The 2015 Milan Expo is just around the corner, and participating in the event this year is Be Open, an international foundation working in the fields of design and creativity. Last Monday the foundation unveiled their Garden of Wonders exhibit at the Botanical Gardens of Brera. The project’s central theme is perfume and the re-interoperation of now defunct luxury brands.
Divided into three separate areas, the installations will include an educational piece called A Journey Through Scent which chronicles the history of perfume and fragrance, eight Houses of Wonders filled with designers’ interpretations of the bygone perfume brands and A Vision in a Box, an illustration highlighting the importance of packaging.
"Those like me who have always dealt with business believe that the relationship between creativity and enterprise is always a stimulating, groundbreaking subject. The chance given by EXPO 2015 and Fuorisalone to see the world in a single city is definitely unmissable,” explains Be Open’s Founder Yelena Baturina in a statement. “We created ‘Made in...’ in order to examine the relationship between design and quality small-to-medium enterprises carefully, considering all experiences and to offer a different way of looking at the global market and suggesting solutions for the future."
Taking attendees through an olfactory experience, the first section of art will be part of a small-scale museum that introduces the subjects in their most basic forms. Created by various designers, the eight casitas will focus on reinventing the forgotten brands of Guyla, Biette, Lundborg, Bertelli, Waldes et Spol, Boissard, Bertif and R.Koehler & Co. Founder of Histoire de Parfums also created a unique fragrance to combine the historic perfumes with the artist’s visual impact. Lastly, the Vision in a Box showcase will be held in a special pavilion and will feature “bottles designed by renowned designers inspired by the shapes which will contain the fragrance of the future.”
The project was overseen by Ferruccio Laviani, who ensured that all parts connected with their surroundings and each other. The free exhibit will run through May 24, 2015.
