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Not content with just being an exhibitor, this season the most stylish telly played a starring role as an Associated Partner, popping up throughout the fair. At visitor hubs, the generous 40inch monitor was used to display key announcements, events and visitor information.

For those seeking to rest their feet (it’s hard work hunting down the best new design) the Serif was also installed in the Tesla lounge, holding its own among the directional stand architecture and Noé Duchaufour Lawrance’s Borghese sofa.

The most important date in the design calendar, Milan Design Week sees over 300,000 visitors from all parts of the world, descend on the city for more than 1,000 events, product launches, talks and workshops. It’s busy, buzzy and bursting with trends that will come to define the year ahead.

An overhead view of the Samsung installation

Taking inspiration from the Galaxy S8’s seamless curved design, the award-winning studio of the late architect Zaha Hadid, famed for creating dynamic show-stopping structures, has created a completely bespoke interior. Meanwhile collaborators Universal Everything, who’ve worked with everyone from Chanel to Radiohead, has developed a mesmerizing interactive digital installation including create-your-own avatars that bring to life the Galaxy design philosophy. Be sure to pop along and join in the fun.     

The exhibition UNCONFINED: The New Galaxy S8 Design is at BASE, Via Tortona 54, Milan 20144, from 4-9 April, 10am-9pm.

(Images from top) The Whitworth Tapestry, 1967 Courtesy The Whitworth, University of Manchester. Fun Fair, 1947. Courtesy Government Art Collection. All images ©Trustees of the Paolozzi Foundation, licensed by DACS.

After studying art in Edinburgh and London, Paolozzi moved to Paris in 1947, where he met and was inspired by leading figures of the avant-garde including Giacometti, Arp and Leger.  A fascination with primitive art and anthropology is seen in this early collage work, with figures that look like African nail-riven fetish figures.

Cocktail Dress for Horrockses Fashions, 1953. Photograph by Norwyn Ltd. Courtesy the Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston.

A pioneer of collage, Paolozzi was seldom without a pair of scissors at hand, to cut out and reassemble patterns, shapes and objects that intrigued him. He delighted in the energy of juxtaposing images from nature to machines and applied this approach beyond the picture frame into textiles, tapestries, ceramics, book covers, record sleeves, films and sculpture.

Diana as a Engine 1, 1963-6. Courtesy British Council Collection.

Eduardo’s voracious appetite for American popular culture, from sci-fi comics to colourful, brash advertising came to life in his tower scuptures from the early 1960s. The mythically named ‘Diana as an Engine 1’ is a retrofuturistic assemblage that’s part fire hydrant, part Dalek, dolled up in a funfair palette.

“Never one to be told what to do, Paolozzi broke all conventions of art and consistently reinvented himself and his work”, says curator Daniel F. Herrmann “and at times the inventiveness is overwhelming”.

Wittgenstein in New York (from the As is When portfolio), 1965. Courtesy Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

An ingenious but irreverent printmaker, Paolozzi really hit his stride with his print portfolios. The first, his ‘As Is When’ collection, combined collaged elements with zingy pop patterns and a punchy palette, but was inspired by his hero, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. It’s this experimental mix of the high and lowbrow that makes his work so relevant to today’s artists.

Tottenham Court Road Underground Station. Courtesy Transport for London.

If you can’t make it to London before the show ends, you can always view one of Paolozzi’s most iconic works along the station platforms at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station. The glass mosaics originally installed in 1986 were recently restored, capturing the colour, creativity and energy of his signature scheme and the streets above, which inspired them.

The exhibition continues until 14 May.