The Circular Lab

An installation designed by MC A – Mario Cucinella Architects and SOS – School Of Sustanability that open a dialogue about Circular Design

The Circular Lab is the installation designed by MC A – Mario Cucinella Architects, with Martina Ruini as Project Architect and SOS – School of Sustainability, a post-graduate program for the training of new professionals in the field of sustainable design founded by Mario Cucinella. It is a space where people can mingle to promote the culture of Circular Design.

An “open” pavilion where it will be possible to get trained and informed by a series of appointments and debates around RoGUILTLESSPLASTIC, an international project to raise awareness for the reuse and recycling of waste, now in its third edition, which will be held from 4 to 12 September 2021 at the Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci Museum during the Milan Design Week.

The Circular Lab was born thanks to the precious synergy triggered between Rossana Orlandi, Milanese gallerist among the most well-known faces in the world of design, and Scart, the more than twenty-year artistic project carried out by Hera Group, one of the major Italian multi-utilities, developing the theme of art made with recycled materials.

Circular Design plays a central role in creating and disseminating new production models, recovering the value of resources and energy through strategic design choices, following precise rules in architecture as well as in the field of processes and products. The Circular Lab is therefore the space in which to rethink “waste” as materials for the creative process and that, at the end of the cycle, will foresee the birth of other new artifacts.

The architecture of the installation is mainly made with reused and recycled materials itself, through the assembly of IBC tanks usually used for the collection of industrial waste as well as the artistic use of colored films, normally used for large packaging and produced by Aliplast, the Hera Group company leader at national level in the recycling and regeneration of plastics. The floor is created by Eso Recycling, a company specialized in the reuse and treatment of waste from the world of sport, and is obtained recycling rubber from running shoes.

Light will be a fundamental element of the installation that will become the heart of the “TrashFormation Village” evening events and which, thanks to the collaboration with Artemide, a historic Milanese company leader in the lighting sector, will become the perfect setting for the programmed events. A series of custom La Linea lighting products applied to the corners of the tanks will visually mark the space and create a welcoming atmosphere with their soft diffused light.

«The Circular Lab nasce dall’idea di dar forma ad una “piazza dell’inclusività”. Le piazze erano i luoghi dove si poteva discutere liberamente e stare tutti insieme. In un certo senso la piazza è l’espressione più importante della nostra civiltà, un luogo aperto di incontro che abbiamo voluto riproporre all’interno del Chiostro di San Vittore». Mario Cucinella

«The Circular Lab was born from the idea of ​​giving shape to a “square of inclusiveness “. Squares have been for centuries the places where we could discuss freely and be all together. In a certain sense, the square is the most important expression of our civilization, an open meeting place that we wanted to re-propose within the San Vittore cloister». Mario Cucinella