Around 5,000 square meters of exhibition space - and that in historic industrial factories whose charm could not go better with the objects on show. The furniture fair in Milan is getting a large new Fuori Salone zone, Ventura Lambrate. At long last say many, who felt that in recent years the quality in Zona Tortona had increasingly been neglected in favor of commercial pursuits. Margo Konings and Margriet Vollenberg had likewise observed this trend, and following a long search found a suitable location for their adventurous plan: The two Dutch design agents from "Organisation in Design" are taking the initiative and creating new premises for experiments and small labels, graduates and galleries: Ventura Lambrate. There is to be a firm emphasis on quality. This also extends to exhibitors who cannot afford the Zona Tortona but who nonetheless have excellent work to show.

At the center of the new design area at Lambrate Metro station is the Via Ventura. All around you find small galleries and exhibition rooms, while the Scuola Politecnica di Design is just around the corner. "We see ourselves as mediators, our role involves a bit of everything," says Margo Konings and points out that although they select the participants of "Ventura Lambrate" they do not overdo their role as art directors. Studio Maarten Baas and the Design Academy Eindhoven, British label Lakingland and various exhibitions such as "Design Dialogues" by the in-residence designers will be on display in Ventura Lambrate. The mixture ranges from design graduates - the London Royal College of Art will show works by students and former students on 900 square meters of exhibition space - through to individual studios, both new and more established, which will make for a lively Ventura Lambrate. There will be familiar names as well as promising newcomers such as Kiki van Eyk, international figures like the Campana brothers, who have worked for the new Italian label Flat Design, and discoveries that will perhaps no longer be unknown after this Salone. At any rate the Lambrate project promises a host of surprises and a fair amount of daring. Which is precisely what the design world in Milan needs.

Text: sandra hofmeister