Milan Design Week 2016
After its success at the Lodz Design Festival, the interactive "Sensorial Carpentry" exhibition was presented on the international stage during the most prestigious design week (12-17 April). We moved the Barlinek, Tabanda and "Design Alive" workshop, full of forest scents, for seven days to Zona Tortona in Milan, for the international audience to discover the true magic of wood, to test different tools and experience nature with all their senses.
"Sensorial Carpentry" presented wood in a fair and professional, but above all unconventional manner. It let guests feel like true carpenters – to discover wood from a brand new perspective. A unique exhibition space was built for seven days in April at Via Tortona, well known by design lovers and famous for its many showrooms, workshops and design studios. The interactive installation was primarily a workshop with the aroma of wood, which in addition to hundreds of gorgeous tree seedlings featured raw wood and tools. Every visitor could for a moment become a lumberjack, an artist, a designer, put on a plaid shirt and a beard, and get to work.
The workshop attracted crowds from the very first day. The surprised guests immediately began working, hungry for real experience rather than just watching and sightseeing. Zona Tortona is one of the oldest and most famous zones of the Milan design week. Just last year, the initiative attracted 115,000 visitors and presented 180 events from over 20 countries. This is definitely one of the most important design events, during which visitors can view a number of international exhibitions. People there look for a little more excitement than the usual stands, products or catalogues. Visitors expect interaction and positive experiences – emphasises Dorota Karbowska-Zawadzka, Director of Marketing at Barlinek. When preparing for Milan, we knew that our goal was not to distribute thousands of promotional materials, but to encourage people to work with wood, to feel it, smell it, to have a positive experience, and in the end realize that it's Barlinek and completely natural floors. We managed to do this thanks to the cooperation of the Tabanda design group and the "Design Alive" magazine.
The tools prepared for visitors remember many old carpentry workshops and pieces of wood – working with them is like taking a trip back in time. The two-man saw was great, competitive fun. Planes and chisels introduced guests to the successive stages of shaping, dividing and smoothing of the material. Hand drills, sandpaper and carving chisels are tools that made it possible to delve into the details and create a solid finish. The wood from the workshop bears every single detail of our guests' work, so we brought back to Poland a special souvenir from this year's design week.
– This exhibition showed that a meaningful conversation about design does not need to be pompous. It's worth trusting the intelligence of the audience. A plaid shirt and a beard? Why not?! – said Milan guests, among them renowned world designers, architects, interior architects, curators – mentioned Iwona Gach, Director of Marketing at "Design Alive". While having fun, guests of the workshop also discovered with curiosity the deeper "story" of Barlinek – about wood from Polish forests used to manufacture floorboards, about Barlinek sawmills and factories, where each product is treated with respect, as well as the company's commitment to eco-friendly activities. We gave out 1500 seedlings of oak, beech and hornbeam. Visitors browsed through board sample books and asked about the characteristic furniture made by Tabanda, with whom we arranged a press zone.
PThe Barlinek, Tabanda and "Design Alive" workshop, full of forest scents, proved to be a big hit and was a really nice surprise for visitors accustomed to the frequently seen in Milan "don't touch" signs. This time you could do anything, even become a lumberjack with a beard!
