In a week full of scroll-stopping design, we built the one space people didn’t want to leave.
Together with Seletti, we transformed a Milanese courtyard into a responsive Sensorium Piazza that drew 25,000 guests and held visitors 4x longer than anywhere else.
Merging culture and brand with meaning
We specialise in crafting experiences where brands don’t just show up, they truly belong. Our work at Milan Design Week with a global consumer brand is a strong example of how genuine engagement can live at the intersection of local cultural relevance and commercial ambition.
From concept to custom innovation
At the heart of the experience was a bespoke LED product, engineered exclusively for the Sensorium Piazza. The surface material didn’t exist in Europe, so we collaborated with a specialist partner in China to develop a custom modular LED cube system, that seamlessly integrated with our motion design and spatial architectural.
This wasn’t just design, it was full-stack problem solving. From global sourcing and import navigation to precision build and testing under intense timelines, we brought a never-before-seen solution from concept to reality in just a few months.
Creative direction across every layer
We led the entire production from concept to production but the creative scope was key:
– Spatial architecture and modular scenography
– Dynamic motion design across ten visual chapters
– Ambient soundscapes synchronised with live performances
– Interactive guest experiences and print-on-demand elements
Through a carefully choreographed storytelling system, our sculptural LED environment evolved over time – scenes unfolded, textures shifted, faces appeared and dissolved. The journey culminated in a golden crescendo before fading back into a calm digital sunrise, keeping spectators hooked beyond start to finish.
A space shaped by people
Sensorium Piazza didn’t just invite participation, it evolved with it. Visitors became coauthors of the experience through interactive photo booths that transformed their portraits into digital mosaics, projected live within the installation.
Guests could print their image as a postcard or press it onto a custom tote bag, a tactile keepsake of their moment and contribution to the story. Each interaction was ephemeral but impactful, live for 24 hours before disappearing, turning the experience into a living archive that rewarded curiosity and presence.
Engagement that redefined design week expectations
Where most exhibits during Milan Design Week see constant motion within minutes and quick glances, Sensorium Piazza held attention. Visitors lingered, 10, 15, even 20 minutes. They watched, immersed, explored, contributed.
Thousands of micro engagements turned spectators into participants, redefining what meaningful interaction looks like in a high-traffic cultural setting.
Two events.
One platform
Within the same week, we also hosted two distinct activations:
– An exclusive media preview and VIP showcase, offering an in-depth reveal of the creative and technical layers behind the work.
– A high-energy consumer celebration and party, complete with a surprise live performance by a widely popular Italian pop rock band and an immersive afterhours experience where the Piazza pulsed to a live music set.
An exhibition within
the exhibition
Alongside the main installation, we designed a second space that pulled back the curtain. The exhibition showcased sketches, materials, and creative thinking that shaped Sensorium Piazza – a behind-the-scenes gallery that invited guests to slow down, reflect, and gain a deeper appreciation for the craft behind the spectacle.
Turning everyday sounds into an immersive soundtrack
Our custom-designed soundscape transformed the installation into a living, breathing environment. Inspired by the pulse of an Italian piazza, it blended familiar street sounds, fountain splashes, footsteps, distant conversations and street musicians with unexpected layers of abstract electronic composition.
From soft bird calls at dawn to the hum of evening neon, each moment in the audio journey mirrored the visual narrative, shifting from calm, atmospheric textures to dynamic, celebratory beats. Sounds of the city were reimagined, pigeons became melodic instruments, fragments of voices formed rhythmic patterns, inviting visitors to feel the space, as much as see it.
The result was an evolving sound world, guiding visitors through a sensory arc that connected past and present, reality and abstraction.
Our Sensorium Piazza didn’t just look alive or sound alive, it felt alive.
Shaping the future of public space.
Sensorium Piazza posed deeper questions about how spaces can respond to people, evolve over time, and hold traces of those who pass through.
This was a living system. Rooted in storytelling, built through innovation, and made possible by deep collaboration, the installation offered a new blueprint for what interactive public space can become
Looking to create something that’s culturally sharp and commercially strong?
Let’s build an experience your audience will co-create, remember, and share.
This is where brand intention meets cultural fluency.
Where audiences don’t just attend, they participate, co-create, and remember. BRS is proud to stand at that intersection with incredible international projects of this nature.
Credits
- Core Team
Brendan Shelper – Executive Creative Director
Judith Hoch – Managing Director
Moritz Borchardt – Senior Event Director
Sarah La Tragna – Head of Events and Activations
Emily Landers – Creative Producer
Alessia Avallone – Production Coordination
Ilona Reichelt – Project Manager: Consumer Event / Press Conference
Roxanne Murphy – Project Manager
Liane Hutterer – Accounting
Rolf Maier – Show Director Press Conference
Nadja Zoltec – Stage Management Press Conference
Robert Gross – Graphic Designer
Sofia Silva – Graphic Designer
Rosamaria Bertugne – Translator - Technical Team
Christoph Schrämmer – Technical Director
Michael von Lüpke – Technical Director
Jan Philip Heyne – Video Planning
Aron Klauke – Plan Valley / Server Supplier & Management
Tobias Arndt – Plan Valley / Server Supplier & Management
Benjamin Preuss – Atlantis / Set Construction & Technical Partner
Alex Hanke – Atlantis / Set Construction & Technical Partner
MONOMANGO – AR Design and AR Supplier
Noonah – Photobooths Provider - Spatial Design
Philipp Hohman – Senior Architect & Spatial Designer
Lucas Confurius (Senior Architect)
Mert Aytac (Architect)
HEY HOH STUDIO – Architectural Design - Documentary Team
Jeffrey Jimenez – Videographer and Editor
Markus Zumbansen – Photographer - Video Team
Stefan Spendier – Creative Media Producer, Content Management and Documentation
Shan Blume – Art Director
Duncan McDade – Senior Motion Designer
Morten Fossey – Motion Designer
Shean Ziethen – Motion Designer
Deimos Virgillito – Music Composer - Catering
La Fenice
- Local Production Service Company
Djuna – Local Service Production / 3D Events
