“What’s the use of a design studio if you spend the whole day in there and have no contact with the world?” Davide Colla, one of the 150UP founders, asks a rhetorical question because he and his colleagues have already found the answer. “It’s called ‘the open doors design studio’ right because our aim is to put the public in touch with design. Something that doesn’t happen frequently, especially not on a daily basis.
Photo by Alice Gemignani
To have a constant dialogue with the people our projects are designed for, we have decided to keep our studio in the rear and turn the front into a bar where people can come for breakfast, lunch, or spend the day working here – hoping that in the meantime we also manage to have a chat with them. It’s quite common that people knock at our door because they’re intrigued by the posters or postcards they see in the bar and then we spend three hours talking. This structure works particularly well when we organize small events to launch a product: it’s a way to skip the inconveniences and present our project directly to the people it’s designed for. This way we become a real bridge between our clients and their target.
Photo by Alice Gemignani
The idea of opening such a place came when Davide was working in Germany, and next to his co-working studio there was a place like this: “I loved the idea, because a studio always needs to be connected to people, so the projects you design stay connected to reality.” He then brought this “format” to his town. “There’s no other place in the world I would rather be. We feel good in this dimension, we love the neighborhood. We opened our studio in Isola because at the time it was a hip area, without being snob, a place where we felt at ease. Now it’s constantly growing, all around here there are a lot of beautiful design studios opening. It’s a bit like an Italian Shoreditch, without being unaffordable like the original Shoreditch”.
Photo by Alice Gemignani
If you happen to be in Isola with your laptop and you don’t know where to go working, just know that in Via Medardo Rosso there’s a place where the door is always open for you.
Photo by Alice Gemignani
150UP – The Open Doors Design Studio
Via Medardo Rosso 16, Milano
☎︎ 02 8945 2576
Open
Mon-Fri 10-19
Metro M5, M3 Zara
Bus 70 via Farini via Alserio
Tram 2, 4 via Farini via Alserio
Tram 33 via Porro Lambertenghi
