Milan Design Week
From C to G
CARL HANSEN & SØN
The Danish design brand is showcasing in two locations in Milan’s Brera district. Firstly, it is presenting Balanced Principles – Visions of Wegner, a curated apartment exhibition glimpsing into Hans J. Wegner’s oeuvre, and bringing together novelties and classic designs within a grand Milanese home on Via Solferino. The brand’s second location – its flagship store on Via Mercato – unveils new designs for both indoor and outdoor living, alongside creations by EOOS and Nanna & Jørgen Ditzel.
CASSINA
The Italian design house is unveiling its reissue of the CH66 chair, designed in 1966 by Nicos Zographos, at its flagship store on Via Durini. Zographos embraced the Bauhaus philosophy, focusing on the essence of design through form and function, and his CH66 chair, which is part of the MoMA permanent collection in New York, subverts the typical cantilever archetype. The house also has a presence at 10 Corso Como (see below) where it has collaborated with Linde Freya Tangelder on the exhibition Fluid Re-Collection – a journey through sculptural and material-rich works that highlights the bond between the designer’s handcrafted limited-editions and the serially produced products developed for Cassina.
CC-TAPIS x FORNASETTI
A perfect union merging Fornasetti’s surrealist images with CC-Tapis’ innovative rugs, culminating in handcrafted textiles, which will be shown in the exhibition (META)FISICA on Piazza Santo Stefano. The pieces feature Fornasetti’s dreamlike archival motifs on handmade rugs made from Himalayan wool, merino wool and silk, using techniques such as hand-knotting, embroidery and hand-loom weaving.
CECCOTTI COLLEZIONI
The high-end Italian furniture maker and interior design studio is hosting Cosmogramma – The Journey of Form at its flagship on Via Durini (and will also have a presence at the Poltrona Frau store on Via Manzoni). The collection unfolds through Contemporary Voices focusing on emerging talents, and Masters Tribute, which revisits projects from the past – filtering them through a contemporary lens. These include designs by Mario Gottardi and Guglielmo Ulrich, alongside new products by Jean-Marie Massaud, david/nicolas, Draw Studio, Roberto Lazzeroni, and Giuseppe Casarosa.
COMPLETEDWORKS
The London-based jewellery, artistic furniture and homeware design studio will present Something Blue, a furniture and homeware installation within a space at the Convey Building on Via S. Senatore. Here, sculptural glass forms are positioned on brushed metal plinths betwixt furniture – an interplay between gallery and domestic setting. Visitors will be guided from one zone, where objects are presented within a pared-back environment, to another, where the same room is reimagined through a saturated blue light, inviting them to consider how context defines the way objects are experienced. A soundscape by sound artist Ekaterina Bazhenova-Yamasaki enhances the experience.
10 CORSO COMO
The vibrant creative store, which brings together brands and designers from around the world, hosts a series of showcases during MDW. This year Moncler takes over the Gallery to present its new summer collection, while the Project Room hosts Fluid Re-Collection by Linde Freya Tangelder in collaboration with Cassina. There is also a Pop-Up, where Visionnaire is presenting the capsule design NM3, and on the Mezzanine is an installation by Imperfettolab. In the store, Kinraden unveils its new Stilos collection alongside a selection of high jewellery with an architectural design. Also, venture to the secret garden, where Garage Italia Customs presents its partnership with Mariaflora for Palazzo Avino.
DAVID /NICOLAS
The design studio is presenting La Boiserie – unveiling its take on traditional boiserie wood panelling, conceived as a versatile framework, capable of housing custom-made cabinets, consoles and integrated furnishings. Presented at its Milan studio on Via San Maurilio in the 5VIE district, the spatial experience includes artworks from a private collection that create a dialogue between art and architecture. Look out for De Natura Deorum (2013) by Carlos Aires, a gold leaf and digital print composition, and NYC Contemporary Ballet (1980) by Robert Mapplethorpe, a silver gelatin print.
DEDAR
The Italian fabric house is revealing the second chapter of its Versi Liberi collection at a space on Via Lazzaretto. Versi Liberi is comprised of fabric (70 x 90 cm) panels with distinct designs – Riptide, for instance, takes the appearance of a wavy black scribble of embroidery on a textural weave, while Parola is an embossed-like calligraphy design on raffia – that can be used to upholster, for example, a seat or the backrest of a chair (or both) allowing for customisation using an off-the-peg collection. The new iteration extends to curtains in large (370 x 140 cm) panels.
DESALTO
The contemporary Italian furniture maker is taking residence at Salone del Mobile (Hall 9 Stand D10) where it is presenting new seating designs as well as new table proposals by Kensaku Oshiro and Luca Pevere. The Clay table by Marc Krusin is also updated with a new wooden finish.
ELIE SAAB X IMPATIA
Fashion house Elie Saab has collaborated with the Italian design brand Impatia on a new piece of furniture reimagining the classic billiard table as a sculptural statement piece encased in dark bronze metal with ribbed bronze-toned glass panels, which will be presented at Impatia’s showroom on Via Stampa. The table features Italian leather detailing and rail tops cut from slabs of Patagonia marble. A bespoke selection of alternative finishes allows for further customisation.
ESTABLISHED & SONS
The British design brand returns to Salone del Mobile (Pav. 24, Booth D03 & D05) with a new collection. The Medusa lamp series is an exploration of Italian Modernism referencing the sinuous form of the jellyfish in mouth-blown opaline glass. The brand is also continuing its long-term collaboration with the London-based studio Raw Edges at a separate presentation revealing two new colour palettes for their Stack chest of drawers, alongside a more compact version - Side Stack – as well as the Plates Shelving Collection and the GridWork flooring line developed in collaboration with Tongue & Groove.
ETHIMO
The innovative contemporary outdoor furniture brand is presenting the Loop sofa by Milan-based artist and designer Elena Salmistraro. Her outdoor sofa is transformed into a fluid, dynamic sculpture - which is on display at Ethimo's showroom on Via Felice Cavallotti, 8. It is also presenting new designs at Salone del Mobile (Hall 24, Booth C37).
EUGENIO LAPONTE
The Milan-based designer and architect presents Medulla on Via Giovanni Battista Pergolesi 1, an immersive exhibition debuting Pragma, his collectible design collection. The spatial experience is designed to slow perception and prompt reflection, and showcases several pieces: Stele, Giano, Ionica, Innesti, Argo, Lappeso and Golgotha. The result of a conceptual process exploring mythology, language, proportion and structural logic.
FAYE TOOGOOD
British designer Toogood and Noritake Design Collection will present the designer’s new Kiln collection of porcelain tableware at Alcova (see listing) – a design informed by her residency at Noritake’s home in Nagoya, Japan, drawing inspiration from the historical chimneys and kilns of the Noritake factory. Ever prolific, Toogood is also unveiling her first collaboration with Meritalia (see listing): a collection of seating and tables inspired by two-dimensional nets, flat-pack and the act of folding paper. In addition, she has conceived the chubby Lie Low bed (with matching bedside table) for Poltrona Frau (see listing). The designer is also taking over Casa Tacchini for the exhibition Material Anthology, a site-specific sculptural intervention based on Tacchini studio’s workshops and archives. Raw materials: offcuts, samples, and other sources are reshaped into sculptures that celebrate the hands-on, human process of design. She has also found time to present new “slabs” of her modular sofa collection Butter created with Tacchini.
FOSCARINI
The Italian lighting brand is presenting an experimental exhibition exploring light and 3D knitting with Jozeph Forakis and Lorenzo Palmeri at its Spazio Monforte store on Corso Monforte 19.
FRETTE
The Italian fine linen house is returning to table linens with a significant launch at its flagship store on Via Manzoni. This will be shown alongside Turning Tables by Frette’s Creative Design Partner, Tara Bernerd, in which the designer’s motifs are reinterpreted as intricate borders on neutral and coloured linens. Her collection also includes table linens.
