From Ventura Projects 2019, Rapt Studio’s “Tell Me More.”
Image courtesy of: Dezeen
For over ten years, Ventura Projects has held onto the title of “must see” during the Milan Design Week. The program originally started in 2010 under the name of Ventura Lambrate. Back then, the projects transformed a former industrial site in Milan’s outer reaches into a vibrant and exciting new design district.
Seven years later, the program was rebranded as Ventura Centrale and moved locales to several cavernous and vaulted warehouses that sit underneath the railroad tracks which lead into Milano Centrale Railway Station. Each reiteration was met with an immense amount of enthusiasm and critical acclaim… sadly, 2019 was their last installation that people would see.
An exhibition by NOROO Group.
Image courtesy of: Dezeen, photographed by: Claudio Grassie
When Salone del Mobile was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Margriet Vollenberg, Ventura Projects’ founder, announced that they would end operations due to the cancellation and an unknown future. Claiming that the projects were no longer financially feasible, Vollenberg had no choice but to end the program.
Vollenberg said (courtesy of Surface Magazine), “It is with great sorrow that I’ve had to witness how the corona crisis has hit the entire world and event and design industry, and thus, my company. I spent many sleepless nights worrying about whether and how I could save or transform my company to adjust to a new normal to still be able to serve the design world and enable the talent as we have always done.” However, that was not possible.
“May I Have Your Attention Please” by Maarten Baas
Image courtesy of: Surface Magazine
Ventura Projects had long served as a launchpad for international talent and it offered once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to design concepts that might have not been given a chance to be viewed elsewhere. Maarten Baas, creator of the award-winning installation called “May I have Your Attention, Please?” said, “They gave color to Milan Design Week and visitors knew they could expect something good. With the loss of Ventura Projects, a great catalyst has been lost.” Baas speaks from personal experience as his installation won an award for the project. His installation filled one of Milano Centrale Railway Station’s 16 warehouses with new chairs for Lensvelt and megaphones that echoed a chorus of soft whispers for a more dramatic effect.
“Pyrae/Strata” by Luca Nichetto and Ben Gorham. This 2017 installation was a collaboration with the glassmaker Salviati and perfumer, Ben Gorham. The installation included 53 totem poles created out of 23,000+ sheets of glass in order to re-examine the potential of traditional glasswork.
Image courtesy of: Surface Magazine
Vollenberg has been involved with the fair for twenty-one years. For ten years, she served as an organizer and coordinator during Milan Design Week and for the past eleven years, she served as art director of Ventura Projects where she focused on providing a forum for international artists and helping to launch their projects.
Vollenberg was supported by two separate teams, one in the Netherlands and one in Italy. The exhibitors that presented under Ventura Projects were given promotions and valuable guidance… whatever attention and exposure they and Vollenberg deemed necessary.
A 2019 display by Jordan Artisan.
Image courtesy of: Dezeen, photographed by: Max L. Volonte
Over the past eleven years, Ventura Projects has worked with more than 7,000 exhibitors. There were three separate Ventura Projects: Ventura Lambrate took place in Milan’s Lambrate District in 2010 and helped to rejuvenate the crumbling area; in 2018, Ventura Centrale and Ventura Future were presented in other parts of the city.
Coincidently, the company also curated design events elsewhere throughout the world, including London, New York City, Dubai, and Berlin. It was an amazing opportunity to match upcoming designers with already established labels and brands.