Layered Transparency

The First Geolocated Augmented-Reality Exhibition Made by Custom Landmarkers Technology Held by the School of Design Istituto Marangoni Milano in collaboration with Snapchat

Design culture has always involved material and humanistic content. Today’s rise of virtual scenarios is adding a new variable to the aesthetic equation of design, redefined by the visual paths opened by digital landscapes. The debate starts with whether pixels can be considered the new atoms of products, providing a new material that adds to traditional woods, metal, and plastics designers used to work with.

In recent times we are witnessing a proliferation of augmented-reality designs and virtual objects that furnish our “hybrid” visual landscape, made of virtual and real elements combined. As these intangible but visually perceptible experiences multiply, the issue of their epistemological status – whether they are images or reality or something in between – seems irrelevant, overtaken by the continuous growth of virtual designs whose ethereal digital presence keeps layering on material reality.

Organised by the Istituto Marangoni Milano Design School in collaboration with Snapchat, 'Layered Transparency' is the first exhibition made by the Custom Landmarkers technology that enables to geolocate the elements produced in augmented reality. A selection of projects created by Product Design students has been virtually placed in the streets of the Durini Design District. Visitors can now explore them in different outdoor locations by scanning the special Snapcodes and see the projects through the Snapchat app (and even take a selfie with them!).

Gravità Permanente [Permanent Gravity]

Giorgia Apreia

Chaise longue was designed for the Memphis brand, whose design language of solemnly geometric shapes and bright colours was invented in the Eighties.

Air Whale

Marco Ripani

Air Whale is a seat designed for the Cappellini brand. It is inspired by the profile of a humpback whales’ fin, which guarantees high hydrodynamic performance through its sinusoidal shape.

Saudade

Mariana Prestes

Saudade’ is a Brazilian word but a universal feeling. It evokes the nostalgia that can emerge at any time with a song, a perfume, a place or just a distance.

Pagh

Matteo Agati

Pagh is a stool the size of a chair merging Eastern and Western traditions. Inspired by the cross-legged position of people who meditate, its concept expands on the idea of levitation and lightness.

Phygital

Riccardo Ciofi

This sofa, whose name refers to the hybridisation of physical and digital space, has been designed as a proposal for the Moroso brand. Its modular body simulates asymmetrical elements to recall the aesthetics of murals.

Quinta

Silvio Pompei

Quinta is a sound-absorbing movable room divider designed as a proposal for the Alias brand to meet the new needs of agile workers, whose home space has to be continuously remodelled to switch from a private to a work environment.