Milan, May 19 2022 - Running in parallel to Milan’s Salone del Mobile, Prada Frames is a multidisciplinary symposium that delves into the complex relationship between the natural environment and design.

The initiative is a moment of collective reflection that aims at examining andcorrelating innovative thoughts, while offering a pioneering body of knowledge. The approach taken by Prada Frames is scientific and, at the same time, educational and informative. The symposium is curated by Formafantasma, a research and design studio based in Milan and Rotterdam, that focuses on design’s historical, political, and social implications. Formafantasma also applies a critical approach to materials and their use in production processes.

In line with the progressive and increasingly significant relationship between environmental studies and all fields of knowledge and culture, Prada Frames brings together the valuable contribution of scholars and professionals, such as scientists, architects, designers, artists, activists, anthropologists and law experts.

The first edition of the symposium starts from the ecosystem of the forest and the logics that govern the timber industry today, extending this thought to the role of design and science as agents of change.

From June 6th to 8th, in the National Braidense Library in Milan, Prada Frames will present two sessions per day that include readings, debates, conversations, and video projections with the participation, among others, of Amitav Ghosh, Eyal Weizman, Anna Tsing and the Feral Atlas, Paola Antonelli, Alice Rawsthorn, Paulo Tavares, Andrés Jaque and Valerie Trouet.

The event is free, subject to availability, upon registration on prada.com starting from May 28.


#PradaFrames

MONDAY 6 JUNE 2022

SESSION 1: CONTEXTUALIZING
Session 1 introduces the forest as a living being and the camera as a mediator, in the understanding of plants as sentient beings. The session also highlights how architectural knowledge can be applied as a forensic tool.

11:00 AM audience registration
11:30 AM start
SOPHIE CHAO
TERESA CASTRO
EYAL WEIZMAN with REBECCA LEWIN
Q&A
1:00 PM end of session

SESSION 2: NARRATING
Session 2 displays an historical overview of the relationship between humans, forests, and timber, highlighting local models of production and care. The session also presents the complexities of narrating the climate crisis.

2:00 PM audience registration
2:30 PM start
DAN HANDEL
PAOLA ANTONELLI and MARIANNE
GOEBL with FORMAFANTASMA
AMITAV GHOSH with ELVIRA DYANGANI
OSE
Q&A
4:30 PM end of session

TUESDAY 7 JUNE 2022

SESSION 3: DESIGNING
Session 3 presents the works of architects, curators and design students that embrace an expansive attitude toward design and actively redefine the relationship between materials and ecosystems.

11:00 AM audience registration
11:30 AM start
ANDRÉS JAQUE
GEODESIGN STUDENTS (AYLA KEKHIA, CONNOR COOK, YASSINE BEN ABDALLAH)
ROTOR
PAOLA ANTONELLI and ALICE
RAWSTHORN with FORMAFANTASMA
Q&A
1:00PM end of session

SESSION 4: SENSING
Session 4 explores different modes of sensing the forest through smell, sound, and the anatomy of wood. The session also looks at the complexity of designing with more-than-human species.

2:00 PM audience registration
2:30 PM start
SISSEL TOLAAS and DAVID MONACCHI with BEATRICE LEANZA
VALERIE TROUET
GERALD KOCH with FORMAFANTASMA
ALEXANDRA DAISY GINSBERG with
ALICE RAWSTHORN
Q&A
4:30 PM end of session

WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE 2022

SESSION 5: GOVERNING
Session 5 introduces wood as carbon storage, while highlighting the criticalities connected to carbon offsetting, the governance of natural ecosystems and the political forces shaping forests.

11:00 AM audience registration
11:30 AM start
STEFANO BOERI
PHILIPP PATTBERG and NIKLAS
KASKEALA with FORMAFANTASMA
PAULO TAVARES with BEATRICE
LEANZA
Q&A
1:00 PM end of session

SESSION 6: INHABITING
Session 6 introduces modes of inhabiting and responsibly sourcing materials from the forest. The session also brings forward forestal indigenous knowledge and ‘feral dynamics’.

2:00 PM audience registration
2:30 PM start
URSULA BIEMANN
CAVE BUREAU
EWERK LUCKENWALDE
ANNA TSING and FEIFEI ZHOU with
ARIC CHEN
4:30 PM end of session