Los Angeles-based design collective RIOS presents Superbloom, an immersive and joyful exhibition bringing Southern California blooms to Milan, Italy. Read on.
RIOS designs Superbloom, a tantalizing multisensorial journey through colors, scents, and sounds as a tribute to the natural and rare phenomenon of a super bloom.
“RIOS is an international multidisciplinary design collective. We are passionate believers that design is an act of optimism and can be a conduit for creating harmony in the awareness of places, people, and cultures,” says Sebastian Salvadó, Creative Director and Partner at RIOS. “We look forward to inviting visitors to our debut Milan exhibition Superbloom. They can join us in an immersive experience inspired by our local desert bloom, which every year inspires people to come together in a joyous engagement with nature.”
Superbloom exhibition welcomes visitors to a vivid sensory-filled event that orients them through three rooms, each building a crescendo of activity as one approaches the final space. These rooms create simulations of biological processes such as the watering, propagation, and blooming of wildflowers, a phenomenon globally but particularly spectacular in Southern California, where RIOS is based.
Rain Room, Sprout Room, Bloom Room
As visitors experience the exhibition, they journey through the Rain Room, which sets the stage for blooms in nature. An earthy aroma and track of arrhythmic tones and echoes simulate falling rain.
In the distance, the Sun invites visitors to the Sprout Room, which transitions one to the fresh air and greenery, that has not yet matured. Colors shift from deep to bright, dappled sounds fade into a wild field, and scents are aromatic, woody, and fresh. Rio Benches, designed by RIOS in collaboration with Janus et Cie, are positioned throughout to offer a moment of respite.
Visitors are welcomed to an otherworldly dimension as they approach the Bloom Room. Filled with vibrant floral installations and scents that evoke a joyful experience reflective of nature’s reemergence and the concentration of energy of the Superbloom. The Bloom Room is the space of being “reborn,” where projected images and play on light are accompanied by melodic music.
“The inspiration of our exhibition is to connect people and unite the audience of Milan Design Week in a shared experience in recognition that moments of gathering, like those of a Superbloom, no matter how fleeting, can be powerful for making community,” says Salvadó.
RIOS’ Superbloom exhibition runs from June 6 – 12th and extends through July.
Address: Viale Umbria 49, 20135 Milan, MM Metro 3, stop Lodi TIBB
After the design week, thanks to Milan-based design agency Esther Burton, the exhibition items will be donated to ‘Ai.Bi. Associazione Amici dei Bambini’, a non-profit association fighting child neglect in Italy and worldwide as well as supporting refugee Ukrainian mums with their kids in Italy. Superbloom’s colors will bring joy to the playrooms of local welcoming centers.
About RIOS
RIOS is an international design collective working beyond boundaries to inventively combine disciplines and amplify the impact of design. Combined, their talents comprise a wide range of professional skills including architecture, landscape, urban planning, interior design, video, graphics and signage, experiential, and product design. Their projects are diverse, including commercial, civic, hospitality, institutional, and residential.
Recently completed projects by RIOS include Spotify’s Content Campus, the headquarters of GoodRx, the Jardin de la Réciprocité at the prestigious International Garden Festival Domaine du Chaumont-Sur-Loire, and the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine.
RIOS Press / MAP Design Communication
Photos © Matteo Cirenei
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