Milan Design Week drew 316,000 visitors, and Škoda Auto’s courtyard installation 'Ooooh, that’s EpiQ!' took the Fuorisalone Award’s highest recognition. The immersive exhibit at Palazzo del Senato paired sculptural, modelling‑clay forms with an interactive digital dome and included a camouflaged Škoda Epiq on display.

Installation and site Set in the Baroque courtyard of Palazzo del Senato, Škoda’s installation occupied a prominent spot in Milan’s historic centre and ran during the citywide design programme in late April. The display centred on soft, malleable forms inspired by modelling clay — the same visual motif used in Škoda’s campaign for its upcoming electric compact crossover, the Epiq. The exhibition combined large-scale physical sculptures with relaxation zones and a digital corner, creating a mixed environment that contrasted the courtyard’s rigid geometry with fluid, colourful volumes. Spanish architect and digital artist Ricardo Orts, founder of Ulises Studio, designed the intervention. Orts brought his studio’s practice of blending digital visuals with sculptural form to the project and framed Škoda’s design language as both playful and precise. Orts has also received recognition outside the automotive world, a detail Škoda highlighted when announcing the exhibition. Tech layer and interactivity At the heart of the installation was an interactive digital dome that produced real-time visualisations tied to the physical environment. The dome worked as a responsive system, merging virtual content with the sculpted forms that reconfigured the courtyard. A dedicated LED projection area let visitors explore the exhibition’s themes, the Epiq model, and Škoda’s brand imagery through digital overlays rather than static signage. The technical setup built a two-way relationship between object and screen. The physical sculptures provided points of visual and tactile focus, while sensors and projection systems supplied changing visuals that answered to presence and movement. That blend turned a brand display into an experiential interface — visitors didn’t only see Škoda’s aesthetic cues, they moved through them. Award recognition and audience context The Fuorisalone Award singled out Škoda’s installation among the season’s most prominent interventions and accorded it top recognition. The award sits inside a broader Milan Design Week programme that in 2026 included Salone del Mobile.Milano and the citywide Fuorisalone exhibitions. The Salone itself recorded attendance in excess of 316,000 visitors from 167 countries and hosted around 1,900 brands, underscoring the scale of the audience Škoda reached by placing an installation in a central public courtyard. Organisers framed Fuorisalone 2026 under the theme “Be the Project,” which prioritised process-led approaches, material research, and experimental production. Škoda’s project resonated within that frame by foregrounding adaptability and play — the modelling‑clay motif explicitly referenced iterative making, and the installation’s hybrid physical–digital form matched the event’s focus on technological development and material innovation. Brand strategy and product placement Škoda used the Milan presentation to extend its design narrative beyond the car showroom. Škoda said the exhibition was intended to elevate the brand beyond the automotive world and to invite people to experience rather than simply observe its design language. At the centre of the exhibition was the camouflaged Škoda Epiq — the crossover was displayed alongside playful sculptural elements.

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The Fuorisalone Award, presented within the 'Be the Project' programme that prioritised material research and iterative making, placed Škoda’s Epiq design at the centre of a show that drew more than 316,000 attendees — a reminder that major design events can put automakers directly in front of broad, non‑traditional audiences.

This article was created with AI assistance.