COLLABORATING ON 'CONSCIOUS LIVING'.

You could say the same for 'Breathe', MINI's collaboration with Brooklyn based architects SO – IL. Instead of blocking out the outside world with bricks and cement, and then timidly letting it back in via windows and doors, SO – IL have wrapped their home in a porous and semi-transparent membrane that allows light to move in and out of the structure it contains, while simultaneously purifying the air inside. The garden and rain collection system on the roof provide food and water, as well as offering you your very own urban oasis. If you're thinking about what it would be like to live here, you're probably imagining a life that's a little more in touch with the elements than the apartment you're in now, which is exactly the point. 'Breathe' allows you to live comfortably and spaciously on a small footprint, while inviting you to consider the world outside and the resources it provides—the natural elements that make our lives possible.

Assemble are known worldwide for their interactive, community-oriented projects. At the heart of their work is an interest in the relationship between utility and process, the things we use and the way they're made. At Salone del Mobile, Assemble's 'A Factory As It Might Be', curated by A/D/O, churns out brightly coloured hand-made tiles, exposing a usually hidden process, and demonstrating their concern for the impact of design in the real world, something A/D/O's Design Director, Daniel Pittman says 'affects the fine balance that must be maintained in order for us to live together'.

Last summer Laila Gohar started a food fight at a fashion show. Well, almost. The New York chef and food designer cooked a meal for the launch of Jason Wu's 'Grey'. It began with a bread course that was also a sculpture. Cubes, tubes, squares and rhomboids of freshly baked bread were stacked in a finely-balanced arrangement in the centre of the table. How can one take a piece without knocking the whole thing over? Each diner became acutely responsible, at that moment, for the fate of the entree, and everyone collaborated to ensure its success. This is just the kind of mindfulness and co-operation Gohar likes to encourage at her dinners and parties, and it is also the reason MINI invited her to create the Conscious Café for MINI LIVING at Salone del Mobile.