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m ilan’s furniture and design fairis the biggest event on theEuropean design calendar and

is now as much about the fringeexhibitions, design ‘zones’, installations andevents than it is the rather conventionaltrade show at the vast Fiera exhibition hallsat Rho. The event is embraced by thewhole city, which sees its numbers swellmassively for a wet week in April.

For many years the western Tortonadistrict has been a big draw, however, itseems to be getting more corporate eachyear and had a definite lacklustre feel thisyear. It faced stiff competition from otherareas of the city, most notably the Breraarea, home to the new Armani Hotel andLambrate in the North-East of the city.

All the major Italian furniture brandshold exhibitions and events, either at Rhoor in their showrooms in town. One of themost puzzling was from Kartell, whopresented a collaboration with musicianLenny Kravitz. The Starck designedMademoiselle chair was ‘re-imagined’ byKravitz and upholstered variously in leather,fabric, faux python skin and fur and shownat their central showroom alongside stacksof Marshall amps and Fender guitars.

B&B Italia presented, in quieter fashion,showing a number of new productsincluding Theo, an armchair by Vincent vanDuysen, Mini Papilio chair and Love Papiliosofa by Naoto Fukasawa and new versions of last year’s Husk series by PatriciaUrquiola. Also shown was Mart, a cute

swivel chair designed by Antonio Citteriofor Maxalto.

Tacchini launched Lima, a sofa and chaircollection by Claesson Koivisto Rune, andFritz Hansen held a party to introduce thenew Miniscule chair by Danish designerCecilie Manz.

Very Wood, part of the Gervasoni Group,launched a series of elegant upholsteredtimber chairs including Bellevue, designedby Zurich based This Weber for the hotelmarket.

Gruppo Poltrona Frau held a massiveshow at the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoroin the Tortona. This vast hall wastransformed into a showcase for theCassina, Cappellini, Poltrona Frau andNemo Cassina brands over three floors.

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Salone Rock ’n’ RollMark Simpson, BDP Design Director and stalwart of Mixology judging panels,reviews a wet and windy Salone Internazionale del Milan for us.

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Highlights included the new La Mise sofacollection by Luca Nichetto for Cassina andMiloe by Piero Lissoni. They also showcasedNuage, a collection of cupboards andbookshelves designed in the mid-50’s byCharlotte Perriand. In a similar vein NemoSassina launched a series of 50’s light fittingsby Le Corbusier.

Tecno held a beautifully stagedexhibition called Sculptures in the twinpavilions of the Caselli di Porta Garibaldi.In them they exhibited the classic Nomosrange and reissues of the beautiful T90 deskand AT16 coatstand, originally designed byfounder Osvaldo Borsani in 1954 and 1961respectively. Both were shown alongside a

new seating concept called Archipeligodesigned by Monica Forster.

Vitra had a large stand at Rho with aseries of impressive and imaginative roomsettings displaying their classics. The mostsignificant new piece presented was GrandRepos lounge chair and ottoman, acollaboration with Antonio Citterio. It is anelegant understated, if safe, design.

One of this year’s eagerly anticipateddestinations was MOST – a show held atthe city’s Museo Nazionale della Scienza Edella Tecnologia; an amalgam, if you like, ofLondon’s science and transport museums.The event, curated by Tom Dixon, was acurious collection of installations by brands

including Dixon’s own in a meanderingtrawl through courtyards, cloisters and loftyexhibition halls filled with ships, trams andaeroplanes.

In amongst the exhibitions by brands asdiverse as Soda-Stream and a strangeinstallation by suitcase manufacturer Tumi,was the student exhibition Designersblockand new French label La Chance, formedby architect Louise Breguet and JeanBaptiste-Souletie. They exhibited theirJekyll and Hyde collection of furniture anddesign pieces by, amongst others, LucaNichetto, Francois Dumas and Note DesignStudio. Each of the pieces was presented inboth Jekyll and Hyde personas with

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different colourways and finishes. Thedelicate ‘Rhythm of Light’ pendant lightdesigned by Dutch designer Suzanne deGraaf is particularly successful.

SCP exhibited in a little corner ofEngland, a temporary structure in theshadow of an Italian submarine. In it theyexhibited a variety of new products and ademonstration of their upholstery process.Ineke Hans has designed the Welland chairand table for them this year, and Kay andStemmer’s Cricket range of timber furnitureis simple and elegant.

Dezeen reported from the event via apop-up television studio, broadcasting liveinterviews with the likes of Zaha Hadid,Dixon, Mark Dytham and Michelle

Ogundehin. The day I visited was quiet butI hope it got busier as the week progressed.It may take a couple of years to find its feetbut is a welcome addition to the event.

The Trienalle di Milano held aretrospective exhibition of Italian design trioDe Pas, D’Urbino e Lomazzi. Thepartnership, founded in 1966, is responsiblefor some of the most iconic pieces of Italiandesign, including the Blow armchair of1967 for Zanotta and the Joe baseball glovearmchair, intended as a tribute to Joe diMaggio, of 1970, originally produced inleather by Poltronova and now made inpolymer by US manufacture Heller.

Also showing at the Trienalle wereLasvit, the Czech manufacturer of glassware,

chandeliers and artwork. They premiered anew architectural product designed by RossLovegrove, called Liquidkrystal. Thisundulating glass panel system was used toform a curvaceous pavilion, lit usingprojected digital patterns to reflect andrefract light onto a stretched fabric ceilingand across an aluminium floor.

To escape the crowds I took a short trainjourney to Cantu, home of the artisanmetalwork manufacturer MarzoratiRonchetti, a firm celebrating their 90thanniversary in 2012. This family owned firmwork with some of the world’s mostprominent architects, designers and artistson projects ranging from small art pieces tolarge architectural projects. Anyone familiar

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with the stainless steel staircase in OxfordStreet’s New Look store, or Bond Street’sMarni or Luis Vuitton stores will know their work.

They have worked with Foster andPartners on the British Museum, Ron Aradon the Tel Aviv Opera House, AntonioCitterio on De Beers stores and recentlywith John Pawson on the Swarovski CrystalPalace Perspectives installation in St Paul’sCathedral. In 2010 they made the Spunchair by Thomas Heatherwick, which sellsto collectors through London’s Haunch ofVenison Gallery in London. The likes ofyou and I can more easily afford thepolyethylene version made by Magis, shownthis year in a new range of colours.

Marzorati Ronchetti also recently madethe Reverb Wire – another collector’sedition chair formed from mirror polishedstainless steel rods and designed by London-based Australian designer Brodie Neill. Thesame designer presented Curve, a bench forItalian manufacturer Riva 1920, digitallycarved from sustainably sourced cedar andClover, and a pendant light by Kundalini.

The biggest party of the week was,without doubt, the celebration of the 50thanniversary of Flos, held at the Palazzo dellaPermanente – a building damaged in WorldWar II and rebuilt to designs by AchilleCastiglioni.

A retrospective show featured well over100 of the brand’s best known pieces and a

large hall featured hundreds of iPadsmounted on the Stack D’Eath lamps tolaunch the new Flos 50 App. The party‘proper’ took place in a huge roomfeaturing oversized versions of the classicArco lamps (recently re-launched usingLED lamps). Video projectors showed ‘love-letters’ from Flos’ best known designers, thecocktails flowed and music was provided byBritish house collective Horse Meat Disco.

The Milan Salone is always well worth avisit. Although I felt numbers were downthis year and the weather was terrible, therewas still plenty to see and plenty more Iwish I had.

Milan, as Leonard Albert Kravitz mightsay, Ain’t Over Till It’s Over. It is now

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Lasvit

Marzorati Ronchetti

Riva 1920