A Human Measure, Digna Kosse, Design Academy Eindhoven; Radiolarian Sofa by Lazerian studio, Designersblock
Milan, design capital of Italy is ready to celebrate its biggest annual design event Milan Design Week in April (12-19 April) alongside its well known Salone del Mobile, International Milan Furniture Fair. During this important week dedicated to design, many events and exhibitions will be held in different venues throughout the city. ARTS THREAD looks at some key trends emerging for this year’s fair.
Slow Design: Use of local, regional materials and production techniques, research for impact in real life, concept of nature incorporated into design, looking at human behaviour and sustainability.
Digna Kosse from the Design Academy Eindhoven questions consumerism in relation to our bodies. ‘All the materials and resources we are using are not in proportion to our own bodies. In this project,’ explains Kosse ‘my body becomes a measure for consumption. I measured all parts of my body in litres and I have captured them in a series of tableware.’
Corrugated cardboard furniture Radiolarian from Lazerian Studio is inspired by wasps’ nests and sea organisms. The design studio used locally sourced material and the components have been hand-cut and glued together to create the sofa.
Malva by ett la benn, Made in Berlin; Frank, Henry and Ernest pouffes, Donna Wilson, SCP at 100% British Design
Malva by ett la benn is a furniture and lighting collection inspired by the natural qualities of cellulose and viscose. The objects are generated by the forming of moistened sponge cloth and its subsequent air drying over a mould. The translation of this material into design reaches the highest demands in sustainability and eco friendliness.
Each of Donna Wilson’s pouffes is made by hand stuffing calico bags. The covers are knitted in Scotland from 100% lambswool using a traditional Fair Isle knitting technique. If you look closely you will be able to make out the tiny clouds and trees that make up the pattern.
Invisibles, Kartell by Tokujin Yoshioka; Series ‘28’ chandelier by Omer Arbel for Bocci at Spazio Rosanna Orlandi
Natural Geometry: Experimentations with forms and materials; interpreting nature with high and low technologies. Objects are playing with the pure rhythms of the nature with a touch of minimalism and illusion.
The Invisibles is a range of transparent furnitures with tables, occasional table, sofa, armchair and bench designed by Tokujin Yoshioka for Kartell with a new stylistic approach in polycarbonate technology from a very thick polycarbonate never seen before.
The series ‘28’ chandelier by Omer Arbel for Bocci is made of a distorted sphere and the light projects through the complexity of the blown glass and creates sceneographic shadows.
Silver Lake sofa, Patricia Urquiola for Moroso; Offcut’ wooden benches, Tom Dixon
Wood Wonderland: The charm of welcoming wood with a touch of irony is being offered as an enjoyment to the living space.The wood as a source from nature gives shape to a new honest domesticity and a spontaneous life.
Silver Lake, designed by Patricia Urquiola, is made from wood, steel and fabric and references the Utopian visions of the 50s. (Silver Lake is the name of a Los Angeles neighbourhood that is famous for its architecture and today hosts numerous architecture firms and creative agencies). Tom Dixon uses the rough part of a log which is typically discarded in wood production to give each version of the ‘Offcut’ bench a unique character.
Clinker tables, Rich Brilliant Willing by Innermost
The design studio Rich Brilliant Willing with its wooden table ‘Clinker’ explores the abstract simplicity and sculptural form in the domestic context.
Hard Rock, Bethan Wood, Royal College of Art; Diesel collection ‘Rock’ chair with Moroso
Concrete Landscape: Shapes from nature are being imitated, interpreted and transferred to the domestic landscape as a raw and simple element emphasising the relations between form, material and space.
Hard Rock was designed by Bethan Wood, design products graduate from RCA, to evoke a slice of landscape; the form playing with the ambiguity of natural environments. Inviting the user to explore the shape rather then being told the exact use for each section. The furniture uses a marquetry technique treating laminate like a rare wood veneer, rather then a cheap substitute.
Inspired by the geometric structure of nature the ‘Rock’ chair from Moroso combines the distinctive look of its sharp edges with the simple functionality of its seat.
Carbon Copy chairs, Hendzel+Hunt, fabric by Puff&Flock, Designersblock 2010; Bokja Design, Spazio Rossana Orlandi
Patchwork Effect: The interiors host a vibrant collage of fabrics, creating narratives and updating the past with emotions. A chair, a sofa are not considered as independent and final objects rather become a collection of stories pieced together as patchwork creating a conversation.
The original Ercol butterfly chair has been copied in carbon fibre by Hendzel+Hunt to produce a lightweight but rigid structure which is then wrapped tightly in fabric by Puff&Flock. Schizophrenia chairs by Bokja Design will be showing at the Conversations exhibition at Spazio Rossana Orlandi.
