How do you truly commit to circularity?

During the Milan Design Week 2023, V‑ZUG and Monocle hosted a series of intimate conversations on the future of design and production. Headlined by top names in the design and architecture industry, the V‑ZUG x Monocle Talk series unpacks how we can improve quality of life through circularity. Join Monocle’s Tyler Brûlé and Andrew Tuck for two compelling discussions at Museo Poldi Pezzoli.

A conversation with Caroline Bos, Alexandra Hagen and Carla Sozzani

Caroline Bos

Caroline Bos studied history of art at Birkbeck College of the University of London and urban and regional planning at the University of Utrecht. In 1998 she co-founded UNStudio, which presents itself as a network of specialists in architecture, urban development and infrastructure. The studio’s completed projects include the restructuring of Arnhem station and the mixed-use Raffles City in Hangzhou. A regular guest lecturer, Bos also spent a year as the Norman R Foster Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale School of Architecture in 2021.

Alexandra Hagen

A graduate of Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, Alexandra Hagen joined White Arkitekter in 2000 and became its CEO in 2018. The employee-owned practice, founded in Sweden, consists of 700 professionals specialising in sustainable architecture, design and urban development; it aims to ensure that all of its projects are climate neutral by 2030. Hagen is also a board member of Malmö University, the Sweden Green Building Council and the Federation of Swedish Innovation Companies (FSIC).

Carla Sozzani

In 1990, this former editor at Vogue Italia and Elle opened the Galleria Carla Sozzani in Milan, an exhibition space and bookshop devoted to photography, art, design and fashion. The following year she founded 10 Corso Como, a new concept that changed the retail landscape, promoting the unique Italian aesthetic to an international audience. Sozzani is president of the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa in Paris and also founded her own Fondazione Sozzani in 2016, dedicated to the promotion of culture through the fine and applied arts.

A conversation with Patricia Viel, Llisa Demetrios and Sam Chermayeff

Patricia Viel

Patricia Viel is a French architect who graduated from Politecnico di Milano in 1987. She joined Antonio Citterio and Partners in 2000. Rising to CEO, Patricia Viel has overseen architecture and interior design projects while being actively involved in the management of the company which is now named ACPV Architects: Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel. Aside from the practice, Viel was a member of the board of advisors of Milan’s Istituto Nazionale di Architettura InArch and regularly takes part in international panels and conferences as a speaker.

Llisa Demetrios

Llisa Demetrios is a third-generation maker, following in the footsteps of her creative legacy as the youngest granddaughter of Ray and Charles Eames. Llisa leads the Eames Institute as chief curator and has previous experience as an archivist at New York’s MoMA. She has dedicated her life to keeping the Eames name at the forefront of design through her many endeavours. In addition to this, Llisa is a passionate bronze sculptor and on the board of directors for California’s Petaluma Arts Center.

Sam Chermayeff

Sam Chermayeff is an architect, designer and teacher undertaking projects worldwide. Trained in architecture at the University of Texas at Austin and the Architectural Association, London, Sam is a founding partner and director in the architecture firm June 14 Meyer-Grohbrügge & Chermayeff and Sam Chermayeff Office. With offices in New York and Berlin, the studios work on a wide range of design driven projects ranging from larger multiunit residential buildings in Berlin, several small houses in New York and furniture all over. Sam began his architectural career at SANAA / Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa where he worked for five years on an array of projects across built and curatorial work including the 2009 Serpentine Pavilion and the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale. He has taught at Columbia GSAAP, MSA Münster, The Royal College of Art, DIA, Dessau, Cornell University and the Architectural Association.