At NIKE’s World Headquarters outside Portland, Oregon, the LeBron James Innovation Center houses the company’s Sport Research Lab, one of its most advanced design environments. This month, designboom visited the state-of-the-art space to preview the Breaking4 Speed Kit being developed for Faith Kipyegon, the three-time Olympic champion who will attempt to become the first woman to run a sub-four-minute mile. The challenge, titled Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile, represents a collaboration between the athlete and a cross-functional design team whose focus spans footwear, apparel, and performance research.

The lab occupies the fourth floor of the Olson Kundig Architects-designed building, where physical and cognitive testing converge. Motion capture cameras, treadmills outfitted with sensors, and climate-controlled chambers allow NIKE’s teams to simulate race-day conditions. The goal is to understand how the body performs under pressure, and how design interventions can help optimize that performance.

Faith will make the attempt on June 26th, 2025 at Stade Charléty in Paris. NIKE will invite supporters across the world to tune in to a livestream broadcast, which can be viewed here!

the Olson Kundig-designed LeBron James Innovation Center at NIKE World HQ | image © designboom

the NIKE design team collaborates with faith kipyegon

For Brett Kirby, who leads performance research within the Advanced Innovation team at NIKE, the process of designing the Breaking4 Speed Kit begins before the first sketch or sample. His role is to define the structure of the challenge itself. ‘We are aiming toward the mile in four minutes,’ he explains during our visit to the lab. ‘What are the elements that we could start to think about? What’s the homework we need to do to understand this problem?‘

Kirby’s team gathers information not just through data collection but through close listening. His approach involves watching how athletes move, how they adjust their gear without thinking, and what sensory conditions help them settle into focus. ‘We want to take that and create a good observational portfolio of how they are communicating in all ways,’ he says. This kind of introspective, adaptive, and responsive design research sets the foundation for the physical pieces that follow.

inside the NIKE Sport Research Lab | image © designboom

the aerodynamic ‘system of speed’

Once the team’s goal has been structured, NIKE’s footwear and apparel teams begin develop possible solutions. For Faith Kipyegon’s attempt at the sub-four minute mile, those solutions took form as a fully customized NIKE Victory Elite FK spike, a performance FlyWeb Bra, and the aerodynamically tuned NIKE Fly Suit, each built with attention to functionality and sensory experience together.

Lisa Gibson oversees apparel development at NIKE, and described the suit as one of the most aerodynamic systems the brand has created. ‘We learned that Faith wanted to feel like she was running free,’ Gibson emphasizes. That simple idea, freedom of movement, became a central design thread. From there her team sourced materials that were both slick and elastic, then developed construction techniques that placed seams away from the front of the body to reduce drag. Every detail was calibrated through a combination of physical modeling, wind tunnel testing, and environmental simulations.

Integrated into the suit are textured surfaces known as Aeronodes. These small, raised geometries are tuned to generate controlled turbulence, helping the air stay closer to the body and minimizing the wake behind the runner. ‘By creating this controlled turbulence ahead of where larger turbulence would normally occur,‘ Gibson continues, ‘you end up having a smoother flow downstream.’ The result is reduced aerodynamic drag without the need to alter the runner’s natural form.

a running track threads through the colossal interior | image © designboom

a bespoke spike built from the ground up

Footwear innovation for the project is led by Carrie Dimoff, whose team approached the design of Faith’s Victory Elite FK spike as a ground-up reconstruction. Rather than modifying an existing shoe, they began by reviewing the demands of middle-distance racing and drawing insights from Nike’s experience with both marathon and sprint events. ‘We opened the aperture and looked at a lot of different ingredients,’ Dimoff tells us. ‘Then we thought about, ultimately, what’s the best in terms of weight reduction and performance return.’

The final spike includes a Flyknit upper constructed from precision-engineered yarns that deliver strength with minimal weight. Dimoff noted that one component of the upper weighs just three grams. Underfoot, a newly designed Air Zoom unit stores and returns energy, supported by a reengineered carbon plate embedded with six 3D-printed titanium pins for traction. Prototypes were assembled and revised on-site at the LeBron James Building in Oregon, allowing the team to respond to feedback from Kipyegon in real time.

testing chambers measure sweat, body temperatures, and aerodynamics | image © designboom

Throughout the process, Kipyegon remained central to every decision. The design team traveled to Kenya to observe her training firsthand and make in-the-moment adjustments. Lisa Gibson recalled watching for what she called ‘unconscious feedback’ — the way an athlete might subtly adjust a seam or pull at a strap. ‘If Faith is tugging on the leg or adjusting the shoulder, that’s telling us something,’ she explains. ‘We dive into that and figure out what’s going on.’

Carrie Dimoff echoes this attentiveness. There were instances, she said, when internal lab data showed no significant difference between two prototypes, but Kipyegon could feel one worked better for her. ‘She is so attuned to her body as a system,’ Dimoff says. ‘If it meant she could run more confidently in it, that was equally as important to us.’

Carrie Dimoff shows Faith Kipyegon’s Breaking4 spike | image © designboom

While the gear developed for Faith Kipyegon’s Breaking4 attempt is entirely bespoke, the innovations produced through the project are already being evaluated for broader application. Elements such as the taller Air Zoom unit, 3D-printed pin systems, and even the textile learnings from the bra design are under review for integration into future footwear and apparel lines. ‘There were lots of things left on the table that didn’t make it into this spike,’ says Dimoff. ‘But we’re really fascinated to dig into them.’

What emerges from Nike’s collaboration with Kipyegon is at once a portrait of a singular athlete at the edge of possibility, and a case study in how design can be shaped by data, environment, sensation, and trust. The effort unfolds through textile calibration, surface tuning, and structured observation. In the end, the system is built from listening and innovation together.

the performance bra is made from Nike FlyWeb, a 3D-printed TPU material | image © designboom

Lisa Gibson details the Aeronodes | image © designboom

the System of Speed is designed in collaboration with Faith Kipyegon | image © designboom

a carbon plate is embedded with six 3D-printed titanium pins | image © designboom

project info:

challenge: Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile

company: NIKE

Breaking4 attempt: June 26th, 2025 at Stade Charléty, Paris (stream here)

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At first glance, the 16 visuals that make up Shapes of Inequalities — a new installation by the Italian information designer Federica Fragapane — don’t look like data. There are no bar graphs, no line charts, no axis labels. Instead, organic shapes unfurl across white space, like sea creatures or windblown petals. Their softness is deceptive. Installed under the overarching theme Inequalities at the 24th International Exhibition at Triennale Milano, the project translates hard, often brutal realities — economic injustice, climate crisis, gender-based violence — into a visual language that is both scientific and sensitive. It also formed the basis for a public talk Fragapane gave during the Art for Tomorrow conference, hosted in conjunction with the Triennale’s opening. In a conversation with designboom’s editor-in-chief, Sofia Lekka Angelopoulou, Fragapane discussed the politics of visual storytelling and the ethical weight of representing human experience through data.

‘I often say that I see my job as an alternative version of a photographer: I am photographing angles of reality,’ Fragapane says during an interview with designboom. ‘I strive to capture portions of them through my work.’ That framing—of data designer as documentarian—sits at the heart of her practice. Fragapane has built a career working with large institutions like the United Nations, the European Union, the World Health Organization, and Google, while also producing deeply personal, research-based projects on topics like migration, education access, and war. Her work now resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She operates somewhere between precision and poetics, applying her training in communication design to numbers that often resist simplification. Her aim isn’t to flatten complexity—it’s to give it form. ‘For me it’s important to reiterate two aspects: first of all, how data itself is not a neutral entity dropped from above, but the product of research and human actions that inevitably leave a trace, whether visible or intentional,’ she explains. ‘And so, of course, does the visualization process.’

Federica Fragapane’s Shapes of Inequalities | image © Triennale Milano

VISUALIZING HARD FACTS THROUGH SOFT FORMS

For her Shapes of Inequalities project at Triennale Milano, Federica Fragapane spent months researching ten dimensions of global disparity, including access to health care, educational gaps, racial and gender bias, and climate-related displacement. Each dataset was shaped into a visual narrative: abstract, non-linear, and, in some cases, deeply intimate. ‘Some of the subjects visualized in the exhibition touch me or have touched me personally; others are far from my own experience, and I tried to observe them and give them a shape, conscious of my privileged point of view,’ she tells designboom.

The results are not didactic, they are contemplative, even tender. The color palette, including muted reds, soft greens, cloudy purples, evokes the natural world more than the digital one. It’s intentional. ‘I often choose this organic approach when I work with data that has a living presence,’ Fragapane says. ‘It’s my way of paying homage to those lives and trying to convey that pulsating presence through form.’ This design ethos sets her apart from many working in the field of data visualization, which tends to privilege clarity, efficiency, and a particular kind of minimalism. Fragapane’s images, by contrast, invite readers to slow down. Their beauty isn’t an accessory; it’s a method. ‘Working with care on the aesthetics of my works is a way to invite people in,’ she explains. ‘A way to encourage them to look closely and read the stories I’m trying to tell through data.’

a series of 16 data visualizations | image by Alessandro Saletta and Agnese Bedini – DSL Studio © Triennale Milano

At a time when data is everywhere—weaponized on social media, simplified into clickbait, or buried in impenetrable PDFs—Fragapane’s work insists that data can also be gentle. Not less rigorous, but more empathetic. ‘I try to use what I know how to do to talk about topics I care about — that’s an extremely condensed way to describe the reasons behind some of my works,’ she notes. ‘I’m glad when others share them, use them in turn to highlight issues they care about, or when I see people discovering something new through my projects, even if those discoveries make them angry, just as they made me.’ In that way, Shapes of Inequalities becomes not just a series of visualizations, but an act of translation and of witnessing. It asks viewers to step inside statistics not as distant observers, but as participants. The data, as Fragapane insists, is not abstract, it is alive. Read our conversation with Federica Fragapane in full below.

distilling vast datasets into images | image by Alessandro Saletta and Agnese Bedini – DSL Studio © Triennale Milano

interview with Federica Fragapane

designboom (DB): Your works are included in the permanent collection of MoMA, while you have collaborated with Google, the UN, the World Health Organization, and many more. Can you walk us through your background and practice?

Federica Fragapane (FF): I work as an independent data visualization designer. This is a discipline I first encountered during my studies. I studied Communication Design at Milan Polytechnic, and I have been freelancing since 2015. What attracted me deeply at the time was the possibility of using visual elements to give a shape to information and make it more visible, and this is still the main aspect I’m interested in.

I often say that I see my job as an alternative version of a photographer: I am photographing angles of reality because I view the topics I explore as three-dimensional, complex, and irregular shapes, and I strive to capture portions of them through my work.

My presence and intervention are unavoidable, from the selection of data—the angles—to the forms in which I represent them. For me it’s important to reiterate two aspects: first of all, how data itself is not a neutral entity dropped from above, but the product of research and human actions that inevitably leave a trace, whether visible or intentional. And so, of course, does the visualization process. For me it’s very important to assert my presence and acknowledge that each drawing, while created with care and great attention to the accuracy of the information and sources, is also a reflection of my personal history.

I work with both complex data and very simple numbers. For example, one of my pieces acquired by MoMA tells the story of space waste: the visualization shows space debris classified by distance from Earth and by object type, and it’s relatively complex. But I also worked with very simple data, like the number of days since the Taliban banned teenage girls from school in Afghanistan and the death toll in Gaza.

Life Expectancy, part of Shapes of Inequalities | all visualizations courtesy of Federica Fragapane

DB: Visualizing information can take many forms, from text-based imagery to charts, interactive diagrams, or abstract graphics. Your approach has something unique in the way it employs soft forms, organic shapes, and vibrant colors to deliver hard facts. What kind of data do you mostly work with, and what is the role of aesthetics within your practice?

FF: There are indeed multiple modes of expression in data visualization, and I’ve worked with different visual languages myself. In some cases, I design simple, geometric charts—both interactive and static—that are more commonly associated with the traditional visual alphabet of data visualization. But as you mentioned, I also often use organic and soft shapes. The choice depends on the context and on the data.

I’ve worked for decision-makers, scientists, academics, the UN, and the European Union, and in those cases I’ve used the more conventional approach. But from the very beginning of my practice, I also started working on topics that are personally meaningful to me: migration, gender inequality, human rights violations. In those cases, I tend to use a different language.

I often choose this organic approach when I work with data that has a living presence, the presence of the people, and living beings, behind the numbers. It’s my way of paying homage to those lives and trying to convey that pulsating presence through form. Finally, for me, working with care on the aesthetics of my works is a way to invite people in. A way to encourage them to look closely and read the stories I’m trying to tell through data.

Unpaid care work, part of Shapes of Inequalities

DB: One of your projects that embodies this transformation of harsh, ugly numbers into soft, organic forms is Shapes of Inequality, now on view as part of the Triennale. Can you tell us more about it and how it fits into the overall theme of the 24th International Exhibition, Inequalities?

FF: For Shapes of Inequalities, I created a dedicated series of works: 16 data visualizations exploring 10 topics, some of the many faces of inequality. The visualizations present data on economic disparity, social mobility, gender and ethnic discrimination, the climate crisis, access to resources, life expectancy, and migration. The shapes I traced reflect the deep asymmetries, distances, and shifts in scale revealed by the data.

Over the past months, I’ve worked with harsh, ugly data, telling stories of both familiar and lesser-known realities. Some of the subjects visualized in the exhibition touch me or have touched me personally; others are far from my own experience, and I tried to observe them and give them a shape, conscious of my privileged point of view. My hope is that the forms I’ve created will encourage visitors to read them.

Inequality and Wealth, part of Shapes of Inequalities

DB: Beyond the visual aspect, what kind of impact do the images you create have? How do they contribute, or you you hope they contribute, to tackling inequality?

FF: I try to use what I know how to do to talk about topics I care about—that’s an extremely condensed way to describe the reasons behind some of my works. I’m glad when others share them, use them in turn to highlight issues they care about, or when I see people discovering something new through my projects, even if those discoveries make them angry, just as they made me.

Gaza

Barriers

Space Junk, part of MoMa’s permanent collection

Afghanistan

Iran

Environmental taxes data visualisation

Slums and Inadequate Housing, part of Shapes of Inequalities

Access to Resources: Literacy, part of Shapes of Inequalities

project info:

name: Shapes of Inequalities

designer: Federica Fragapane | @federicafragapane

exhibition: 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition | @triennalemilano 24th International Exhibition

24th International Exhibition theme: Inequalities

dates: May 13 – November 9, 2025

location: Milan, Italy

watch designboom’s Art for Tomorrow talk in full here.

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In response to this year’s Triennale Milano International Exhibition theme, Inequalities, the Polish Pavilion becomes a sanctuary for both human and ecological bodies, exhausted by capitalism, climate crisis, and care work. Curator Katarzyna Roj and architect Aleksandra Wasilkowska share more about A Brief Vacation with designboom, their show that reimagines the ancient tepidarium as a contemporary chamber of collective rest. ‘Rest,’ Katarzyna Roj tells us, ‘is not something to outsource to individual willpower. It’s something we need a policy for.’

Beneath the vaulted halls of the Palazzo dell’Arte, visitors are invited into the transsanatorium, a sensorial refuge that rethinks how cities distribute comfort, challenging the structural inequalities that determine who gets to rest and who doesn’t. A Brief Vacation asks, who can afford stillness in the burnout economy? Through immersive installation, sculpture, scent, sound, and movement, the pavilion reflects on the distribution of peace and bodily care. Roj’s vision, together with Wasilkowska’s design, turns urban infrastructure inside out, reimagining it as a sanctuary where marginalized bodies, caregivers, migrants, and frontline workers, can pause, regenerate, and be seen. Rest, often seen as a luxury, is here reframed as a basic hygiene that demands public policy. ‘This profound fatigue,’ the curator continues, ‘is not only dedicated to humans but also to ecological systems and exhausted resources. We need to think about how we can build infrastructure of care for all of that.’ 

image by Jacopo Salvi, Altomare.studio

A Brief Vacation revives affordable hygiene rituals

The project, part of the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition, takes its title and its concept from Vittorio De Sica’s 1973 film Una breve vacanza, where a Milanese factory worker finds unexpected dignity and healing in a mountain sanatorium. ‘It tells the story of Clara,’ explains curator Katarzyna Roj. ‘A Milanese working-class hero who gets tuberculosis and is sent to a sanatorium in the mountains. There, she gets her own room, with good food, and with the whole infrastructure of care, she experiences a social uplift. And this became a starting point for us—to ask, who has the right to rest, especially in times of mass migration, war, and reproductive work?’  The pavilion builds on this cinematic starting point to ask who today is allowed to rest and who is excluded. For Roj, hygiene should not be left to the individual. ‘We need to think of rest as collective infrastructure, especially in the context of mass migration, ecological fatigue, and reproductive labor,’ she adds.

The Polish Pavilion, organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute with support from BWA Wrocław Galleries of Contemporary Art, builds on the legacy of spaces like Milan’s subterranean Albergo Diurno Venezia, once offering affordable hygiene rituals to working-class residents. Wasilkowska’s design revives this spirit through a transcultural lens, proposing a network of future urban grottos: small-scale sanctuaries responding to crises of heat, drought, and displacement with care. These spaces could integrate with metro infrastructure, capturing underground temperatures, filtering rainwater, and offering emergency sanitation services in overheated cities. ‘Usually when you build a metro, you excavate around one million tons of earth,’ says the Warsaw-based architect during our interview. ‘That soil is transported outside of the city. We want to reuse it, to build a healing mountain next to the station—with sanitary infrastructure inside, like a cross-section of the future?’ One such ‘healing mountain’ is envisioned as a layered grotto of transcultural bathing rituals and rest zones. ‘We’re not just asking who gets to rest,’ states Roj. ‘We’re asking how we build for it—across borders, species, and systems.’

Polish Pavilion becomes a sanctuary for exhausted bodies

The transsanatorium combines global sanitary typologies

The underground chambers draw from global sanitary typologies. The transsanatorium incorporates a transcultural matrix of public bath typologies. ‘My idea was: how can we think of public space for nomads and diasporas living in the city?’ explains Wasilkowska. ‘Inside the healing mountain, there’s a mikveh, a mezzakal from South America, Greek and Roman baths, a Japanese sento, and even a ghat from Hindu culture. It’s like a protopian-utopian mix, because cities today aren’t monocultures anymore.’

This pluralistic approach extends even to sanitary architecture. ‘Toilets, for example, should have squatting and sitting options next to each other, you never know who will come. I saw it at the Istanbul airport, and I really appreciated it,’ the architect argues. ‘Migration is accelerating, and we need to adapt our designs to the people who live in our cities, not some imaginary standard user.’

In the age of hustle culture and planetary exhaustion, A Brief Vacation also confronts deeper taboos. ‘Lying down in public space is forbidden in European cities—it’s a class issue,’ Wasilkowska adds. ‘This idea is also about redistribution of luxury. It’s cheap—built from waste—but it’s for everyone. You don’t have to travel to an expensive sanatorium. It’s right here, in the metro.’

The pavilion’s central chamber features a sculpted daybed by artist Olaf Brzeski, soundscapes by Antonina Nowacka, and custom fragrances by Monika Opieka, aiming at sensual immersion. ‘We want people to lie down, to slow down, to notice their body in space,’ notes Roj. 

a brief vacation reimagines the ancient tepidarium as a chamber of collective rest

challenging the structural inequalities that determine who gets to rest and who doesn’t

Roj’s vision, together with Wasilkowska’s design, turns urban infrastructure inside out

a sanctuary where marginalized bodies can pause, regenerate, and be seen

rest, often seen as a luxury, is here reframed as a basic hygiene that demands public policy

the project takes its title and its concept from Vittorio De Sica’s 1973 film Una breve vacanza

Polish Pavilion builds on the legacy of spaces like Milan’s subterranean Albergo Diurno Venezia

the transsanatorium incorporates a transcultural matrix of public bath typologies

custom fragrances by Monika Opieka aim at sensual immersion

A Brief Vacation confronts deeper taboos

Wasilkowska’s urban proposal could integrate with metro infrastructure

project info:

name: Polish Pavilion, 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition | @triennalemilano
exhibition title: A Brief Vacation

location: Triennale Milano, Milan, Italy

dates: May 13 – November 9, 2025

curator: Katarzyna Roj | @krojczy

architect of transsanatorium: Aleksandra Wasilkowska | @shadowarchitecture

sculptor: Olaf Brzeski | @olafbrzeski

composer: Antonina Nowacka | @antoninawidt

olfactory artist: Monika Opieka | @olfaktorie_bottanicum

photographer: Łukasz Rusznica | @lukaszrusznica

choreographer: Alicja Wysocka | @alfa_omegi

graphic designer: Agata Bartkowiak | @agatabe

support: Maciej Bujko

organizer: Adam Mickiewicz Institute | @culture_pl

co-organizer: BWA Wrocław Galleries of Contemporary Art | @bwawroclaw

director, AMI: Olga Wysocka

deputy directors, AMI: Olga Brzezińska, Piotr Sobkowicz

production and coordination: Joanna Andruszko, Tytus Ciski, Natalia Gedroyć, Klaudia Gniady, Tomasz Koczoń, Barbara Krzeska, Malwina Malinowska, Julia Marczuk-Macidłowska, Agata Opieka, Karolina Padło, Marcin Pecyna, Michał Sietnicki, Joanna Sokalska, Francis Thorburn, Julia Wójcik

co-financed by: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, Municipality of Wrocław

partners: Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Milan, Polish Cultural Institute in Rome, PFR Nieruchomości (part of Polish Development Fund Capital Group)

photographer: Jacopo Salvi | @jacopo_salvi, Altomare.studio | @altomare.studio

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It’s a very pink day for Gustaf Westman and his collection of camping gear and playful objects for the Mercedes-Benz CLA. The Swedish designer is the second act of the car company’s Class of Creators initiative after Ice Spice’s molten chrome car. Let’s go back to March 13th, 2025: we’re in Rome, Italy, the city where Mercedes-Benz unveils the CLA for the first time. A few hours before that, designboom sat down with Gustaf Westeman for an interview, ahead of his art pieces’ debut. It’s a gloomy day, but the photos he shows us are all bright and pink.

‘My sketch process is making a kind of function, so you can use the vehicle in another way,’ the designer tells designboom. ‘Basically, it’s a car that has a picnic table at the rear that you can slide out and even sit on. It also has a tent on the car’s roof where you can sleep. It’s life-size. Let me show you.’ It’s exactly how he describes it: the Mercedes-Benz CLA shines in pink with a glossy surface, and right above it is a cupola-shaped tent that the vehicle can bring anywhere. These were only sketches when we met. In the evening of May 22nd, 2025, two months after our interview, Gustaf Westman shows the real-life models at the Protein Studios in London’s East End.

all images courtesy of Gustaf Westman

Collection with ‘star’ plates and hotdog tray

The Gustaf Westman spin on the Mercedes-Benz CLA is family-friendly and perky. The stowable picnic table at the rear slides in and out of the chunky pink car. There are two benches on both sides, then the sliding table between them. Just below the Mercedes-Benz insignia, there are four tubes that pop out of the car, serving as the wine glass holder for the diners. The pink Mercedes-Benz CLA and its pink tent aren’t the only ones in pink. Gustaf Westman has made an entire collection of it for the Class of Creators. There’s even a pink roll-up backpack that, once unfolded, reveals lots of plates, cups, and some trays for hotdogs (yes, the ones with buns). It also doubles as a picnic blanket. Once laid out, it has nine distinctive squares, reminiscent of bubble wrap but without the circular form.

Picking up one of these circular plates, which is a recurring theme in the designer’s repertoire, it’s so clear that the design is patterned after the car company’s iconic emblem star. That’s good, though, because there are three sections for food, so diners can eat three different meal types at once. Other than that, the designer pays more attention to the rounded edges of the plates. ‘When you look at the CLA’s base, it has the same base as the plates. I wanted to work with that base because it’s really nice. So, I used the existing lines around the Mercedes-Benz car and extruded them to make them chunky and fluffy,’ he explains to designboom.

picnic table at the rear that users can slide out and even sit on

Gustaf Westman’s vibrant colors for Mercedes-Benz CLA

That chunky and fluffy feel reappears in the hotdog tray. It’s a thick but cute slab, like a jolly-looking charcuterie board, with multiple pockets to hold hotdog buns on. ‘I just like how they kind of capture the shape, and then they disappear. They have no endings, which gives these objects a life,’ Gustaf Westman shares with us. As our conversation moves forward, the designer says this is his first time venturing into the automobile world. 

Even so, the design approach isn’t so different from when he creates homeware and other party-ful objects. ‘It’s more that it takes longer to understand what I want to do. I have to understand the Mercedes-Benz CLA first before starting to design the collection,’ says Gustaf Westman.  In the end, he has achieved that enlightenment, and it pours through his ever-bright use of colors. It’s a staple of his works, and one that he’s not looking to change. 

the Mercedes-Benz CLA shines in pink with a glossy surface and a cupola-shaped tent on its roof

‘I see these colors as helping you understand the shape. I like the idea that you can understand an object in a second. Then, I also don’t want the color to make you feel too much because I want you to focus on the shape,’ he tells us. For the designer, the muted and hushed-down shades give a mysterious feeling, and he’s not looking for that. It’s easy then to look at Gustaf Westman’s works, including the playful collection for the Mercedes-Benz CLA. They’re light and attuned to happy inklings. The shades recall the time between spring and summer, the airy afternoon in a garden or park, after lunch and before the sun begins to set. 

Our conversation with the Swedish designer is coming to a close. Before we get up, he says he has tried playing with AI tools because it’s fun. He thinks it’s bad, though. He hasn’t used it in any of his designs, and he has no foreseeable plans to adopt them. ‘I could just go on Pinterest if I want to see and do those kinds of things,’ he says. Is he on Pinterest all the time? ‘I try not to be,’ he replies. It’s a platform that lets users organize their pinned images in a digital board, and that’s not him. He’s chaotic, he says, and by definition, it means disorder. We disagree, then, because in Gustaf Westman’s purchasable collection for Mercedes-Benz CLA, it’s anything but chaotic.

view inside the tent on the car’s roof

there’s even a pink roll-up backpack

once unfolded, the backpack doubles as a picnic blanket

view of the hotdog tray

the CLA exterior lines inspire the tray’s design

Star Plate with the car company’s emblematic star

there’s enough food space on the Star Plate

portrait of Gustaf Westman during the CLA unveiling in Rome, Italy | image © designboom

the designer holding his winged mirror in London

project info:

designer: Gustaf Westman | @gustafwestman

company: Mercedes-Benz | @mercedesbenzusa

initiative: Class of Creators

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There are places that make you stop merely because they invite it. As put into words by CMP Design, Griante is one of those places: a small lakeside town suspended between mountain and water, where life slips by in shimmering reflections. It’s here, that the Italian studio found the soul of their creation for the furniture brand Pedrali, revealed during Milan Design Week 2025. Griante stands as a chair, a lounge, and an armchair, bringing to life a product that with its tactile and woven design celebrates Italian craftsmanship, natural materials, and timeless comfort. designboom had the pleasure of joining the design trio at Salone del Mobile for a discussion, unravelling with them the story behind the chair that was born by the lake, but designed for the world. 

‘The town of Griante sits in a sunny, open position — so much so that its toponym is thought to derive from the French riant, meaning ‘smiling.’ Lake Como is our landscape of choice: we love it, and its sparkling beauty amazes us every time. For us, sitting outdoors almost always means doing so to contemplate the lake. And so we imagine that those who sit in Griante will experience the same pleasure — sitting in the sun, alone or with company, on a bright blue day, with a beautiful view in the background,’ begins CMP Design, taking designboom on a mental escape to Como.

CMP Design reveal Griante for Pedrali, reinterpreting the concept of woven seating in industrial production | image © Omar Sartor, art direction studio FM Milano; set design & styling Studio Milo

all images courtesy of Pedrali 

the chair, armchair and lounge versions of griante in milan

CMP Design, the Italian studio known for stitching together storytelling into functional forms, has spent two decades crafting design narratives that connect object and place. During Milan Design Week 2025, Michele Cazzaniga, Simone Mandelli, and Antonio Pagliarulo presented Griante — a collection of woven chairs, armchairs, and lounges that celebrates twenty years of Pedrali’s establishment of its wooden division, weaving the past and the present together. Where indoor elegance flirts with outdoor ease, the Italian furniture company adds Griante to a portfolio of deep-rooted expertise in Italian craftsmanship, industrial precision, and a passion for creating design pieces that bind tradition and contemporary living.

‘Traditionally, woven chairs are made by weaving directly onto the finished and painted frame. In the Griante project, we made this process industrially producible by separating the bare structural components from those to be covered,’ they tell designboom. ‘The artisanal process remains essentially the same: the weaver applies the same care when working with a disassembled frame, but it’s more practical and comfortable than handling a fully assembled chair. The idea of deconstructing the woven chair came from closely observing the weaver’s work and understanding the practical aspects of wood production at Pedrali.

the collection includes two different versions: one designed for indoor and one for outdoor spaces | image © Omar Sartor, art direction studio FM Milano; set design & styling Studio Milo

the 5×5 belts of the handwoven seat and backrest

A nod to Pedrali’s philosophy, Griante reinterprets the idea of woven seating, overlaying traditional handcraft with precise industrial production. The defining feature is its soft, handwoven seat and backrest, made in Italy from fully recyclable polypropylene yarn belts. These belts aren’t just practical; they offer a three-dimensional texture, divided into five tubular sectors, able to adapt with minimal variations that can cover the entire surface. The natural palettes like the shades of brown, beige, green, anthracite grey, and a pale lake-like blue, only elevate the way the light hits the pattern, bringing a soft but distinct notion to the surface. 

‘The aluminum frames of the seat and backrest are covered with a weave made from a mono-material, recyclable polypropylene yarn belt. The polypropylene yarn selected offers excellent resistance to sunlight, retaining its color unchanged even after many seasons of outdoor exposure. It also has outstanding durability against atmospheric agents, along with a slightly textured, irregular feel that diffuses light, giving it a matte, pleasant-to-the-touch finish. Additionally, the tape we designed is divided into five soft, tubular sections, which allow it to adapt to changes in shape and wrap easily around the frames,’ describes CMP Design.

the main feature of Griante is the handwoven seat and backrest made in Italy | image © Omar Sartor, art direction studio FM Milano; set design & styling Studio Milo

Its outdoor version features a wooden chair crafted for open-air spaces, using teak that carries the warmth of sun-soaked wood, while being weather-resistant and oil-treated. For the indoors, a favourite of CMP Design, Griante is presented in bleached ash wood, keeping the same honest materials and tactile, woven surfaces. This lighter shade brings polished sensibility to dining rooms and lounges. Both are FSC® C114358 certified, supporting responsible forestry. Cylindrical turned legs, oval armrests tapered where they meet the back legs, and discreet aluminium seat supports are thoughtful details that elevate Griante’s modest silhouette into something quietly refined.

‘The Griante project was conceived from the start as an outdoor chair, stemming from a line of research we began with Guinea, where we explored the possibilities of creating outdoor seating with wooden components. Unlike Guinea, Griante is made entirely of wood, with the seat and backrest in aluminum handwoven with polypropylene yarn belt. This of course results in lightweight, weather-resistant, rust-proof elements, suitable even for marine environments,’ explains the design studio.‘The light tone of ash wood, combined with the natural, lively irregularities of teak, softens the formal rigor that defines both the chair’s shape and its woven pattern. It reconnects us with something ancient and universal, shared across cultures. There’s a special pleasure in the touch of wood — a sense of completeness that doesn’t need embellishment or technical virtuosity. The woodworking is simple and minimal: cylindrical turned legs and an elliptical-section armrest, soft in its restraint.’

the square geometry of the weave further amplifies the generous proportions of the seat

Designed to live under pergolas, beside tables heavy with wine glasses, or by restaurant terraces catching the last glint of daylight, Griante slips between indoors and out. Its structure is strong yet light, built to be disassembled with ease, combining artisanal skill with smart mechanical assembly. The shells are woven separately before added onto the wooden components, following a constructive logic that CMP Design laid out with careful consideration. This leads to a manual artisan operation that is also preserved, while simultaneously inserted into a sustainable industrial process where bulky frames are avoided. Griante invites sitters to slow down, to linger, to feel as if they too are looking out over Lake Como.

‘The weaving of Griante is always done on disassembled, independent frames, which are then put together with the other chair components. This construction approach, where each element remains distinct both practically and visually, makes this easy to understand, resulting in what we like to call “intelligent dissassembly”. This feature becomes a defining characteristic of Griante, and the reason it is more sustainable than other, similar-looking products. Once taken apart, every part can be fully recycled. We’ve been collaborating with Pedrali for 13 years, so we’ve come to know the production line very well. We respect the craft that goes into each of our products, the artisans and the process, as well as the company’s ethos, which is why we also design the deconstruction process as well,’ explains CMP Design.

Griante’s fully recyclable polypropylene yarn belt and soft, three-dimensional texture ensure comfort and weather resistance

From the production line to the fully recyclable polypropylene yarn, in the end, what makes Griante truly timeless isn’t a stylistic choice or a strategic decision made around a table. For CMP Design and Pedrali, each project carries the weight of being the last, infused with experience, curiosity, joy, and a touch of risk. Griante is a reflection of this approach: an object that feels both rooted and open, designed not for passing seasons but for the long rhythm of life — much like the waters of the lake it’s named after.

‘Timelessnes is an attitude that we try to cultivate in our studio, in the sense that we try to design every project as if it is our last. It is this combination of experience, experimentation, joy and risk that makes the project an act of devotion towards humanity. That being said, there are many possible directions in which the collection could evolve — both in terms of function and materials. We’ve already started developing these ideas, and we hope that in our next interview, we’ll be sitting on one of these new versions!’ concludes the design studio. 

the colors of the weave give to the chair an accurate aspect that evokes natural landscapes

project info:

name: Griante

brand: Pedrali | @pedralispa

designer: CMP Design | @cmpdesign

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For fashion brand RÆBURN, LAYER crafts SHIELD, a recycled cape and jacket that can be worn in cold and hot weather. The design studio has showcased the garment during Milan Design Week 2025 at its 101010 exhibition in Corso Como 10. The cape and jacket adapt to all kinds of climates. They protect the wearer from the heat during summer and the cold during winter. The design team uses reclaimed materials to produce SHIELD, including deadstock parachute nylon, reclaimed down, recycled wadding, and military surplus airbrake parachutes. 

Speaking with designboom in an interview, LAYER founder Benjamin Hubert says they select these materials both for their story and performance. ‘They are materials that RÆBURN is known for working with. Their knowledge and expertise were an important part of the collaboration. Parachute nylon and airbrake fabrics are inherently engineered to withstand extreme forces, making them ideal for garments designed to endure diverse climates and physical demands. These are materials that were designed to save lives, so repurposing them for SHIELD brings a sense of poetry to the collection,’ he shares with us.

all images courtesy of LAYER

Circular narrative with the use of reclaimed materials

There’s also a circular narrative that resonates with LAYER and RÆBURN. As the studio founder explains to us, these reclaimed materials were sitting in deadstock or surplus, potentially destined for landfill. ‘By reclaiming and recontextualizing them, we not only reduce waste. We also highlight the value that still exists in so-called ‘obsolete’ materials. SHIELD is about protecting the wearer and the planet – it’s a physical manifestation of design with purpose,’ he adds. The way it works is that SHIELD comprises two layers.

The outer garment – the cape – wraps the wearer with insulated layers and an adjustable, oversized silhouette during cold weather. It features baffles that regulate the warmth as well as a large hood that cocoons the head to protect the wearer from rain and biting winds. The second layer is the jacket underneath the cape. It comes from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) Swedish Digital Camouflage, alongside reclaimed airbrake canopy tapes. The jacket has discreet holes around it for ventilation on top of having an integrated water-based cooling system. Both of these design elements keep the wearer from getting warm. 

for fashion brand RÆBURN, LAYER crafts SHIELD

SHIELD collection as a response to fashion consumption

Making the SHIELD cape and jacket portable is essential to LAYER and RÆBURN. There’s an accompanying compression bag in the collection, made with the same materials as the cape, including reused military hardware. The wearer can roll and pack the garment into a portable size. The use of reclaimed materials becomes a focal point of our conversation with Benjamin Hubert. He shares with us that SHIELD is fundamentally a response to the realities of climate change and the urgent need for the fashion industry to rethink its systems. 

‘Creating a garment that’s wearable across multiple environments and conditions reduces the need for seasonal consumption. Rather than owning multiple pieces for different weather, SHIELD proposes a modular, adaptable approach. We designed it for longevity, resilience, and minimal environmental impact. It is able to perform in both heat and cold through thoughtful material layering and integrated features like ventilation and hydration systems. We see fashion not just as clothing but as a system, and SHIELD reflects that,’ he says. For the LAYER founder, the cape and jacket forged from recycled components encourage more conscious consumption as the collection challenges the throwaway culture that still dominates parts of the industry and the purchasing culture.

the collection comprises a cape and jacket that are suitable in cold and hot weather

the hood protects the wearer from rain and biting winds

the cape features insulated layers and an adjustable, oversized silhouette

detailed view of the cape

as seen, the cape has a V shape

the jacket (left) has discreet holes around it for ventilation the design team uses significantly reclaimed materials to produce SHIELD

Benjamin Hubert wears SHIELD

so far, the collection appears at the studio’s 101010 exhibition in Corso Como 10

project info:

name: Shield

studio: LAYER | @layer_design

founder: Benjamin Hubert | @benjaminhubert

brand: Ræburn | @raeburn_design

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In their first collaboration, Swiss bathroom brand LAUFEN and designer Yves Behar present VOLTA – a sink that takes the humble wash basin to new environmental and poetic heights. Unveiled as part of the ‘A New Dimension of Water’ exhibition during Milan Design Week 2025, the product builds on the brand’s carbon-free production process and Behar’s interest in connecting sustainable technology with everyday rituals. The basin introduces a sculptural, river-like flow that reduces water usage and simplifies cleaning, reflecting the duo’s shared belief in purposeful design and environmental responsibility. 

designboom visited the exhibition and spoke exclusively with the designer Yves Behar and Marketing and Design Director of Roca Group Marc Viardot to learn more about the ideas behind VOLTA, and how ceramic design can become a platform for sustainability and sensory experience.

‘There was no reason to reinvent the wash basin. With Saphirkeramik, we had already spent 12 years reinventing typologies, aesthetics, proportions, textures… but this was about new functionality,’ starts Viardot our conversation in Milan, reflecting on how the partnership began.

LAUFEN and designer Yves Behar present VOLTA | all images courtesy of LAUFEN

A COLLABORATION POWERED BY THE WORLD’S FIRST ELECTRIC KILN

Central to the project is LAUFEN’s electric kiln, the world’s first tunnel kiln for sanitary ceramics powered entirely by renewable energy. Developed in collaboration with German company Keramischer Ofenbau, a technological leader in ceramic kiln engineering, this groundbreaking production technology eliminates the need for gas-fired kilns. It also laid the foundation for the partnership between the Swiss company and the industrial designer. More than an innovation in manufacturing, the electric kiln signals a shift in ceramic design – one that brings sustainability into dialogue with both functional and aesthetic ambition.

‘The starting point was the electric kiln – a major innovation,’ says Viardot. ‘It’s the world’s first CO2-free ceramic production line. We are currently the only ceramics factory doing this, which is a huge leap, and hopefully just the beginning. That’s where our thinking began: the kiln already fires all the products in the Gmunden factory today, but we started wondering what else it could unlock.’

developed using LAUFEN’s fully electric kiln, VOLTA reflects a shared vision for sustainable ceramic production

RECREATING RIVER STREAMS IN CERAMIC DESIGN

For Yves Behar, the electric kiln represents more than just a breakthrough in ceramic production – it sets the tone for a design approach that seeks to optimize sustainability at every stage, including how the basin is used. With VOLTA, he reimagines the conventional wash basin by introducing a sculpted water path that offers a dynamic and intuitive experience. Inspired by the movement of natural streams, the design gently guides water through a central channel, helping it carry away debris more efficiently. The result is a more natural interaction that reduces water consumption and simplifies cleaning.

‘In most bathrooms, water is delivered invisibly and disappears quickly. It’s purely functional,’ Behar tells designboom. ‘With VOLTA, we wanted to create an experience closer to nature. The form emerged from that intention. The idea of a river or a vortex was in the very first sketches.’

inspired by the movement of natural streams, the design guides water through a central channel

Transforming the concept of a river into a functional ceramic form was no small feat. Both Behar and Viardot faced technical and conceptual challenges as the prototypes began to take shape. Without any digital simulation tools to predict the water flow, the team had to rely on physical experimentation, building full-scale ceramic prototypes, adjusting angles, and observing how the water moved in real-time. The sink’s distinctive geometry is made possible by LAUFEN’s Saphirkeramik, a high-performance material that enables the precise formation of thin lips and intricate contours, pushing the boundaries of what ceramic can do.

‘The main challenge was not knowing if it would work,’ recalls Behar. ‘There wasn’t any software to simulate this – we had to build real, full-size prototypes to see how water would behave. Persevering in an unknown direction was the biggest challenge. You can always make something “pretty,” but doing something new and functional takes courage and belief. Without Saphirkeramik, the design would’ve looked thicker, heavier – less appealing. That material innovation from Marc and LAUFEN really enabled us to pull this off.’

fine edges and intricate forms are made possible by using Saphirkeramik

The collaboration marks more than just the launch of a new product – it signals a broader vision for the future of bathroom design. For Behar and Viardot, VOLTA is not a standalone object but the beginning of a larger exploration into reducing water consumption and incorporating natural elements into home design. Its sculptural form and functional principles have the potential to evolve into a series of products aimed at changing the way we interact with water.

‘This is more than just a product. It’s a fundamental innovation with many applications,’ concludes the designer. ‘We see it not only as a product, but as a platform for reducing water consumption, for exploring the poetics of water.’

the basin reduces water use and simplifies cleaning – blending form, function, and environmental intention

Volta was unveiled at the ‘A new Dimension of Water’ exhibition during Milan Design Week 2025

its intention is to create a closer experience to nature

Behar and Viadot view the basin as a hallmark for broader water-conscious design

project info: 

brand: LAUFEN | @laufenbathrooms

product: VOLTA

designer: Yves Behar | @yvesbehar

material: Saphirkeramik

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Outpump restyles Spazio-Verso into a modern social club with porcelain ping-pong tables by LAVA and Gio Tirotto’s chairs shaped like beer pong cups. For a few days during Milan Design Week 2025, the culture magazine hosted Circolo Outpump in the venue, inspired by the Italian traditions and social clubs called ‘circoli.’ Once an empty, three-floored space, Outpump injects the nation’s culture with retro charm and modern flair into the venue. The mustard carpet cloaks the entire flooring, extending around the benches on the side of the room. Then, Outpump plants the two LAVA ping-pong tables on the ground floor, where visitors can freely use the rackets and play.

In the basement, Outpump transforms the space into a modern pub. There are four tables, a series of Gio Tirotto’s chairs shaped like beer pong cups, and custom card decks designed just for the event. Here, visitors can play the card game briscola, another beloved Italian tradition. Leonardo Brini, Outpump and the project’s creative director, tells designboom in an interview that Italian social clubs, or circoli, are ingrained into the country’s culture. ‘They seemed to have disappeared, but lately, people around us have been trying to rediscover them. On top of that, some games — like ping pong and cards — are true symbols of the Italian summer. They’re things everyone has done at least once in their life, and they still carry that nostalgic, family-oriented vibe,’ he shares.

all images courtesy of Outpump | photos by Serena Eller Vainicher and Francesco Marano of Eller Studio

interiors with Gio Tirotto’s chairs shaped like beer pong cups

Leonardo Brini has a clear idea of the kind of space he and his team want to create for Circolo Outpump. ‘Some elements we associated with the classic circoli – first and foremost wood – absolutely had to be there. Others, like the color palette or the choice to add carpeting, were instead our own aesthetic reinterpretation. It’s a way to make the circolo feel more pleasant and modern. At the same time, we’re doing it without completely stripping it of its identity or turning it into something too bourgeois or high fashion,’ the creative director explains to designboom. In fact, the space doesn’t feel like an exhibition, much like the other presentations during Milan Design Week 2025.

Interaction is encouraged, starting with Outpump placing LAVA’s ping-pong tables at the forefront of the venue. There are two variations of these design pieces: one with a marbled porcelain surface and another with the culture magazine’s logo imprinted on the aluminum-like top. Two half-cylinders shape the legs of the former, while a twisted sculpture keeps the latter on its toes. These LAVA objects that Outpump uses are part of the company’s Partitina series, a collection of customizable ping-pong tables with bold colors and porcelain surfaces. Along with them come Gio Tirotto’s Ettore chairs, which recall the shape of beer pong cups. Stackable and compact, their vibrant colors and cup design make them portable and versatile enough to suit any spaces. 

Outpump designs a social club with LAVA’s porcelain ping-pong tables

Interactive presentation during milan design week 2025

There’s a reason that Outpump designs its event as interactive. Leonardo Brini says LAVA’s ping-pong tables and Gio Tirotto’s Ettore chairs play crucial parts in the experiential presentation. ‘Giving people the chance to interact with them directly proved something: even visitors who might not have been very into design left the space, often after hours, with a desire to learn more and, without a doubt, with a much stronger impression than any traditional exhibition or showroom they visited during Milan Design Week 2025,’ the creative director says. During Outpump’s opening, people flood in, queuing for the variety of beer offered at the bar adjacent to the LAVA ping-pong tables. 

Once they have their drink in hand, some of them head to pick up the racket and play, while others stand and talk or walk downstairs to check the second part of the exhibition. Downstairs, visitors sit on Gio Tirotto’s Ettore chairs, chatting as they play the custom decks designed by Outpump. Round mirrors encased in steel multiply the breadth of the space, and in the corner, a reflective steel cube houses the bathroom, as if it formed part of the overall presentation. On the upper floor, the DJ plays his tracks, the sound reverberating across the transformed venue. No one is static; everyone is moving, interacting, engaging with objects, spaces, people. In the words of Leonardo Brini, ‘this is a story about design, just told differently.’

at the event, there’s a custom LAVA ping-pong table imprinted with Outpump’s logo

as seen, one of the custom LAVA ping-pong tables at Circolo Outpump has a ‘twisted sculpture’ under

visitors can pick up the available rackets and play

the venue’s design evidently modernizes the traditional Italian social club, or circolo

downstairs, visitors can sit on Gio Tirotto’s Ettore chairs

visitors can also play card games using Outpump’s custom-designed decks

view of Outpump’s custom-designed cards

as seen, Gio Tirotto’s Ettore chairs recall the shape of beer pong cups

at the present time, Circolo Outpump has taken place at Milan Design Week 2025

project info:

name: Circolo Outpump

design: Outpump | @outpump

creative direction: Leonardo Brini | @leobrini

art direction: Alessandro Pellegrino | @ale.etc

project manager: Jessica Longhi | @jessica_longhi

tables: LAVA | @lava_project__

chairs: Ettore by Gio Tirotto | @giotirotto

venue: Spazio-Verso

location: Via Paolo Sarpi 42, Milan, Italy

event: Milan Design Week 2025

photography: Serena Eller Vainicher and Francesco Marano of Eller Studio | @serenaeller, @francesco_marano8, @ellerstudio

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During Milan Design Week 2025, Range Rover presents its first-ever installation with a scenography that travels through time from the 1970s to 2025. Set at the historic Piazza Belgioioso, visitors see a 25-meter monolith in the center of the square, adorned with a gold Range Rover motif, when they arrive. Behind it, there’s a gold cube housing the installation for Futurespective: Connected Worlds. A raised platform welcomes them. Once the doors open, the visitors wander into the first leg of the experience, the one that the California-based studio NUOVA staged. Here, the present time filters away, portaling the visitors to a Range Rover car dealership in the 1970s. It’s not an inspo choice for the brand to choose the specific year. It is their founding date, the year it all began for the manufacturer.

During our interview with Will Verity, Range Rover’s Brand Design Chief, he tells us that the idea of time travel for the Milan installation with NUOVA pivots back to Design Miami 2024. ‘We were presenting one of our new bespoke vehicles there, and Nuova was also presenting a 1971 capsule. Then, we started talking about how 1970 is such an important moment for Range Rover, being the founding date, and the 1970s in general. We then talked about how we could do something together where we celebrate Range Rover’s heritage in its past, but also celebrate its future, where we’re moving to, and have this time travel moment between these two time zones, using the vehicles as props within this scenography that celebrates both,’ he says.

all images courtesy of Range Rover | photos by Pietro Cocco

1970s interiors with classic vehicle in original bodywork

The design studio NUOVA captures the 1970s setting of a Range Rover dealership. The moment the doors open, red carpet covers the entire flooring. A classic Range Rover vehicle in its original olive green bodywork greets the visitors. Its windows have no tint, making its seventies interior and raw-like leather cabin skin so visible from the outside. On the left, a wall-to-wall mirror expands the space, creating a moment of distortion: what year is it? Varnished wood clothes the room alongside rich, tactile textures. NUOVA brings over a series of custom furniture pieces: an oxblood red sofa, a circular version of their Enzo table in white Carrara marble, desk chairs.

It’s not the 1970s corporate setup without a fish tank, archival artifacts, and original sketches from the Range Rover design process. A song from the era plays in the background, muffled by a static that’s reminiscent of the radios crooning in the wild afternoon or intimate dinner. The smell of old dollar bills and leather sprays across the room, courtesy of Grand Rose, an incense-like fragrance. It’s an interactive theater, too. Actors wear 1970s workwear and British fashion by LA-based luxury garment atelier L’Equip. They converse with the visitors, asking them questions and answering inquiries, living through the past without an idea of the modern world outside the wooden room.

the first room revives a Range Rover car dealership in the 1970s

Future filled with pillars of mirror and rebuffed car

Then, it’s time to head to the future. There’s a single door separating 1970 and 2025. One of the actors announces the departure from the past. They thank the visitors, and as soon as they open the door to the next space, white light, ambient sounds, and a custom cool scent, Wet Stone, flood in. The time travel that Range Rover imagines for its installation in Milan has begun. In this capsule, every furniture piece from the past, as well as the decorative objects and the previous room’s earthliness, disappears. What remains is the use of mirrors.

Instead of extending from wall to wall, it comes through as pillars. They stand equally spaced from one another in an open circle, ceremoniously surrounding the rebuffed classic Range Rover, blessing the modernized take within a contemporary ground. White stones pile below the visitors’ feet, constructing the amorphous floor. A strong white beam showers upon them from a large box of light on the ceiling. The ambiance feels pared back, away from any objects that dominate the wood-cladded space of the 1970s setup. Realization dawns: this is how studio NUOVA and Range Rover interpret the future.

objects reminiscing the 1970s Range Rover dealership form part of the installation

It’s not easy to maintain the heritage and history of Range Rover as a brand, and Will Verity reflects on this very challenge. There have been several generations of Range Rover to date, he says, but the vehicles’ proportions still keep their build familiar and traditional. The brand design chief admits, however, that they’ve refined the designs to their essence, cutting off unnecessary visual excess that has dominated their language in the past. 

‘For us, the translation, what we’re trying to say, is that when you see the 1970s vehicle, it has a design language within the product itself. When you move to today, our vehicles share the same DNA, the same philosophy, and the same design language, but it’s looked at through the lens of modernism, through the lens of contemporary design practice. There is the same visual language within our products today, but that’s taken through everything we tried to create, going through the lens of trying to be as productive as possible, putting modernity at its heart,’ he tells us.

leather interior of the classic Range Rover vehicle in 1970s

It has taken Range Rover a lot of time before they produced an installation marking their history and documenting the facets of their vehicles that remain the same. When asked about this postponed timeline for entering into the installation industry, Will Verity says that the brand is going through a transitional moment. ‘We’re moving from Land Rover as a brand to having four distinct brands within Range Rover, Discovery, Defender, and Jaguar as part of the family. Because of that, we need to find new ways to have a voice independent from the wider group, stand on each brand’s own two feet, and find ways to communicate,’ he shares with us.

Now that the brand has had a taste of the artistic, scenographic, and experiential flair during Milan Design Week 2025, the Range Rover family plans to continue exploring this path. ‘I think we’d like to,’ says Will Verity. ‘We’re continuing our relationship with Design Miami in the US. We’d love to come back every year and show here as well in Milan. It’s been a great learning opportunity to come and do our first one. There are a lot of takeaways that we’d like to evolve over the next 20 years.’ 

the vehicle retains its original Olive Green bodywork

a door separates the nostalgic 1970s from the futuristic 2025

pillars of glass surround the rebuffed vehicle

the mirror reflects the exterior of the vehicle throughout the installation

boarding pass given to the visitors before the enter the installation

blue color scheme for the imagined futuristic 2025

the mirrored pillars stand equally spaced from one another

project info:

name: Futurespective: Connected Worlds

car manufacturer: Range Rover | @rangerover

studio: NUOVA | @nuovagroup

brand design chief: Will Verity | @willverity

photography: Pietro Cocco | @pietro_cocco

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The Hot Wheels Ferrari car series makes a comeback after more than five decades, with die-cast models of a Fiat 642 RN2 Bartoletti Transporter and a remote-controlled Ferrari SF90 Stradale that goes through loops. During the unveiling designboom attends in the Ferrari factory at Maranello, Italy, Roberto Stanichi, the executive vice president of Hot Wheels and head of vehicles and building sets at Mattel, says that the last time the two brands collaborated was back in 1969 for the Ferrari 312P. In the venue, four glass cases reveal the 11 recent Hot Wheels Ferraris in the collection. One of them includes the revived and upgraded 312P.

Part of the collection is the duo Hot Wheels Premium Ferrari 250 GTO and Fiat 642 RN2 Bartoletti Transporter. The firetruck-looking model is historically known for transporting Ferraris to racetracks. At the unveiling, designboom interviews Ted Wu, the global head of design for Hot Wheels, who tells us why they’ve decided to produce the transporter for the recent Hot Wheels Ferrari car series. ‘In our series, we have what we call the Team Transport models, which are transport vehicles, like haulers. With Ferrari, we wanted to do a transport that is on-brand and feels like it belongs. There’s also a long history between Fiat and Ferrari, as the transporter is the one that actually takes the racing cars to the tracks, so that one just made sense to us,’ he says.

499p Modificata | all images courtesy of Hot Wheels and Ferrari

Debut of the remote-controlled SF90 stradale

It’s also the first time in the Hot Wheels Ferrari series to have a playable, remote-controlled car in the form of the SF90 Stradale. ‘We have it in both the die-cast model and the RC version,’ Ted Wu shares with us. ‘With the RC model, it’s got the ability to go through loops. It has a 320 miles per hour scale speed and has a radio control installed in the car, but at 1:64th scale. We have other RC models in this scale, but this is our first remote-controlled Ferrari.’ 

The head designer adds that the team needs to make modifications for the specific model because of how tight it is and to fit all the electronics inside the 1:64-scaled model of the sports car. Luckily, the adjustments allow the design team to also improve the speed of the RC version, making it its fastest Hot Wheels model so far of its kind. Alongside the SF90 Stradale, the Hot Wheels Ferrari cars series recreates some of the Italian car manufacturer’s iconic models in 1:64 scales. There’s F40 Competizione, the sports car intended to race at Le Mans instead of the F40 LM. Then, there’s 365 GTB4 Competizione. It has taken home the crown at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Daytona 24 Hours. 

side view of the 499p Modificata

Hot wheels develop the cars using ferrari’s color palettes

The series isn’t complete without the Ferrari 499P. It marks a historic return to endurance racing for Ferrari. Then, the F50 that combines Formula 1-inspired technology with a street-legal roadster design. The Hot Wheels Ferrari series includes the scaled version of LaFerrari, the mild hybrid sports car of the manufacturer. As a cherry on top, the brand brings back the 312p. It’s the first-ever Hot Wheels Ferrari car released in 1969. It features a design with a silver-plate red Spectraflame paint and Neo-Classics Redline wheels. Beside it is the 499p. It has raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, sporting a silver-plate red Spectraflame paint and 10-spoke Real Riders wheels.

Our conversation with Ted Wu progresses to the materials Hot Wheels uses to produce the recent Ferrari cars series. He explains that the base materials are the same, meaning die-cast and even plastic for some of the models. ‘But there are a lot of things we’ve done, specifically for Ferrari,’ says Hot Wheels’ Global Head of Design. ‘For example, the color. Ferrari has 15 shades of red. We wanted to get the colors right, so we actually added shades to our existing palettes, like Rosso Corsa and Rosso Scuderia, to match the colors of the real-life models to the series. Then, for the 312p and 499p Modificata, they’ve got this special flair, which is essentially a shiny, candy-coated paint.’

return of the 312p model

The design team wants to get the colors right for the Hot Wheels Ferrari series. In fact, they’ve developed a paint process for some specific models like the 312p and 499p Modificata. Ted Wu tells designboom that they silver plate the scaled models first before putting the paints on. The result gives the cars a brighter, coated paint compared to when they don’t subject them to this process. ‘To be very transparent, it actually costs more to do it, but again, we wanted to do justice for this partnership,’ he says. 

Aside from the new process, the design team has also developed another way to put the cars together throughout the Hot Wheels products. One of them is a new latching system that lets them add details on the already-miniscule side mirrors. It has taken Hot Wheels and Ferrari more than five decades to revive their collaboration. Ted Wu shares that while ‘it sort of ended back then,’ restarting it allows them to look back and pay homage. In this way, when the current fans own the cars from the series, they see history, respun using the new techniques and color shades to establish a new kind of legacy.

the first-ever Ferrari 312p came out in 1969

view of the Hot Wheels Ferrari Heritage Set with 499p Modificata and 312p

all images courtesy of Hot Wheels and Ferrari

Ferrari SF90 Stradale

view of the 499p model

view of the Hot Wheels Ferrari F40 Competizione

Hot Wheels Ferrari 365 GTB4 Competizione

Ferrari 250 GTO on top of Fiat 642 RN2 Bartoletti Transporter

project info:

name: Hot Wheels Ferrari

brand: Hot Wheels | @hotwheelsofficial

company: Mattel | @mattel

car manufacturer: Ferrari | @ferrari

global head of design: Ted Wu | @wuhou

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