints and art books. The exhibition will feature new works created by some of the most well-known and appreciated Italian and international architects, designers and creatives.
Among the special projects, a series of site-specific installations by artist Valerio Eliogabalo Torrisi will involve different city entities. Swiss gallery Grieder Contemporary, on the other hand, will exhibit 33 works by artist Jorinde Voigt in its Borgovico space. In its new venue at Villa Anna, in Cernobbio, it will set up the group exhibition Weight of Illumination.
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Chilometro della Conoscenza
Contemporary Design Selection
At the Lake Como Design Festival 2024, the Chilometro della Conoscenza (Kilometer of Knowledge) park is hosting the Contemporary Design Selection, a project curated by Giovanna Massoni for the second year in a row. The participants in this project are:
9+1 (JP), Alice Pilastre (FR / BE) + Mathilde Tinturier (CH) + Andy Farrow (UK/BE), Anton Burdakov (UA/DE/UK), Atelier Nuanda (IT), Atelier Serruys (BE), Atelier Versi Linien (FR/IT), Biancodichina (IT), Caterina Frongia (IT), curaa studio (IT), Danik Uderbekov (KZ), Dora Stanczel (FR) + pietre trovanti (IT), ENEI (CH/AR/ES), Guto Davies (UK), Hana Hillerova (CZ), Ilaria Marelli (IT), Inessa Hansch (BE/FR), Jean- François D’Or (BE), JOHY (AT), Jonathan Bocca (IT), Marie José D’Aprile (IT), Marike Andeweg (NL), Marino Secco (IT), Marta Lavinia Carboni (IT), Millim Studio (IT), Paulina Herrera Letelier (CL/IT), Philippine Aprile Mandillon (FR), RAAD Studio (ES), Sarah Carestia (BE), Sjang Niederwieser (NL), Studio Gunther Pfeffer (DE), Studiointervallo (IT), Studio Khachatryan (ARM/BE), Studio Yellowdot (HK/TR), Szostak Atelier (PL), Temperance by Ilaria Bianchi x Studio Giallo (IT), Ye Sul E. Cho (KR/UK/CAN).
On display are a series of objects in dialogue between traditional craftsmanship and technology, updating techniques and materials in the name of sustainability.
Three thematic clusters for contemporary design
This thinking turns into three thematic clusters. The first imagines a subtraction of weight, materials, processing and structures, that determine the object’s lightness, as well as a reduction in weight and impact on the planet. A second cluster is dedicated to agile, transformable, foldable, transportable, multifunctional and adaptable objects. The third thinks about spaces of light; light is lightness par excellence. In the Serra del Grumello, inside the park, there’s a temporary restaurant curated by Michelin-starred chef Samuel Carugati. It’s realized thanks to the partnership with FENIX®, Pedrali, Davide Groppi and Acqua Chiarella. The space will be animated by a series of talks with the designers of the Contemporary Design Selection, powered by ParolaProgetto and moderated by journalist Paolo Ferrarini.
Below, images of Lake Como Design Festival 2023
Why Visit
In recent years, Lake Como has been a destination for celebrities who find a home there and offer an image of the area that does not always match the reality. Lake Como Design Festival allows people to discover contemporary design in a highly prestigious historical setting. The festival can be an opportunity to discover an area that invites slow exploration, with the rhythm of the lake. It’s less hectic than the sea, and with a relaxed climate. Wonderlake, the association that organizes the festival, also offers many other cultural initiatives in different areas to discover the most hidden aspects of Lake Como.
September is also the best time to stroll among cultural initiatives, with ideal weather, neither hot nor cold.
Lake Como Design Festival, September 15-22, 2024
For professionals and general public
Size: 7 venues
Different locations, Como
Visit LakeComoDesignFestival.com for info
Below, images from Lake Como Design Festival 2022
