Three Trends at the Forefront of Milan’s Design WeekARTSY EDITORIAL

APR 20TH, 2015 10:33 PM

“Hidden Beauty – Inner Skins,” courtesy of Studio gutedort.

Design professionals and enthusiasts from around the globe have juststarted to catch their collective breath as Milan’s annual mega design fair,Salone del Mobile, comes to a close. Over 300,000 buyers, retailers,interior designers, architects, and more visited the fiera last week to scoutthe latest and greatest from 1,363 international design brands specializedin mass-market products. (Think Vitra, Moroso, and Knoll, to name a fewof the most recognizable.) But it’s FuoriSalone (literally, “outside Salone”)that attracts those on the lookout for the unconventional and cutting edge.Hundreds of smaller scale, guerilla-style exhibitions mounted across thecity offer a concentrated view of the work of emerging and experimentaldesigners, small-scale producers, galleries, and institutions. This, perhapsmore so than at the fair itself, is where the pulse of the design world istaken every year.

FuoriSalone has so much to offer (no one person can physically seeeverything!) with each edition presenting a variety of approaches, with

varying degrees of success. This year, though, the most memorable projectstold a story of renewed engagement with sculpture and craft. Richmaterials—copper, brass, bronze, porcelain, blown glass, marble, fur,enamel, and lacquer—bold and sophisticated color palettes, and striking,confident forms abounded, often produced through traditional crafttechniques, with a recurring tension between the civilized and the natural.Without dismissing the wealth of novel, researched, and visionaryconcepts, one of the biggest takeaways from this year’s crop of talent is anelevated and refined attention to detail that embraced the very materialityof the work. Whether conceptually or functionally driven (or neither),these standout objects delivered, in sum, a delicious feast for the eyes.

Grand Geometry

Clockwise, from top left: Natura Morta, ECAL/Nicolas Lalande and glassblower Matteo Gonet; Decrescendo,ECAL/Lorena Sauras and instrument-maker Jeanmichel Capt; L.O.D. – Light Dependent Object, ECAL/KajaSolgaard Dahl and glassmaker Roland Béguin; Explosion Printanière, ECAL/Jean-Baptiste Colleuille andautomaton-maker François Junod; Eclipse, ECAL/Annie Tung and sculptor Vincent Du Bois; La Macina,ECAL/Stefano Panterotto and stone sculptor Luca Bellei. Photos by Jonas Marguet.

Multiple designers are exploring new expressions of archetypal, geometricforms marked by an astounding blend of the simple and the luxe. Arts &Crafts & Design—without question, one of the best shows of FuoriSalone2015—is a perfect case in point. Each of the 12 expertly handcraftedobjects on view was created through a collaboration between a Swissartisan and a student from École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL),with art direction provided by the ever-talented Studio Formafantasma.With both functional and decorative pieces—all highly sculptural, andmany delightfully kinetic—the collection balances the minimalist aesthetic

for which the school is known, with the rich heritage of traditionaltechniques and materials. Highlights include the dreamily hued NaturaMorta glass composition, the Decrescendo “music box,” the ExplosionPrintanière flowering automaton, and the enigmatic Eclipse lamp.

“Ossimori,” ©Studiopepe. Photos by Silvia Rivoltella.

Two Milan-based galleries, Fragile and Secondome, each launched a newcollection that echoed this visual vocabulary. “Ossimori,” by the Italianrising stars at Studiopepe, was displayed in one of Fragile’s smaller rooms,but the intimacy of the setting only heightened the impact. Every object inthe collection is a studied and tranquil composition of marble, copper, andglass geometric solids, all industrial remnants put to good use.

Clear blown glass and metal came together quite wonderfully inSecondome’s “I’m Not Weird, I’m Limited Edition” collection, producedin collaboration with Padiglioneitalia, for a new take on old-timeymechanical wonders, such as a spinning globe, a tilting carafe, a rotatinghourglass, and a self-extinguishing candleholder. The retro gadgets aremade contemporary through their chicly reduced forms.

“Weathered,” courtesy of Kneip; “Zartes Laut,” courtesy of Boch & Engelhorn.

Other designs of note: Norwegian studio Kneip’s “Weathered” series,which includes a seismoscope and sculptures that “record” the weather;and German studio Boch & Engelhorn’s “Zartes Laut” (TranquilLoudness), which responds to sounds in the immediate environment.

Commanding Colors

Alessandro Mendini, Deriva decoration 1, 2015. Image courtesy of Fragile.

Dramatic, sophisticated colors combinations and bold patterns permeatedFuoriSalone as well. Think explosions of electric blues, happy pinks, andmetallic accents mixed with more subdued colors, alongside fearlesspattern on pattern, evident in everything from glass and ceramics tofurniture, textiles, and more. The hallmarks of the Memphis Group weredecidedly still present—both in allusions to the postmodern revolution(through hue, motif, and even form) by younger designers and in newworks by Memphis-era masters like Alessandro Mendini, whose playful,stretched, origami-esque Deriva lamps (2015) at Fragile evoked pure,polychrome joy.

Alberto Biagetti and Laura Baldassari, Body Building. Photo by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti; Soft, Nendo for Glas Italia.

Massimiliano Locatelli, Atollo table, 2015. Image courtesy of Nilufar Depot.

Atelier Biagetti’s “Body Building”—a tongue-in-cheek, super-luxegymnasium-inspired collection—paired delicate pinks and tans with brashblues and yellows, alongside unapologetic neon, metallic, fur, and leatherfor one of our favorite moments of the week. We also loved the moodymaroons, mauve, and neon pink of Pierre Marie Agin’s Fioritura Mimetica2 rug (2015), and the wine-colored, coral- and enamel-topped tables in

Massimiliano Locatelli’s “Tavolo Atollo” (2015) range at Nina Yashar’snew Nilufar Depot. Erastudio Apartment-Gallery’s sensational NandaVigo installation, Look Back, featured neon blue and green works by theItalian architect in fluorescent LEDs, neon, crystal, steel, glitter, wood, andaged mirror, plus Mendini’s Il Ponte tra impresa e Cultura sculpture andplaster sculptures by The Bounty Killart.

Brunno Jahara, “Batucada.” Image courtesy of MADE; Nanda Vigo, Look Back. Image courtesy of Erastudio Apartment-Gallery.

Several other, delectable bursts of color are worthy of mention: anotherMendini piece, the riotously patterned credenza Magico 3 (2010) atDilmos; Nendo’s ethereal pink and blue Soft tables for Glas Italia; BrunnoJahara’s rainbow-colored, upcycled plastic “Multiplastica Domestica”(2012) and jewel-toned, aluminum “Batucada” (2010) collections atMADE; as well as the plethora of patterned textiles on display withEmiliano Salci and Britt Moran’s daringly angular sky blue, pink, and gold“Palmador 2015” furniture and lighting at Dimorestudio.

Nature That Nurtures

Dossofiorito, “Epiphytes.” Photo by Federico Villa; Boris X Greenworks, Planet Mirror. Image courtesy of Boris Design Studio.

Perhaps the freshest thread we identified around Salone, however, was acelebration of the natural world. Flowers and succulents embellishedmyriad presentations, and there was an almost dizzying number of purelybeautiful, plant-inspired objects. Two notables: Dossofiorito’s “Epiphytes”collection of suspended, white ceramic vases put both plants and roots ondisplay; while Boris Design Studio’s wall-mounted Planet Mirror is framedby an ambient, dimmable LED rim and a self-irrigating succulent garden.

Marlène Huissoud, “From Insects.” Image courtesy of Studio Marlène Huissoud.

Among the most exciting projects in this realm were experiments in oftenunexpected, nature-derived materials inspired by sustainability and shiftingperspectives on the everyday, overlooked, and discarded. With “FromInsects,” French-born, London-based textile designer Marlène Huissoudexplores the products of the common honeybee and the Indian silkworm.Huissoud (who comes from a family of beekeepers) uses propolis, a bee-made biodegradable resin that seals honeycombs, to create her dramaticPropolis Vessels. She applies the same material as a varnish to WoodenLeather, a robust material composed of discarded silkworm cocoons withapplications in furniture, fashion, and surface design.

Cecilie Elisabeth Rudolph, “Velbekomme.” Photo by Per Krogh; Bucha Soberana, courtesy of Cultivado em Casa.

Meanwhile, for “Hidden Beauty – Inner Skins,” Germany’s Studiogutedort transformed offal from a local slaughterhouse into ruddy, leather-like jewelry and accessories—including a set of especially lovely, hollowvessels formed from pig and cow bladders and topped by gemstones. Otherhonorable mentions include Danish designer Cecilie Elisabeth Rudolph’s“Velbekomme” (“Bon Appétit”), a food-based textile series incorporatingnatural-dyes, laser-engraved fish skins, vegetable peels, and more; Brazilianstudio Cultivado em Casa’s loofah and brass armoire, Bucha Soberana(2014); and Chp…?’s Make it chp…?, a flower-focused collaboration withMinale Maeda and Make it LEO that provides data for users to createunique, 3D-printed orchids, the look and shape of which are determinedby individual users’ specific time and location.

—Wava Carpenter & Anna Carnick