Milan Furniture Fair - Elisa and Stefano Giovannoni Party

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Karim Rashid and the host, Stefano Giovannoni.

A detail. Karim Rashid’s rings.

A detail. Karim Rashid’s shoes for Fessura.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Tom Dixon was wearing a suit and tie.

Tom Dixon for Tom Dixon. Day-glo Ball lights designed by Tom Dixon.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Canova’s Barto Bellati and Elio Fiorucci.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Clino Castelli and Nanni Strada.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Massimo Morozzi.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Guido Venturini and Giulia Ancarani.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Xena and Barnaba Fornasetti.

Barnaba Fornasetti for Nilufar. Kiss cabinet designed by Barnaba Fornasetti for Nilufar from a limited series of twelve. In the foreground a sculpture by Beat Zoderer.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. James Irvine and Peter Hallen.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Ross Lovegrove.

photograph courtesy Moroso

Ross Lovegrove for Moroso. Supernatural table from the Outdoors Furniture Collection for Moroso.

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Nigel Coates

Seen at the Giovannoni party. Marcel Wanders cuddles up to his girlfriend, the Dutch Ballerina, Naning Linning.

Photograph courtesy Spazio Pontaccio

Marcel Wanders for Bisazza Home. Marcel Wanders's Coffee Tables designed for Bisazza Home and shown at the Spazio Pontaccio.

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Milan Furniture Fair - centro

Seen at Breakfast at the Trussardi Café – The unexpected Garden opening. International (London – Paris - New York - Milan) P.R., Karla Otto, famous French botanist, Patrick Blanc and Beatrice Trussardi. Trussardi Café inaugurated the new glass extension onto Piazzetta Ferrari that holds Patrick Blanc’s vertical garden: one hundred square meters of suspended green in the heart of the city.

A detail. A detail of the new extension of the Trussardi Café and Patrick Blanc’s vertical garden.

Seen at Breakfast at the Trussardi Café – The unexpected Garden opening. Interni’s magazine editor in chief, Gilda Bojardi. What would we do without the Interni Fuori Salone guide during Salone del Mobile week?

Seen at Breakfast at the Trussardi Café – The unexpected Garden opening. Alessi fun designer, Massimo Giacon.

Seen at Breakfast at the Trussardi Café – The unexpected Garden opening. Milanese P.R., Francesca Ballini Richards.

Seen at Breakfast at the Trussardi Café – The unexpected Garden opening. Landscape designer, Stefano Baccari.

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Milan Furniture Fair - Elle Decor Party

Seen at the Elle Décor 2008 Awards party. Italian Elle Décor’s editor in chief, Livia Peraldo Matton between award winning designers, Joris Laarman and Tord Boontje.

Seen at the Elle Décor 2008 Awards party. Bernhardt Design’s Jerry Helling, Gaia & Gino’s Gaye Cevikel and Best Designer of the Year, Arik Levy.

Seen at the Elle Décor 2008 Awards party. The tearfully moved Flos lighting chairman, Piero Gandini and designer, Marcel Wanders who received the Best Lighting and Accessories Award.

Seen at the Elle Décor 2008 Awards party. Best Young Designer, Joris Laarman and more tears of joy for Flos chairman, Piero Gandini.

Seen at the Elle Décor 2008 Awards party. Naoto Fukasawa who received the award for the best tabletop designs.

Naoto Fukasawa for B & B Italia. Naoto Fukasawa’s award winning bowls for B & B Italia, Vertigo Round.

Seen at the Elle Décor 2008 Awards party. Designer, Paola Navone and Russian Elle Décor’s editor in chief, Natalia Pochecheuv.

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photograph courtesy Spazio Pontaccio

Matteo Thun at Spazio Pontaccio. Matteo Thun presented the Go Malibu table designed with Antonio Rodriguez for Riva 1920, at the Spazio Pontaccio in an exhibition entitled Spazio Pontaccio and Friends. The beautiful elongated shape of the table is reminiscent of a surfboard; it’s made with American chestnut and maple woods.

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Alessandro Ciffo at Dilmos. Artist and designer, Alessandro Ciffo presented his Scacco Matto or checkmate collection for Edizioni Dilmos. “I blend design with painting, painting with volumes, the inflexibility of corners with softness of the material and of the gestures.” He explains.

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Milan Furniture Fair - centro

At Moroso. Art director of the family business, Patrizia Moroso arrives by car at the Milan showroom. The installation of the space was designed by Tord Boontje and entitled, The Little Wild Garden of Love. Boontje interpreting nature in an abstract way bestows us with an enchanting garden made of fabric panels, lights, colors, mirrors and special effects.

Tropicalia - Cocoon by Patricia Urquiola

Tropicalia - chaise longue by Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola for Moroso. Spanish born, Milan based designer, Patricia Urquiola designed the Tropicalia outdoor collection for Moroso, the structure of which starts through weaving techniques. Each object in the collection takes on a different personality depending on the material and color used.

Seen at the Elle Décor party. Dutch born, London based designer, Tord Boontje received the Elle Decor 2008 prize in the category for best Floor Covering.

Tord Boontje for Moroso. This Sunny Lounger day bed designed for Moroso by Tord Boontje evokes the beach furniture found in the North Sea resorts of the twenties. It becomes contemporary by the use of digitally drawn color patterns and woven by expert African craftsmen, using colored plastic threads.

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Shay Alkalay for Established & Sons. These individual, multi-colored, “floating” drawer units, called Stack, designed by Shay Alkalay, are built up to different heights, creating a tower of drawers that can be pushed and pulled in both directions. The random and irregular result is both fascinating and unusual to the eye. “I think these chests of drawers look more intriguing when the drawers are left partly open.” Shay Alkalay states.

Amanda Levete for Established & Sons. North Console is a limited edition shelf made in neon fiberglass designed by British architect and partner in Future Systems, Amanda Levete for the British furniture company, Established & Sons.

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Milan Furniture Fair - Zona Tortona

Seen at the Swarovski Party. Hostess, Nadja Swarovski chats with Established and Sons’s CEO, Alasdhair Willis. Swarovski Crystal Palace pushed the boundaries of design with an exhibition of dramatic lifestyle environments by leading designers.

photograph courtesy Swarovski

Re by Zaha Hadid. Zaha Hadid’s design pushes the boundaries and preconceived notions of the chandelier redefining the nature of the object. Each Swarovski crystal can be considered an individual element that interrelates with, and responds to, every other crystal. Locked in a spiraling vortex, the crystals direction is determined by the forces of an explosion. The chandelier relates to, and interacts with, each new environment in a unique manner; constantly reinventing itself and offering exciting new possibilities with each installation.

Zaha Hadid. Zaha Hadid needs no introduction; she is the most notable British Iraqi deconstructivist. In 2004 she became the first female recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

A detail. Zaha’s net boots by Martin Margiela.

Photograph courtesy Sawaya & Moroni

Zaha Hadid for Sawaya & Moroni. Z-Bowl designed by Zaha Hadid for Sawaya & Moroni is a sculptural object intended as a successful summary of the unmistakable style.

Marcel Wanders. Dutch designer, Marcel Wanders whose fame started with his iconic Knotted Chair, which he produced for Droog Design in 1995. Marcel fools around under the Shower Chandelier trying not to get wet!

Aqua Jewels by Marcel Wanders. Bisazza, the famous tile manufacturer, teamed up with Swarovski to create a mosaic wall designed by Marcel Wanders. The wall is encrusted with specially designed Swarovski crystal tiles. The mosaic wall is the backdrop for a shower room, which contains three Shower Chandeliers.

Seen at the Swarovski Crystal Palace Party. Marina and Fiona Swarovski.

Fredrikson Stallard. Since 1995 Patrik Fredrikson and Ian Stallard have become internationally recognized as leading exponents of British Avant-Garde Design.

Cavern Collection by Fredrikson Stallard. Transcending convention, Fredrikson Stallard have created a collection of solid monolithic furniture forms in three different materials; concrete wood and leather. Perforated by cavernous openings, the interior surfaces are encrusted with thousands of Swarovski crystals and lit from within to add volume and density to the sculptures.

Paul Cocksedge. Paul Cocksedge is a rising star of lighting design; he creates visually spectacular and technically ingenious lights that celebrates the magical and transformative qualities of illumination.

Veil by Paul Cocksedge. Veil by Paul Cocksedge Studio is a four meters high curtain made of 1,440 Swarovski crystals. It creates an incredible visual illusion; when viewed through a mirror, the shimmering curtain reveals its hidden secret; an iconic image set within the canvas of crystals, and when the view looks back at the curtain, the image disappears.

A detail. A reflection of the “hidden secret”, the Mona Lisa.

Front Design. The Swedish group, Front Design consists of four designers: Anna Lindgren, Charlotte von der Lancken, Katja Savstrom and Sofia Lagerkvist. They take their inspiration from animals, physics, surroundings and materials.

Random by Front Design Front Design experimented with Swarovski crystal and hand blown glass to create a series of visually innovative vases and lights, of which no two are alike.

Front Design at Spazio Rossana Orlandi. Front Design showed sketched pieces of furniture, hand drawn like materialized illustrations at the Spazio Rossana Orlandi.

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Seen at Spazio Rossana Orlandi. Rossana Orlandi was “roaming” the corridors of her space with Piet Hein Eek, who took over the courtyard with his designs.

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Milan Furniture Fair - Zona Tortona

Yamaha – Key for You exhibition. From the Key for You collection of Yamaha Pianos; Key for a Journey. Manabu Kawada, shows off the Key for a Journey piano designed in the Yamaha Design Laboratory in London. A mini-keyboard for sketching music at ease, chart impressions of a journey with a favorite pen or play melodies that appear in unexpected moments. “We combined the languages of the piano and the notebook using new materials like chrome and aluminum, which look like the black and white keys of the piano. It’s a new design language.” Kawada explained.

A detail. When closed, the Key for a Journey has a smart leather cover.

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Donatella Versace for AugustaWestland. Donatella Versace is designing the cabin interiors and layouts of the AugustaWestland AW 139 medium-twin turbine helicopters. This helicopter employs the finest materials and the highest standards of craftsmanship.

A detail. A detail of the interior of the Versace designed AW139 helicopter for AugustaWestland.

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Milan Furniture Fair - Zona Tortona

Jaime Haydon. One of the most up-and-coming designers in the world, Jaime Haydon continues his collaboration with Bisazza, still surprising us with his typically flamboyant, Mediterranean creative ability.

Jaime Haydon for Bisazza. Spanish designer, Jaime Haydon describes his Jet Set airplane for Bisazza “I like the idea of being able to create a fun, more sophisticated version of an object as serious and functional as an airplane. Set in a very glamorous hangar, this airplane is a light-hearted work with an unusual and enchanting look, complete with a glass cabin, leather wings and colored missiles and symbols alluding to love. Mosaic tiles in white gold and fiberglass make this aircraft luxurious and surreal.”

A detail. A detail of the circular lounge at the heart of the Jet Set aircraft; “Jet Set is a sitting room cum airplane: an objet d’art in an imaginary installation which displays the potential of Bisazza mosaic.” Haydon said.

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Seen in the Sawaya & Moroni shop. Paolo Moroni, stopped to chat and pose for me whilst sitting on William Sawaya’s Allwood Chair.

Seen on Via Manzoni. William Sawaya.

William Sawaya for Sawaya & Moroni. The Allwood Chair by William Sawaya is a chair with a fluid character, whose gentle curves bring certain chairs of the late fifties to mind.

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