PORTAL at Milan Design Week: Robotics and AI Reinvent Sustainable Furniture Design
In the former SNIA factory, now repurposed as Alcova space, a 15-foot robotic arm was writing the future of design during Milan Design Week 2025. PORTAL, the exhibition presented by Decibel, transformed the space into a workshop of tomorrow, where 10 pieces of furniture were printed live using recycled materials, fusing art, technology, and sustainability in every layer of polymer. 🤖♻️
"We're not just printing chairs, we're coding a new language of responsible manufacturing" - PORTAL Curator
Technology that Sculpts the Future
The heart of the exhibition:
- Industrial robotic arm printing at architectural scale
- Generative AI collaborating with designers like Karim Rashid
- Vizcom + Caracol: From concept to physical object in hours
- Live streaming of the 3D printing process
Sustainability in Every Layer
The ecological commitment:
- 100% recycled materials: Polymers from industrial waste
- Circular economy: Pieces are 100% recyclable
- Local production: Zero transportation footprint
- Generative design: Material optimization used
AI: The New Design Apprentice
The role of artificial intelligence:
- Generative sketches as a creative starting point
- Impossible morphologies with traditional methods
- Rapid iterations based on sustainable parameters
- Digital bridge between idea and manufacturing
So while the robotic arm wove furniture layer by layer, PORTAL also wove a new narrative: where furniture design is no longer drawn, it is programmed; where waste is raw material, and where the factory fits into an algorithm. The future has arrived... and it comes with an ecological certificate. 🌱✨
P.S.: Attendees confessed to spending more time watching the printing than drinking Aperol Spritz... and that's saying a lot in Milan.