Monitor » salone 09

Shige Hasegawa Design

Paula — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:35:31 +0000

One of the good things about living in Milan is the possibility to follow yearly the Salone del Mobile: the trends, the progress of the design companies and the most rewarding one: the evolution of designers.
It’s been three years since Shige Hasegawa appeared on the milanese scene and from that point to follow him (his way of working, the simplicity, the harmony, the clean lines, and the attention to every detail) is to oversee the path of a big name.

Wood is everywhere

Paula — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:31:09 +0000

Wood, laminated wood, is always a great option to express your creativity, especially when a reduced budget doesn’t allow the use of particular machinery. The results, depending on the designer can be exhilarating, or just boring. But from a wide range of products, starting with the stand’s decoration, passing through lamps and furniture (these last ones being a more elaborated version, than simply dye cutting and joining) here below are some examples of the diffused use of laminated wood during this past year.
Hoping to see the developments in the case of the school projects, and fresh and new products in the shops.

Stands

Lamps

Extras
The pieces seen here come mostly from design schools: the french V.I.A., the Dutch Design Academy Eindhoven with the artEZ; and in the “Salone Satelite” Milan 2009.

Light games

Paula — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:08:26 +0000

When the “Salone del Mobile” arrives everyone knows “novelties” are on their way, the odd thing is that “novelties” never come alone, (despite the secrecy of the companies and the early rise of trends) when you see a “new object” there is always a twin sister around and some cousins, spy cases or trend sharing?
In any case, this time we are talking about light and interference, fragmentation, and magnification. Lamps with lenses, textured surfaces that enhance light or just give fancy decorations.

Among the different examples there is an important one, in which light is really enhanced by Fresnel lenses: Hope, by Francisco Gomez Paz and Paolo Rizzatto, for Luceplan, a modular “not crystal” chandelier, made in polycarbonate film.

Why is Hope listed within our Environ-Mentally category? Very simple, although I’m not a friend of plastic, Hope’s packaging is very compact due to the modularity of its components and the weight being reduced to the minimum. Something else, it fits different light bulbs, encouraging the use of energy saving ones; the result is better than ever, thanks to the thoughtful design the quality of light is not lessened by the use of these bulbs but is just as pleasant as we hope.

-Another example is Ross Lovegrove and his “Cosmic” lamps/sculptures for Artemide

-Two noteworthy installations:

Swarovsky’s stand in Euroluce, a interactive combination of crystals, light and colour.

Foscarini’s huge kaleidoscope in Zona Tortona, by Vicente Garcia Jimenez

And coming soon… the Organic LED, but for now just some pictures.

Bambi Chair

Paula — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:38:26 +0000

This “bambi” chair, designed by Tatsuo Yamamoto, clearly is an example of the aesthetics research in our “Bucolic Empowerment” category. A chair with an animal “feel”, while the function or beauty have no relevant importance, the animal approach, the desire of getting closer to a “idea” of nature, of having a bit of what we are loosing outside in our daily life, this is what makes this chair capture my attention.

Antler by Nendo

Paula — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:23:12 +0000

Without doubt Nendo‘s low armchair, designed for Cappellini, is one of the best examples, belonging to our “Bucolic Empowerment” category. The choice of the very natural materials: wool or leather for the seat and solid ash wood for the frame; and needless to mention the ”fauna call” evidentiated on the back frame.

Bucolic Empowerment

Paula — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:49:39 +0000

“the agricultural community will become the planet’s new elite, dominating our essential needs and inspiring years of farmer styles. After all, the farmers of the future will clothe us, house us, feed us, fuel us and hopefully even heal us. Ultimately they will be able to engineer design and grow furniture in a symbiosis of technology and biology, and therefore rural and urban lifestyles will merge and become one; resulting in an inversed social landscape with a greener city and a more contemporary countryside”

This statement by Li Edelkoort, makes us aware that more than a trend, returning to nature, is a life choice to which we will have to get accustomed if we really want a healthy future.
But, not every one interprets trends, some designers and producers, just follow them, as mere aesthetical rules, giving birth to a very wide range of products, you can choose between honest and responsibly made products and those that just apparently (thanks to there natural aesthetic) satisfy the need to return to the essentials, to respect life and nature.
The next posts will be therefore, be dedicated to this present cycle, with its pure aesthetical trends, and to the different objects that really go beyond the “throw away culture” to become true life companions.

Sleek thin layered materials Seats

Paula — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:47:35 +0000

Three chairs, with a common style: simplicity, not just visually, but going down to materials, oak, ash, raw wool, leather, all disposed in thin layers; nothing to hide, a frame with a very “materic” shell.

From left to right:
- Brio: by Mikiya Kobayashi for Covo - Bac: by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini - El: by Antonio Citterio for B&B

Artek and UPM ProFi

Paula — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:58:30 +0000

Artek 10-UNIT SYSTEM

When I first came across “UPM ProFi” two years ago, in the Triennale museum of Milan, there wasn’t something really captivating about it. Artek’s pavilion, in the middle of the gardens, was built out of these bricks, made in a new composite material, recycled, water resistant (See the last picture on this entry, of one I still have on my shelf).

It was just in a “aperitivo fuori salone”, talking to Liliana, that I realised it is the same material (enriched with colour and design) Shigeru Ban, used then for the pavilion and now for the 10-UNIT SYSTEM, the proposal for Artek at the “Salone del Mobile 2009″. Based on an “L” shaped module, that can be easily assembled to build chairs, benches, tables. The simplicity of this project is not just the module, but the material: UPM ProFi

Made mostly of recycled wood and plastic, “UPM ProFi” is a sustainable material, that produces almost no waste during it’s production process; although its not biodegradable, it can be recycled several times into the raw material and so produce more “UPM ProFi” products; and its high environmental resistance, makes it a perfect choice for external uses.

Artek 10-UNIT SYSTEM

Richard Ginori

Paula — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:31:29 +0000

During the hectic days of the “salone del mobile”, visiting the Richard Ginori exhibition at the Ex Ansaldo space, couldn’t be anything but a pleasure. This ample space, was offering the possibility to sit comfortably, have a healthy meal (not be taken for granted between all the panini and cotoletta kiosks, newly appeared during the design week) and a break from all the design world to enter that of one of the most well known Italian porcelain producers.

The taste of the company, was perceived in every detail of the show, Paola Navone’s creation, a mix between art, industry, history and daily life.

Rotaliana

Paula — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:55:39 +0000

This beautiful lamp produced by Rotaliana recalls the warm feeling old chinese paper lanterns, even the delicate glow of a firefly. The choice of the material allows you to have it your garden, but not writing off the possibility of using it indoors.