Borders are often controversial and rarely flexible, but Ma Yansong of MAD has playfully reinterpreted them with his installation for the 2016 Salone del Mobile in Milan. “Borders are usually seen as something closed and unapproachable but I think it’s interesting to make borders attractive, dynamic and engaging," Yansong said about his 'Invisible Border' installation, which strings strands of EFTE across the Cortile d’Onore courtyard. "So we decided to play with the border between the historical loggias and the garden in front of it, and design a transition in-between them.”

Part shelter, part fragmented contemplation site for the sky above, the strands emit a whistling sound in the wind, and are designed to provide a surface for illumination at night (with lighting provided by iGuzzini Illuminazione). 

“Our installation blurs the boundaries between the traditional and the contemporary. You see the difference in each end, but the transition is very organic," Yansong continued. "It’s like we open up a conversation between the past and the present.”

This "Open Borders" exhibition runs through April 23rd, 2016.