Design of the Times
In urban Milano, the joy of spring is palpable and every year, when the hoards of people descend on the global capital of design for Salone del Mobile, the excitement is electric. This year’s 55th edition saw almost 400,000 visitors and 2,400 exhibitors, a significant increase from last year’s numbers. The increased attendance further buoyed the mood of optimism that permeated the most important event of the industrial design calendar.
Robin, Barovier & Toso
Robin is a sculptural masterpiece in lighting. A finely wrought light metal cage contains a jellyfish floating in mid-bloom. This sensual great-ridged glass element is illuminated by an LED light source at its base, which guarantees excellent lighting power but with a decidedly restrained consumption.
Rimini, Baxter
Leave it to haute leather specialist Baxter to create a luxurious outdoor collection which is unique, beautiful and luxurious. The Rimini collection, by design doyenne Paola Navone, is made in tubular copper matched with specially treated saddle leather that is meant to withstand outdoor use while keeping its lustre.
Freeman, Minotti
Minotti’s collection this year saw a relaxed attitude in line with today’s preference for natural and organic environments. In keeping with this, Italian architect and designer Rodolfo Dordoni, Minotti’s artistic director since 1997, presented the Freeman collection. This highly versatile collection comprises seating, coffee tables and storage elements, and may be utilised and combined in multiple ways.
My Suite, Porada
Elegant yet utterly extravagant defines Porada’s new walk‐in closet Mysuite, developed in collaboration with Buratti Architetti. Made entirely from canaletta walnut, the closet combines Porada’s mastery of solid and veneer wood with refined details in leather and glass for an exquisite design. Incredibly versatile, it can be customised to fit the most exacting requirements.
Adagio, Flexform
Flexform’s first collaboration with Daniel Libeskind fuses the brand’s rich heritage of classic Italian design with the New York-based architect’s instantly recognisable sharp angles. Dynamically deconstructed and visually light, the sofa’s canted arms and back create a more comfortable movement.
Platium, Gallotti&Radice
Flashy but tasteful, sexy yet classy, this black beauty is the ideal centrepiece to the grandest of dining rooms. An intoxicating combination of luxurious materials, and designed by Italian architects Oscar and Gabriele Buratti, the black-painted glass top comes in a bright or satin finish. It is held up with a strategically angled Sahara Noir marble base and a supermirror composed of a bright stainless steel bottom plate.
Grande Papilio, B&B Italia
As B&B Italia celebrates its 50th birthday this year, its most famed collaborators issued special editions to commemorate this landmark event. Japanese designer Naota Fukusawa’s contribution is a sheepskin version of his iconic 2009 Grande Papilio armchair featuring a tall winged back and an accompanying footstool. Woolly, whimsical and wholly collectible, the chair is available in only 50 numbered versions.
SET, Ceccotti
Screens don’t come lovelier than Giuseppe Casarosa’s SET, a set of two-sided panels which may be hung on a wall or used as a partition in either residential or large commercial spaces. Designed to allow for endless combinations and geometries, the panels are upholstered on an ash-wood backing and hinged to each other.
Moooi Carpets, Moooi
Known for its ultra-theatrical Milan installations and over-the-top pieces, Moooi outdid itself this year with a breathtaking new carpet collection, turning its popular rug range into a comprehensive flooring business. Rich and refined, this collection boasts an extensive breadth of designs ranging from classical to whimsical – in collaboration with big-name designers the likes of Front, Bertjan Pot, Marcel Wanders and Studio Job. Best of all, Moooi also offers clients the option of designing their own rug and have it manufactured, regardless of size, scale or specification.
CH22, Carl Hansen & Son
The CH22 lounge chair was part of Danish architect Hans J Wegner’s debut collection for Carl Hansen & Son in 1950, but its complex, intricately detailed construction soon put it out of production. This year, Carl Hansen & Son reintroduced it in all its glory complete with the designer’s characteristic curving supports and a handwoven seat made from paper cord. While parts of the production process have been modernised, the chair is still manufactured by hand as it once was, more than six decades ago.
Ibla, Giorgetti
The delicate Ibla dining chair was designed by Roberto Lazzeroni who, inspired by the proportions of the dining chairs found in bourgeois homes of the 1950s, incorporated a slight curve in the backrest and arms on the small armchair version. This specific detail references the centuries-old tradition of building wooden chairs, in which a study of the details could reveal the place and era in which the piece was built.
Code, Boffi
Code by Piero Lissoni offers an unlimited array of materials, finishes and containers for a bespoke kitchen. Materials like precious fossil woods, marble, steel and recomposed stones literally ‘dress’ the kitchen so each completed composition is entirely yours alone.
Ola, Paola Lenti
Low-slung and relaxed, the sleek profile of the Ola series of loungers belies a firm core of stress-resistant polyurethane and an upholstered body punctuated by black three-dimensional fabric.
Segno, Reflex Angelo
Legendary car designer Pininfarina threw its hat into the furniture market this year with its collaboration with furniture manufacturer, Reflex Angelo. The resultant Segno collection is characterised by undisrupted lines and dynamic shapes which imbue the Ferraris and Maseratis Pininfarina is renowned for. This furniture range includes an integrated living system combining a modular sofa, table, cabinet, bookcase and two lighting fixtures.
Melt, Tom Dixon
One of the most elaborate installations in Milan this year was Tom Dixon’s collaboration with quartz-surface brand Caesarstone. The crossover production was called The Restaurant – where visitors had the opportunity to interact with the furniture and have a meal at the same time. It was also a golden opportunity to admire Tom Dixon’s new Materiality range highlighting the basic materials used to create its products, namely marble, wood, plastic, glass, iron, brass and copper. Encapsulating this perfectly is the sensual Melt range, a collaboration with Swedish radical design collective Front, which was updated with floor and lamp versions and emits a surreal, magical glow.
It’s a Wrap, Kartell
International playboy and heir apparent to the Fiat empire, Lapo Elkann adds his signature panache to Kartell’s icons with a fun and limited-edition series using car-wrapping techniques. Garage Italia Customs provided the expertise to emblazon a host of Kartell’s greatest hits with motifs inspired by the traditional colours of the Nations and the automotive industry. Among them were Philippe Starck’s transparent Uncle Jim, Louis Ghost, Ghost Buster, One More Please, Tip Top, Lou Lou Ghost, Tokujin Yoshioka’s Invisible Side table, Antonio Citterio’s elliptical Glossy tables and Componibili by Anna Castelli Ferrieri.
Valet Collection, Stellar Works
With the Valet collection by David Rockwell, Stellar Works adds another international luminary to its distinguished line up. The 14-piece collection smacks of the sophistication, creativity and exuberance that Rockwell is known for. Constructed from high-quality materials including black steel, brushed brass and cognac-coloured saddle leather, Rockwell’s reinterpretation of the valet for the 21st century is designed to be functional and serve a number of purposes.
Pli, Classicon
Like a meticulously cut jewel, the Pli side table by French designer Victoria Wilmotte is an object of unusual crystalline elegance and astonishing geometry. The bends and folds that gave Pli its name were wrought from high-gloss polished stainless steel tinted with the Inox Spectral method, while the irresistibly smooth crystal glass tabletop is an attractive contrast to the base’s facets.
