MILAN: Furniture Fair Ventura Lambrate - RCA

Ventura Lambrate: Royal College of Art – Paradise. The Paradise exhibition was part of the Royal College of Art’s 175th anniversary celebrations  that showed the breadth of creativity coming from the world’s most influential postgraduate university of art and design. Paradise contemplates the discovery of something or somewhere wondrous. Rallied by the desire for change and compelled by dissatisfaction with the present, RCA students authored their own atlases of paradise, landscaped by different paths in the quest for a better future.  The work exhibited addressed three subjects: the exploration of personal dreams and desires; questioning the fabric of the everyday; and speculation on the direction of our future. Product and furniture design were evident as well as conceptual pieces in a variety of media. The exhibition content was been selected by Professor Tord Boontje, head of Design Products at the RCA and curated by designer and RCA tutor Onkar Kular.

Above: Yuen by Hideki Yoshimoto in collaboration with Moto Takabatake. Yuen is an installation composed of several pieces of floor lamps, each of which has light sensors and muscle-like actuators.  Each lamp moves its head, seeking the darkest direction around it.  One lamp’s movement affects another’s by changing the light and shadow field in the environment, which results in indirectly connecting all lamps and creating a system within space.  People who enter the environment can also be involved in the system by introducing their shadow.

 

RCA.  Lasso by Gaspard Tine-Beres.  “These slippers are constructed from a single piece of natural wool felt, their 3D form being created by complex 2D geometry of pattern.  The shapes are die-cut from sheets of five millimeters thick felt with minimal, simple and affordable tooling, making this product very suitable for small scale, local production.  I am producing a range in ten standard sizes and selling them directly via the dedicated Lasso website.”

RCA. Fan Table by Mauricio Affonso.  Fan Table explores the role of tables as the infrastructure for social interaction.   Created from over four hundred slats, the table can be quickly transformed into an array of different shapes and sizes to suit its context or use.  The surface can freely expand, contract and revolve in an effortless fan like movement of the hand.

RCA.  A Dreams of Taxonomy by Lina Patsiou.  “I wished I could fulfill my dreams simply by means of grasping them.  I imagined a world where dreams are real and live around us like every other natural, or, in fact, supernatural creature.   I went on to study dream creatures, to imagine what they are like, how they live, and why it is that they make us name them after our deepest wishes, ambitions, aspirations and for that matter; fantasies.   A Dreams Taxonomy is based on rigorous study, bibliographic research and ample improvisation on the field of supernatural beings in general and fabulous dreams in particular.”

RCA.  Skywalk by Marjan van Aubel.   “Wearing these mirror glasses is a weird sensation; your field of vision is completely directed towards the sky.   You can see nothing but clouds; it almost re-creates the disorientating experience of flying!  You are literally with your head in the clouds but your feet are still on the ground.”

MILAN: Ventura Lambrate - Laikingland

Ventura Lambrate: Laikingland – With Movement exhibition. Laikingland is a creative label whose fundamental theme is movement.  Each year, kinetic objects are developed collaboratively with invited artists and designers.  The exhibition With Movement acknowledges both the objects and the collaborative process developed with each artist and designer.

Above: Just about Now by Maartan Bass. “I’ve always had an interest in ways to indicate time. In spite of the fact that time is very abstract and very relative, in the western world it’s normal to indicate time very precisely. Apart from things like train schedules or the duration of sporting games, the exact time is often irrelevant.  A coffee break, a meditation, a nap, a business meeting, they could take a few minutes longer or shorter than an exact amount of time. This is why I wanted to create a timer that bangs a gong, more or less after the amount of time you indicated.”

 photograph courtesy Laikingland

Laikingland. Cacophany Bell by Tord Boontje. “Through the gap in the shutters, I can see him coming up the path, he is past the gate already. Quick, can I hide? Why, would I? Should I not be glad that he is coming? What if… Too late, I can see his hand reaching out for the buzzer; I know I have only a few seconds left. The finger presses the button, the wireless connection is made, I look up at the ceiling.The hammer on wheels is released, with hesitation it starts to move along the fine metal wire track. It picks up speed and rushes down the first steep slope of the track; it crashes into a steel watering can, BANG. Without slowing down the hammer keeps moving towards a glass bottle, the sound of impact is a glassy PING. Onwards through the steep corners towards the dried leaves, the doll, the tin can CRUSH THUMP TING and finally heading towards the bell, where it ends with a loud CLANG.  Although, it does not quite end there the weight of the hammer now tips the balance of the precariously hung track and the whole thing starts to tilt over. Slowly the hammer on wheels starts to move again, exploring new forces of gravity. Giving in to a new sliding motion as the track changes shape again and the hammer reaches it’s starting point again where it comes to rest.  The noise, the cacophony is still echoing through the house, while I wait for him to press the buzzer again.”

 

Laikingland. ‘Light a moment’ by Joost van Bleiswijk and Kiki van Eijk is an exclusive candle lantern, a collaboration where their two creative worlds are captured into one poetic kinetic object. A soft and romantic ceramic form full of the characteristics of textiles holds a traditional church candle. This candle is reflected a 1000 times through fragmented mirrors built in a constructivist shape.  The protective shell opens its doors with a sophisticated and elegant movement allowing you to appreciate the time and process of lighting the candle for a special moment.

MILAN: FURNITURE FAIR - Ventura Lambrate

The International Herald Tribune's design critic Alice Rawstorn and W Magazine's editor in chief Stefano Tonchi.

MILAN: Furniture Fair - Nendo – Trail and Error exhibition

Palazzo Visconti – Nendo – Trial and Error exhibition. Nendo's Trial and Error exhibition at Palazzo Visconti brought together pieces from the new collection of 1%Products and five collections of furniture designs developed over a series of solo exhibitions: Thin Black Lines, Visible Structures, Scatter Shelf, Farming-net Objects and Object Dependencies.

Above: Thin Black Lines Hanger Rack. “Slight black lines like the traces of sketches drawn in the air made transparent surfaces and volumes appear, to which we assigned practical functions. They are condensed expressions of meaning, similar to Japanese calligraphy. The designs gently break the relationship of before and behind, and traverse at times the space between two and three dimensions. Multi-faceted and constantly morphing, they move alternately between the becoming and collapse of form.”

Nendo – Trial and Error exhibition. Visible Structures 01, 02, 03. “Thanks to its lightness and toughness, carbon fiber furniture can take on a multitude of different forms. As a result, the carbon fiber furniture has gained an almost stereotypical futuristic image. For this collection, we wanted to explore new possibilities for expression by using carbon fiber in a supporting role to emphasize and accentuate the main material, rather than as the star in its own right.”

Nendo – Trial and Error exhibition. Farming Net Lamp. “The sculptural lamps are made by heat-forming agricultural nets ordinarily placed around fruit and vegetables to prevent them from harm by wind and animals. Using them as a sculptural material allowed us to evade the traditional necessity of combining structure with a separate surface material, to create a thin membrane that stands independently, but also floats gently on a breeze. The lamp softly emits light, in the manner of a traditional Japanese paper lantern.”

Milan Furniture Fair - MOST: Nivea – Studio Toogood.

MOST: Nivea – Studio Toogood. Studio Toogood presented 'la cura' a project with Nivea.  ‘la cura’ was a visual antidote to the chaos of the Salone del Mobile, a hospital for the senses where visitors were invited to rebalance through a series of intimate performances.

Nivea – Studio Toogood. Whilst experiencing a therapeutic sound and light composition produced in collaboration with Kite and Laslett, visitors were presented with a ball of white clay to mold and shape into something that reflects their own individual expression and mood. These artworks – called ‘The Cures’ – were collected at the end of each performance and clustered together in the ‘Pavilion’ during the course of the week to create a collective sculpture.

Nivea – StudioToogood.  Designer Faye Toogood with her Spade chairs. StudioToogood offers creative direction, styling, set design, exhibition, event and interior design.

 

Nivea – Studio Toogood. Guests were seated on ‘Spade’ chairs by Faye Toogood, each one bandaged and covered for protection.

Nivea – Studio Toogood. During the installation, ‘caretakers’, dressed in outfits designed by Faye Toogood, attended to, maintained and safeguarded ‘The Cures’. For the performance the Underkitchen by food designers Arabeschi di Latte, prepared a re-energizing elixir designed to restore people’s sparkle and spirit. The air was filled with a bespoke scent by perfumers 12.29 which was designed to capture the essence of the color white in olfactory form.  

 

Nivea – Studio Toogood. Francesca Sarti founder of the food design collective Arabeschi di Latte. Her Underkitchen is a project set up to reveal the hidden subtle and abstract nature behind food and hospitality.

Milan: Furniture Fair - SCP

MOST: SCP. SCP is a consistently innovative British manufacturer of design, making high-quality products for the 21st Century home. Working closely with a stable of international designers, they produce a carefully curated range of upholstery, furniture, accessories, textiles and rugs.

Above: Oscar compact sofa and Oscar ottoman designed by Matthew Hilton.

SCP. Charmingly, tea and coffee was served in mixed matched vintage crockery. In the background the Joyce extending table designed by Gareth Neal and an Ulrik stool designed by Alex Hellum.

SCP.  With a fifties feel, Spring bone china set designed by Donna Wilson.

Milan- Furniture Fair - Home Build Life

MOST: Collections – Home Build Life. Home Build Life, WGSN is the world’s number one online trend forecasting, analysis and research tool providing creative and business intelligence to the apparel, style and retail industries who together with Obsessionistas a cultural website that focuses on the role collections play in relating personal narratives, sharing heritage, tracing design history and inspiring creativity presented at MOST, Three Macro tends and Six Collections for 2013 -The Story of Now.

Above: Spoons by Clare Goddard, waste tea bag paper, thread, glue and Lettraset.

MILAN: Furniture Fair - Fabrica for Italian Chair District

MOST: Fabrica for Italian Chair design. How do People sit? These reflections formed the foundations for the exhibition Searching for Cassiopeia, a limited edition collection of twelve concept chairs combining different techniques and materials, designed by Fabrica, headed by Sam Baron, the Benetton Group communication research center, and manufactured by the Italian Chair District.

Above: Cassiopeia no. 6 where people meet to trade secrets.  They go off in groups of four in a large room, sit down, turn their backs on others and mutter under their breath while straining to heart the secrets being whispered around them. 

Round steel legs with wide back welded to the seat; castolin and mig welding high-tech net upholstery.

MILAN: Furniture Fair - Cast 001

MOST:  Cast 001. Detail of a table formed in reconstructed stone, from the Cast 001 collection. The shagreen texture with a bronze patinated finish gives an overall metallic sheen. Using a particularly fine molding process, the surface texture creates an intriguing quality that questions what the material could be - metal, stone or concrete? The collection also includes a stool, and features three cast finishes: Shagreen, Wood and Plastic-Wrap in a choice of metallic hues: Bronze, Silver and Old Gold.

Cast 001. Award-winning British architect, Sally Mackereth who designed the Cast 001 outdoor furniture launched at MOST in the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e Della Tecnica.

 

Cast 001. Inspiration; chain mail is transformed into a reconstructed stone tile.

Milan: Furniture Fair -

MOST: Recycling – Graypants.   Instilling new spirit into salvaged pieces of corrugated cardboard; Graypants Scraplights lively play on light and shadow and invigorates once lifeless materials.

Milan: Furniture Fair - Molo

MOST: Molo - Paper Softwall and Cloud Softlight.  The Molo paper Softwall is a flexible freestanding partition system that can expand and contract to freely shape more intimate spaces within larger open areas. It is a part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.  The Cloud Softlight lamps overhead create an undulating overhead canopy of soft luminous forms.

 

Molo. Designer Stephanie Forsythe who with Todd MacAllen are the lead designers for Molo, based in Vancouver, Canada.

Milan: Furniture Fair - Azucena

Azucena. The iconic Catalina chair designed by Luigi Caccia Dominioni for Azucena in the late 1950s was updated in stainless steel in the 2001 and today is redesigned as a stool by the architect himself, now in his nineties.

Azucena – It’s all in the family.  Sisters, Marta and Anna Sala run the Azucena furniture company started in 1947 by their mother Maria Teresa Tosi (in the photograph) and her sister Franca, wife of renowned Milanese architect and designer Luigi Caccia Dominioni, to produce his furniture designs.

 

Azucena. The elegant armchair or bedside lamp in leather and chrome-plated brass, LP01 Lampada Poltrona, designed in 1979 by Luigi Caccia Dominioni conveniently sits on the back of a chair.