Far away from the madding crowds of shoppers Marni offered the tired locals and visitors of Milan Design Week the chance to have a rest in the courtyard of its flagship boutique on via della Spiga. The courtyard was transformed for the occasion into a green parlour that tried to recapture the atmosphere of a corner of Milan’s public parks and private gardens with medicinal and kitchen plants in polka dot pots. Tables and chairs made of recycled bases invited the tired shoppers and design fans to sit down and rest for a while surrounded by sounds from nature and images of butterflies, water and blossoming trees created by film artist Sara Rossi.

“We wanted to focus on design interpreted as the environment that surrounds you,” Marni Creative Director Consuelo Castiglioni told Dazed Digital, “We chose plants belonging to the Milanese memories, which, after the Salone del Mobile, will be donated to schools and to green public space restoration in the city. The title of the installation - ‘The first and last stop of anywhere – a temporary garden’ - reflects our brand’s aesthetic by using distinctive Marni design elements, such as polka dot motifs for flower pot holders or quirky furniture pieces wrapped with PVC stripes, and by creating a playful atmosphere. Plants and walls are animated through the video projections of Sara Rossi, a Milanese artist. We found that her colourful vision and images would just fit perfectly into our ‘unexpected’ garden.”

Marni’s boutique is in via Spiga 50, Milan