type: research / education
a project by:Davide Fabio Colaci, Michèle Lavagna and Lola Ottolini
with Lorenzo Cellini, Riccardo Ferrari, Chiara Lionello, Gregorio Minelli Vacchi,
Giulia Novati and Paola Ostellino with the students of the Interior Design Studio at Politecnico di Milano
photos by Giovanni Hänninen, Filippo Rispoli and Riccardo Momesso
video interview by Filippo Rispoli
a special thanks to Amalia Ercoli Finzilocation: Laboratorio LaST Politecnico di Milano - Milan
year: 2024
photo: Giovanni Hänninen + Filippo Rispoli
Outer space has always represented an “other place” — a realm for experimentation, design, and imagination, where humanity has found the possibility of breaking free from the rules of the world. The space race, from Sputnik to the upcoming return to the Moon, has continuously pushed technological culture to unimaginable limits, shaping the present with discoveries, inventions, and challenges — both scientific and philosophical — that have the power to radically transform our lives.
The exhibition-event "Spazio allo Spazio. For the Next Larger Context" stages this complexity through a cross-disciplinary investigation by fifty students from the Interior Architecture design studio. In collaboration with Nolostand – Fiera Milano, and the Departments of Architecture and Urban Studies and Aerospace Science and Technology at Politecnico di Milano, the students have reinterpreted the history, present, and future of "outer space" as a metaphor for "terrestrial space."
The exhibition is divided into two sections, set up within LaST, the Transport Safety Laboratory, along its 120-meter crash-test sled track.
The first section features thirty “marginal notes,” arranged in a form of free association. These are brief annotations capturing observations or reflections — events, objects, thoughts, and images — that highlight the points of contact between design culture and Space in its broadest context.
a project by:Davide Fabio Colaci, Michèle Lavagna and Lola Ottolini
with Lorenzo Cellini, Riccardo Ferrari, Chiara Lionello, Gregorio Minelli Vacchi,
Giulia Novati and Paola Ostellino with the students of the Interior Design Studio at Politecnico di Milano
photos by Giovanni Hänninen, Filippo Rispoli and Riccardo Momesso
video interview by Filippo Rispoli
a special thanks to Amalia Ercoli Finzilocation: Laboratorio LaST Politecnico di Milano - Milan
year: 2024
photo: Giovanni Hänninen + Filippo Rispoli
Outer space has always represented an “other place” — a realm for experimentation, design, and imagination, where humanity has found the possibility of breaking free from the rules of the world. The space race, from Sputnik to the upcoming return to the Moon, has continuously pushed technological culture to unimaginable limits, shaping the present with discoveries, inventions, and challenges — both scientific and philosophical — that have the power to radically transform our lives.
The exhibition-event "Spazio allo Spazio. For the Next Larger Context" stages this complexity through a cross-disciplinary investigation by fifty students from the Interior Architecture design studio. In collaboration with Nolostand – Fiera Milano, and the Departments of Architecture and Urban Studies and Aerospace Science and Technology at Politecnico di Milano, the students have reinterpreted the history, present, and future of "outer space" as a metaphor for "terrestrial space."
The exhibition is divided into two sections, set up within LaST, the Transport Safety Laboratory, along its 120-meter crash-test sled track.
The first section features thirty “marginal notes,” arranged in a form of free association. These are brief annotations capturing observations or reflections — events, objects, thoughts, and images — that highlight the points of contact between design culture and Space in its broadest context.
The second section consists of six installations inspired by the foundational themes of the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), titled *"Responsible Space for Sustainability"*, which took place in Milan in October 2024:
1. Earth Observation
2. Space Exploration
3. Space Transportation
4. Space Weather
5. Safety and Space Debris
6. In-orbit Servicing & Space Robotics
1. Earth Observation
2. Space Exploration
3. Space Transportation
4. Space Weather
5. Safety and Space Debris
6. In-orbit Servicing & Space Robotics
These six original and contemporary perspectives aim to offer the general public a deeper understanding — through narrative and exhibit design — of cultural contexts that may seem distant, but are profoundly connected to our lives on planet Earth, to our present, and above all, to our future.