Merry Little Christmas

Merry Little Christmas

We wish you a Merry Little Christmas

In this magical time of the year, inspired by the sweet melody of Martin&Blane, we wish you a “Merry Little Christmas.” In a hectic world, our wish is for you to slow down, take some time for yourself and your loved ones, and live and appreciate the special moments that life offers.

May your heart be light and full of love, and may every shared laugh and hug warm your days. May you experience a serene, joyful, and bright Christmas, just as the song reminds us.

We, too, will dedicate ourselves to our Little Christmas from Saturday, December 23rd, to Sunday, January 7th.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Design Week 2023: New trends in the record edition

Design Week 2023: New trends in the record edition

Milan Design Week 2023: the year of records! Confirming expectations, this edition finally returned in April with a boom in visitors and not only industry insiders.

2023 Colour Trends in Interior Design

Retracing the time course of the colours in trend in recent years, we start with the colour brass which accompanied the design world in the years 2019 and 2020, with a slight trailing off also in the first half of 2021.

Now completely disappeared, its decline has instead sanctioned the introduction of greens in all its shades. Starting with light shades such as sage, it then turned to the dark, intense tones also found in the Verde Alpi and Guatemala marbles. Already appearing in the first post-covid editions, it reached its peak in the 2021-2022 two-year period often combined with pastel pink. It also reappears in Design Week 2023, albeit in a different form. In fact, it can be found in veined marbles and open-pore wood and lacquer shades, combined with charged tones of red and terracotta but also with neutral tones of beige and powder grey.

Fuorisalone 2023 sage green
Design Week 2023 powder grey
Design Week 2023 blue Klein terracotta

Whether warm or cool, they certainly play a key role in the contemporary design scene. Terracotta tones, the great protagonists of the previous edition, are not slow to reappear in monochrome interiors or combined with intense blues.

The latter, which timidly appeared in the form of Klein blue in 2022, find their greatest expression in the current edition. Combining with the increasingly popular powder or ice grey and veering towards their darker hues, they create elegant contrasts by softening their shapes. Giving a foretaste of this is, as always, the fashion world, which in the autumn-winter 2023/2024 fashion shows in London and New York proposes interesting combinations of silver grey with darker tones of blue and burgundy.

Design Week 2023 cream terracotta
Salon green marble stained wood

The materials protagonists of Design Week 2023

Continuing the theme of the trends of this Design Week 2023, one cannot ignore the chapter on materials. The common denominator is certainly the desire to dare and experiment, underlined already by the choice of colours.

Fuorisalone desk petineuse metallic lacquered leather insert
Salon metallic copper scratched natural wood
Fuorisalone metal sample palettes
Salon kitchen metallic effect burnished brass

Metals certainly dominate the scene, experimenting with satin finishes, vibrations and chemical treatments. Lacquers also look in this direction with metallic effects ranging from delicate uniform shades to more pronounced finishes.

Design Week 2023 Elle Decor Art Light kitchen glass mirror
Salon glasswork geometries 02
Salon glazing geometries 01
Design Week 2023 transparent corrugated glass
Design Week 2023 green corrugated glass
Design Week 2023 black corrugated glass
Design Week 2023 orange corrugated glass
Salon corrugated glass 01
Corrugated Glass Salon 02

In keeping with the theme of reflections, mirrors and coloured glass are combined with these. The latter deserve a short parenthesis. During this Design Week 2023 in the Rho Fiera spaces, there was a veritable invasion of glass. Already in previous editions, they had been recognised for their caned and wavy shapes, with workmanship aimed at geometric rigour. In this edition, the attention paid to this material emerges even more, through corrugated glass that seems to recall rippled waves and sinuous movements.

Design Week 2023 transparent corrugated glass detail
Fuorisalone ash stained aqua green red
Fuorisalone ash stained aqua green
Salon pink veined marble wood metal
Velvet green veined marble salon

The desire for grit and character can also be found in the choice of woods, which dare iridescent colours such as red, blue and green treated and lacquered in both closed-pore and, above all, open-pore finishes. Marbles are also of the same type, as veined and coloured as possible. Among them all, however, is the neutrality of Travertine, which with its elegant porosity and reference to tradition embraces furnishings of all kinds.

Design Week 2023 bedside table travertine metallic lacquered dark wood
Fuorisalone armchairs travertine structure
Salone tessuti intrecciati 01
Salon woven fabrics 02
Salon woven fabrics 05
Salon woven fabrics 06
Furniture Exhibition Metallised fabric

The last chapter relates to the textile world, where the bouclet in trend in 2022 has given way to cottons and stripes with stronger contrasts, almost simulating the jeans effect. Great attention is also paid to weaves and textures, first and foremost straw. It is found both as a characterising element of chairs and armchairs, but also interpreted as a decorative element, layered with glass or mirrors.

All these trends espouse the philosophy of contrast, the guiding principle of this Design Week 2023, whether it is material through strong choices of materials that are, however, chromatically uniform, or tonal contrasts, even daring bold colours as opposed to neutrality.

Design Week 2023 straw laminated panels glass
Fuorisalone Loewe weaves
Fuorisalone Armani home weaves straw fabrics

The theme of light at Design Week 2023

Great attention in this Design Week 2023 is certainly reserved for light, not only in the spaces of the Salone in Rho, through Euroluce, but also in the many installations in the off-site area.

Among the various installations of note, The Art of Light curated by Elle Decor certainly stands out. The historic rooms of Palazzo Bovara, which has been home to the renowned trade publication for years, are metaphorically translated into the highlights of the home. The focus is precisely on the change in their perception depending on the type of light and time of day.
Thus the living area goes from being a bright room with diffuse natural lighting, conveying energy and freshness, to a comfortable environment with artificial lighting.
The latter certainly provide a more theatrical light, calibrating its intensity in relation to darkness. Indeed, the latter becomes a co-star in the design of a home.

At Villa Necchi Campiglio, it is the Occhio brand that analyses the future of light through a convivial space of discussion rather than mere exhibition. Enclosing the essence of the new proposals is an immersive installation in which the products come alive through elegant movements and dances. The theatricality of light reappears in this Design Week 2023 in the subways of the Stazione Centrale and in the nearby via Sammartini, where Dimore Gallery stages settings on the borderline between cinema, art and design.

Fuorisalone Elle Decor Art Light entrance hallway
Fuorisalone Elle Decor Art Light hall
Fuorisalone Elle Decor Art Light sofa room
Salon bookcase black glass lighting transparencies
Fuorisalone ventura central subway
Fuorisalone ventura centrale subway 02
Design Week 2023 Louis Vuitton 01
Fuorisalone Brera District light installation
Salone Mobile Euroluce BIG

The universe of fragrances

A recurring and unusual theme during this Design Week 2023 is the focus on olfaction as a design element. Analysed both as an added value of an environment and as a characterising element, it contributes to creating a perceptive memory. Analysing this theme is Mooi through its digital perfumery.

Algorithmic Perfumery mixes tailor-made fragrances thanks to a creative and experimental test integrating artificial intelligence. It is no coincidence that the installation focuses its main rooms around this machine. Placed in the centre of the entrance, it welcomes the visitor by immediately making itself known as the protagonist of the scene. It is then found on the outside, in a sort of contemporary square, where its presence can be likened to that of a bar with seating and conviviality points arranged around it. Elements that underline the importance of the experience.

At Alcova, whose location during Design Week 2023 will be moved to the former slaughterhouse of Porta Vittoria, the brand Les Eaux Primordiales, to launch its latest essence, proposes a sensorial installation composed of two towers inspired by the industrial buildings of Northern France. In the first tower, in a sort of conceptual and physical decomposition, the individual essences are presented in their purity, usable by the visitor through glass ampoules. The interactive component represents the crucial moment of the installation, also allowing the creation of movement and fluidity in the space.

Profumeria algoritmica Moooi
Acque primordiali di Alcova

Design and Haute Couture

As in past editions, contaminations from the world of fashion dominate the design scene during this Design Week 2023.

The partnership between Dior and Philippe Starck continues in the spaces of Palazzo Citterio, re-proposing the Medaillon Chair in a colourful guise. Fluid and elegant movements take the form of a path on the borderline between triumphal march and design catwalk.

Fuorisalone Dior Medaillon Chair Philippe Starck 02
Fuorisalone Dior Medaillon Chair Philippe Starck 01
Missoni

Like every year, Missoni gives energy and lightheartedness by creating a dreamlike world in which fabrics embrace doughnut and panettone seats. An environment in which to become a child again, breathing an air of freshness and brightness.

Fuorisalone Missoni 01
Fuorisalone Missoni 02
Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta entrusts Gaetano Pesce with the presentation and design of two new Limited Edition bags. Through a contemporary cave with resin walls and rock carvings in green tones, he combines the mountains of Este and the American prairies.

Fuorisalone Bottega Veneta Gaetano Pesce 02
Fuorisalone Bottega Veneta Gaetano Pesce 01
Furla

Furla interprets its home line through delicate neutral tones, combined with more decisive touches of colour such as green, midnight blue and bronze. Here then, at Design Week 2023, it proposes sophisticated combinations of fabrics, leathers, metallic effect lacquers, velvets, metals and the ever-present marble. A glimpse of the oriental world can be found in the choice of materials and shapes, such as the proposal of round tables instead of the traditional western-style rectangular ones.

Fuorisalone Furla home 01
Design Week 2023 Furla home powder grey midnight blue
Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton returns to Palazzo Serbelloni with Objects Nomades, a metaphorical journey among iconic furnishings set in a timeless context. In this example too, light becomes a design element in which furniture in neutral tones is inserted, as if to further soften its forms.

Fuorisalone Louis Vuitton 01
Louis Vuitton Fuorisalone 02
Loewe

Loewe instead interprets the design-fashion binomial through a parallelism between the new bags and the Loewe Chairs proposals. In the evocative inner courtyard of Palazzo Isimbardi, craftsmanship is translated into weaves and refined techniques among iridescent colours and provocative proposals.

Fuorisalone Bottega Veneta 01
Fuorisalone Bottega Veneta 02
Armani Casa

Texturality can also be read in the interior proposals of Armani Casa, which for the first time opens the doors of the historic Palazzo Orsini to the public. Between straw, onyx and jacquard fabric, one recognises the timeless elegance and mastery of Armani, in an interpretation that unites the outdoor and indoor lines in the sign of essentiality. The combination of diametrically opposed materials, such as straw and onyx, results in an absolutely recognisable stylistic interpretation. Special attention is paid to the Italian tradition and its craftsmanship, hence the choice of materials for most of the interior proposals.

Fuorisalone Armani Casa 01
Fuorisalone Armani Casa 02
Hermes

Closing the circle is the always masterful interpretation of Hermès‘ home proposals, in the well-established La Pelota location. Cement and iron are dematerialised from the building context to which they belong to become synonymous with lightness and elegance in a stylistic oxymoron. The Maison’s theatrical interpretation succeeds in transposing elements that are by nature raw and robust into light, somewhat ephemeral stylistic traits.

Settimana del design 2023 Hermes 01
Settimana del design 2023 Hermes 02

Bye bye Milan Design Week, see you in April 2024

This edition, too, concludes amid historic districts and new proposals. From the world of fashion to the influence of artificial intelligence, craftsmanship and labour.

Contaminations play a leading role in giving life to an eclectic panorama in continuous movement. Undoubtedly the great protagonists of Design Week 2023 were the palaces and historical residences that with their extraordinary opening attracted not only professionals but also families and the curious, who thus had the opportunity to get to know the world of design.

It is no coincidence that this edition was certainly one of the most complete and high-performing, as witnessed by the large numbers and huge queues to access the exhibition spaces. An edition marked by grit and personality that dares strong colour and material contrasts, but does not renounce elegance and uniformity. Let’s close the curtain with a reminder for next year!

Merry Christmas in Viva Magenta

Merry Christmas in Viva Magenta

Merry Christmas in Viva Magenta

We close this year with our Best Wishes themed Viva Magenta, Pantone color 2023.
Viva Magenta is defined by the Pantone institute itself as “An unconventional shade for an unconventional time” it is in fact courageous and fearless, a pulsating, exuberant color.

Three years after the outbreak of a pandemic, the start of a war, tumultuous social unrest, an economy gone unstable and growing climate change, it represents the confidence and motivation we need to withstand long-term disruptive events. Indeed, we must find the motivation to continue.

Technically it is a shaded crimson red tone, a hybrid color between warm and cold. Viva Magenta envelops us in both power and grace, inspiring us to present ourselves with confidence and humanity.

May it be auspicious for the new year!

viva magenta new year

We take this opportunity to remind you that our offices will be closed from December 24th to January 8th.

SALONE DEL MOBILE 2022

SALONE DEL MOBILE 2022

SALONE DEL MOBILE 2022

We left last September full of expectations towards the Salone del Mobile 2022 and, after visiting it, we can say that it has amply satisfied them. The central themes of this edition were sustainability and ecological transition, it was interesting to discover how the world of serial production approached them.

INTRODUCTION

If last year Milan was ready to restart and to repopulate itself, in the latest weeks we have witnessed a real migration towards the pole of Italian Design. We were able to ascertain that Milan has not only flourished again and the machine of the Salone del Mobile has begun to march at full speed but the demand, which had remained silent in the last years of restrictions, has turned out to be hungry for novelty. The streets of the city were full of people and was a long time that we have not been on crowded subways, in noisy stands talking without fear and without masks about something that was totally linked to our work. I have to admit it was unexpected but cool.

salone fiera rho

MIXED REALITIES

Spaces and objects seem to have taken on a new meaning in these years of resilience. Our habits have changed and rooted within the home, it is as if several levels were superimposed in the home space containing all the activities that were previously external, from work to leisure. Interesting and excellent starting point was Huawei‘s immersive installation: Tomorrow Living, in which new mixed-reality living scenarios are shown. Here, intelligent technology allows us to experience the home intensely, reconnecting it with nature, optimizing consumption and space in an environment that is not only more sustainable but also more habitable. In favor of a psychophysical well-being, our home does not become our cage but a circumscribed environment in which it is possible to live in harmony, with ourselves but also with the neighborhood, creating small permanent communities.

Huawei tomorrow living

SUSTAINABILITY

From a Green perspective, on the recovery of goods and raw materials without waste or unnecessary scraps of materials, objects lose their transient essence and become long-lived. Tom Dixon in his installation Twenty, in addition to celebrating the two decades of activity, reflects on the complexity of sustainable objects, showing some ideas on which the studio is working. Among these is their symbolic project, Flamecut, a chair as an example of this design theory that survives over time, which will be able to overcome plagues, natural disasters, but above all, the passage of time unchanged.

Tom Dixon Flamecut
Tom Dixon twenty

A LIFE EXTRAORDINARY

Objects not only become long-lived but are also enriched with cognitive synapses. The new AI, that we also see in the Home Smart Automation devices, responds to our every desire and becomes a real life partner. Moooi on the wave of technology and in Partnership with LG and IDEO presents in its A Life Extraordinary at Palazzo dei Tessuti, Piro, an intelligent scent diffuser. Piro is able to dance to the rhythm of music, follow you with a motion sensor, change the color of its internal LEDs and, if deemed necessary, spray a delicate cloud of perfume in the air.

Its structure is the one of a mechanical arm used for automated productions, decontextualized, covered with a shiny and colored shell and programmed to become a sentient household object. The home itself becomes an extraordinary experience in Moooi’s Vision, including soft fabrics, upholstery that make you dream and refined and elegant objects. We thanks Marcel Wanders, the founder of the brand for his ever visionary creations.

Moooi chair and table
moooi walpaper
moooi sofa

THE TRENDS OF THE SALONE DEL MOBILE

The noble themes of this year arise from questions related to the future of living. Raw materials are constantly running out and have become, especially in recent years, a source of economic speculation. The central installation at the Salone, Design with Nature, a project developed with Mario Cucinella, aims to become a table for discussions and insights on the themes of the circular economy and reuse. The city could in fact become the reserve of the future, where to find most of the raw materials useful for construction in a virtuous ecosystem.

KITCHENS AND MATERIALS

In fact, two new areas in the pavilions were created from this cue, those related to FTK, that is the new Technologies for Kitchen, appliances capable of reducing their consumption from a home automation and intelligent point of view by raising the level of their performance. The new household appliances are multifunctional and professional, even if in the kitchen is tending to hide them from the view. We have noticed that in most of the new proposals of the oven column, doors are packaged laterally in ingenious systems with hinges and side guides that in a few centimeters house the door at rest and close themselves.

hidden kitchen

Valcucine with advanced motion sensors makes the kitchen a fluid mechanism capable of closing, opening or changing functionality with simple soft hand movements.

Valcucine Mendini
Mendini closed

Instead, the working space is highlighted and is further equipped in the rear part with modules dedicated to all the useful tools in the kitchen. From the knife holder, to the spice rack, to the cutting boards, to the paper roll, everything is tidy and accessible.

equiped rear kitchen
kitchen back
closed back kitchen

The work area is well lit and characterized by non-toxic and antibacterial materials. The main material of this Salone del Mobile is Lapitec. Green, resistant to thermal shock, scratches and is also a conductor of heat, has in fact patented the first invisible hob. The use is simple: equipped with magnetic sensors and a hidden coil, by placing a special silicone pad on the top, the touch controls are activated that allow the system to be switched on from two or four burners. Without the pad, the induction hob and its controls are inactive, safe and impossible to accidentally turn on. The top therefore remains completely free, distinguished only by a display and small engravings that emphasize the full-body nature of the material. This will not only helps in cleaning operations, but also allows the worktop to be used for other activities, from food preparation to welcoming convivial moments.

Lapitec chef

Together with Lapitec there are, again for the kitchen top, ceramic and stoneware materials, with veins printed on the surface reminiscent of trendy marbles or solid colors. The finish of the materials goes from Soft touch, velvety and soft, to rough and irregular surfaces. In fact, even the new Neolith production tends to emphasize the tactile inhomogeneity of their slabs.

Neolith texture
Marble effect top

From an aesthetic point of view, the Kitchen top is presented in two thicknesses, the very thin 12mm, which was so fashionable last year, a half size of about 6cm and a 12cm which in many cases, ingeniously, is equipped with drawers containing crockery and small kitchen items. Is also nice the play created with the voids, the undertop groove of the recessed handle (always in trend) and then the departure of the front door.

equiped top
Kitchen medium top in wood
kitchen stone drawer

The internal frames of the classic-style doors have been slightly changed in honor of modernity (here an insight into the reference style). The bands become almost three-dimensional and knobs or handles disappear in favor of hidden pushes.

kitchen modern frames
frames details

NEW COLOR PALETTE, MATERIALS AND DELICATES

We rediscover the terracotta color, elected color of the year 2021 in a more delicate shade even in the Solid tops and then taken up again in the laminate or lacquered doors. The visual connection that is thus created between different materials but united by the same shade is very nice. The Blue Klein color is striking in a very strong shade used for walls and day furniture, this fades and is found, in a more delicate powder-colored version, in the kitchen. Also for the tops we find the sage green, which with the marble Verde Alpi is back in vogue and many shades of gray.

color terracotta
color dust light blue
Color Blue Kline
Silestone proposals

Anthracite gray is also introduced in the finishes of household appliances, taking the place of glossy black in the new Smeg proposals.

smeg anthracite

RIBBED AND MILLED WOOD

With its vintage soul, very elegant and established trend, it is the ribbed wood, which we are also using a lot. So wood is back but with a different dress, in uniform strips in natural or lacquered color. We found it on the doors of the kitchens, of the day furniture, in the sleeping area and also as wall paneling.

ribbed wood
ribbed wood
ribbed wood
ribbed staircase

The raw materials are then shown with textures and intertwining, the marble is milled in subtle geometries that expand the movement of the veins. The stones, on the other hand, fit together in mosaics capable of creating excellent visual dynamism.

trame di pietra
trame di pietra
trame mosaics

Even the glass is no longer a smooth and clean extra-clear crystal but is found in its fluted form, sometimes with a mirror back.

fluted glass
fluted glass

FORMS

A Salone del Mobile that looks to the past to take inspiration, both in materials and shapes. The rounded lines are back, mainly in the stand-alone furniture and in the living area, in the kitchen the snack top or the convivial table in the living room are softened.

rounded forms
rounded furniture
rounded furniture green
rounded ribbed furniture

FINISHES

Here we decree that stainless steel has lost its charm and has been replaced with many different finishes. As we have seen in recent years, the satin brass color and rose gold are the stylistic guides of the fashion industry, which, albeit indirectly, dictates the rules and also influences the world of design. In fact, we find metal profiles with these finishes in household appliances and in taps, if we do not want stainless steel we have the possibility to exclude it from any element for a valid alternative. These include the matt black, which can also be found in the matching preformed washbasins.

finishes taps

THE LOCATIONS OF THE FUORISALONE

The Salone del Mobile is also an opportunity to discover the wonderful buildings in the city center that open their doors and become an exhibition venue. Tom Dixon presented himself at Palazzo Serbelloni, while Palazzo Bovara welcomed, as last year, Elle Decor. Within the settings that describe and define the various areas through objects of timeless design. In the house we live in, objects, lamps and furnishings are arranged without apparent temporal and functional hierarchy, becoming interchangeable based on the activity carried out within it.

Palazzo Bovara
Palazzo Bovara restaurant
Palazzo Bovara Elle Decor

At Palazzo Citterio, the Maison Dior collaborates for the first time with Philippe Starck, inviting him to reinterpret the Médaillon chair, a symbol of the Louis XVI style, dear to Christian Dior.
The result is Miss Dior, an elegant chair that emphasises the lightness of aluminium in three variants, two finishes (polished and matt) and four colours, including chrome, copper, gunmetal and gold.
Here is the link to last year’s article, in which the same chair was reinterpreted by many different designers in even bizarre designs.

Dior and Stark
Dior rose gold

At Palazzo del Senato Kohler presents a world preview of a large-scale immersive art experience, entitled Divided Layers, in collaboration with one of the greatest artists on the contemporary scene: Daniel Arsham, who also created Rock.01 for the company, a 3D printed sink.

palazzo del senato
arsham

The alternative exhibition venue was instead the vault of a former bank in Piazza Affari where Pulpo‘s exhibits seemed even more precious.

Pulpo caveaux
Pulpo caveaux

STATALE UNIVERSITY

Statale University was totally occupied by over 40 projects that aim to reflect on what design could do for a better future. Regeneration, redevelopment, recovery and rebirth through eco-sustainable and dreamy installations. In the courtyards of the university, the theme of the labyrinth is chased, such as The A-maze Garden by Lissoni Associati with Amazon, or even Labyrinth Garden by Raffaello Galiotto. In the central courtyard stands the Sideral Station telescope tower, created with Whirlpool and signed by Michele De Lucchi. This is how he explained his project: «It is a tower to look up and imagine alternative visions of tomorrow. The immersive experience inside, where emotional spaces are explored, is designed to amaze and push the visitor to continue dreaming of a tomorrow worth living “.

statale main yard
statale labyrinth
statale idra
statale aula magna

HERMES, FENDI AND LOUIS VUITTON

The large space of the Pelota was, once again this year, the exhibition site of Hermes, which presented its latest collections dedicated to Home Decor. With extreme delicacy, the totems that contain the displayed elements, also divided by color ranges, are characterized by a light structure in wood and rice paper. Always the natural paper, structured in volumes of different heights, it is an exhibition venue for ceramics, leather containers and small bamboo objects.

Hermes ceramics
hermes leather
hermes small objects
hermes ceiling structure
Spazio Pelota Hermes

Fendi Casa presents its timeless home in a splendid building in Via Monte Napoleone. References to the past, new eco-sustainable materials such as bamboo, classic and modern shapes embrace each other in a sophisticated and attention to detail production.

Fendi Bar
Fendi home
fendi home details

The Luis Vuitton Objets Nomades exhibition is geared towards creative innovation, in which famous designers imagine experimental but functional furniture. The objects in the collection are characterized by an explosion of color, the beautiful Bulbo armchair by Fernando and Humberto Campana opens the collection and, during the visit, we were also lucky enough to immortalize Patricia Urquiola with her Overlay Bowl.

object nomades
object nomades louis vuitton
patricia urquiola
object nomades

THE BOLD INSTALLATIONS BY LEE BROOM, ALCOVA AND NILUFAR DEPOT

Lee Broom in the Brera Design District presented his Divine Inspiration, a series of six ethereal lamps that arise from the exploration of monumental design associated with religious architecture. A spiritual journey that transforms environments and evokes feelings of reverence and contemplation.

lee broom
lee broom
Lee broom
lee broom

Nilufar Depot presents Innesto, three floors of rich installations and a particular and exclusive type of design, which we could also define as unique. Because it arises from personal curiosity, from contamination, the appreciation of heterogeneity and the fusion of apparently distant worlds.

nilufar depot
nilufar bed

For the third consecutive year, Alcova confirms its attention to the evolutions and developments in the world of design, to offer a stimulating cross-section of it. In each room a different exhibition in which different projects alternate established professionals with young emerging talents to explore new frontiers from the point of view of technology, materials, sustainable production, social practices and any other current direction of design.

alcova portal
alcova window
alcova textiles

Interesting and inherent to the theme of reuse were the presentation of recycled materials from disused appliances.

home appliance

THE SALONE DEL MOBILE 2022 IN CONCLUSION

Production would never be with zero environmental impact, sustainability and ecological transition are therefore difficult issues to perform but at the same time interesting challenges. In the hope that we can really create a virtuous ecosystem on reuse to limit the large waste of our society, we give you an appointment at the Salone del Mobile in 2023!

Milan Design Week 2021: between the new Supersalone format and the fuorisalone districts.

Milan Design Week 2021: between the new Supersalone format and the fuorisalone districts.

Milan Design Week 2021 has finally arrived, exploded in all its energy!
Last week Milan brought back the ever-moving machine of the Salone del Mobile, in an extraordinary version, accompanied by the districts of Fuorisalone threatened in the urban fabric of the capital.
The long-awaited autumn edition has aroused an ever more tangible ferment, which was followed by a positivity and acceptance by the whole population. A clear message of restarting a Milan that is rediscovered in all its energy and desire for innovation.
The digital edition in April has also increased the desire to return to the presence, between stands and creative installations!

We also looked around the Supersalone stands and the fuorisalone exhibitions, looking for ideas and inspirations, for a continuous update on trends and design ideas.
Here is our balance of this autumn edition between considerations and personal selection!

Milan Fuorisalone Modulor map

KM covered

hours

location

calories burned

Between Fashion and Interior Design: care of visual

Over the years, the Fuorisalone has always been recognized for its thematic installations, on the edge between art exhibitions and immersive installation. In recent years, brands from the fashion world have been increasingly recognized.

In 2019 the most successful is certainly Cos at Palazzo Isimbardi with its unstructured portal in 3D printed volumes. Accompanying him, Hermès at the La Pelota complex and his attention to the handcrafted product, but also Missoni with Home Sweet Home staging a textile world permeated with saturated colors.

During the just ended Milan Design Week 2021, high fashion brands are once again recognized for their exhibition methodology and amazing sets. Hermès, Antonio Marras, Dior and Gucci certainly among the most nominated of this edition.

Hermès Milan design week 2021 La Pelota

Hermès, Collection for the Home – La Pelota

The French haute couture house returns to Pelota with a dreamlike setting: 5 display totems hand-decorated by the scenographers of the Teatro alla Scala, reinterpreting the concept of “home”. Internally, divided into different themes, Objects from the Home collection that enhance the materiality, the artisan imprint and the meticulous work of the handmade. An installation that strikes and remains impressed not only for its aesthetic impact, but also and above all for the values ​​transmitted and the emotionality of the space. To admire the obsessive attention to points of view, the architectural lines and the seriality of the graphics, the tactility of the materials enhanced by the objects that want to be touched and felt.

Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La Pelota totem detail 01
Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La pelota totem detail 02
Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La Pelota totem detail 03
Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La pelota totem detail 04
Hermes Fuorisalone 2021 La Pelota totem detail 05

Dior, The Dior Medallion Chair – Palazzo Citterio

The theatrical installation commissioned by Maria Grazia Chiuri comes to life at Palazzo Citterio. The protagonist is the iconic Medallion Chair, in Louis XVI style, chosen by Christian Dior as the essential emblem of the French Maison for its elegance and its “Parisian style”. 17 artists and designers were thus invited to reinterpret the original chair, giving life to objects at the mercy of fantastic creation, conceptual and graphic reinterpretation. Provocative, witty, haughty, deconstructed, impossible. An installation that fully enhances the various chairs, making them the protagonists of a masterful staging.

Milan Design Week 2021 Dior medallion Chair
detail Dior Medallion Chair 01
detail Dior Medallion Chair 02
detail Dior Medallion Chair 03

Left: Ma Yansong, Meteor
Center: India Mahdavi, Swan
Right: Seungjin Yang, Blowing chair for Dior

Alcova – Former Military Hospital

The charm of abandonment enchants visitors to Alcova, creating interesting conceptual and visual contrasts with the design works. Among exposed systems, peeling walls and sinks with rusted pipes of the former Military Hospital, contemporary design takes center stage.
Here settings with a sophisticated and immersive scenographic impact meet exhibition environments with a highly expressive concept.

An example is Brassless, curated by Studio Vedèt for Nilufar Galley, whose stated goal is to accelerate the end of the brass trend. Extremely used material from 2017 to today, whose diffusion has been emphasized by the fast distribution of the internet and social media, the exhibition does not want to sanction the end of brass, but rather a denunciation of the decadence of trends.
With this logic, 13 talented designers, deliberately extraneous to contemporary trends, were selectedwhose objects experience the ductility, resistance, aesthetics and technical properties of metals. From gold, to pressed aluminum, passing through nickel and copper, but also silver and steel. Transparent Landscapes by Studiozero, on the other hand, investigates the theme of transparency, declined in a sensorial set-up, between visual and sound, and in the presentation of three iconic objects: a mirror, a carpet and a floor lamp.

On the upper floor of the Laundry building, instead, one finds oneself projected into the surreal atmosphere of A Clockwork Orange through the revisited reproduction of the Milk Bar curated by HEAD.

Milan Design Week 2021 Nilufar Gallery Brassless
Milan Design Week 2021 Nilufar Gallery Objects of common use

Nilufar Gallery, Brassless e Object of Common Use, Alcova

Transparencies Alcova
Transparencies Alcova 02

Transparent Landscapes, Studio Zero, Alcova

Clockwork Orange Milk Bar Alcova
Clockwork Orange Milk Bar Alcova 02

Korova Milk Bar, HEAD

Turri, Supersalone

Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 03

La Casa Fluida, Elle Decor

Senato Hotel Milano Aqva
Senato Hotel Milano Aqva detail

ACQVA, Senato Hotel Milano

Ferri Mobili Supersalone

Ferri mobil, Supersalone

Supersalone DeCastelli
Kerakoll Design Milan design week 2021

Left: De Castelli, Supersalone
Right: Kerakoll Design House, Kerakoll

Supersalone Connubia Milan Design Week 2021
Luigi Ghirri Mutina 2021

Left: Connubia, Supersalone
Right: Between the lines, Luigi Ghirri, Mutina

Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe
Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe 02
Milan design week 2021 Mohd studiopepe 03

Studiopepe per Mohd Milano

Between reflections and suggestive ideas: the importance of the concept

In this Milan Design Week 2021, the care of the concept and the message conveyed are undoubtedly given greater importance to the most successful installations. In addition to the aforementioned exemplary installations by Hermès and Dior, Nilufar Gallery by Alcova and La Casa Fluida by Elle Decor also find a double positive response.
The latter, already mentioned for the chromatic setting of its interiors, is even more appreciable because it is flanked by the development of contemporary themes.
The fluidity of domestic rooms gives light to some of the increasingly aware needs that the pandemic has left us.
11 environments decline these needs with increasingly flexible solutions and food for thought for the new domesticity.

Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 03
Elle Decor Palazzo Bovara 01 Milan Design Week 2021

La Casa Fluida, Elle Decor

Living Corriere, Double signature – Palazzo Morando

At Palazzo Morando, among the projects presented in Living Corriere’s Double Signature, Ugo La Pietra pays homage to the crafts of art and genius loci through Vasi Architettura / Natura. The message transmitted, between provocative and denouncing, aims to protect urban greenery, often included in architectural and urban planning projects to justify and try to restore balance to the continuous construction action to which cities are subject. The architectures then become the cradle of land within which nature should find life, but is instead bound.

Milan design Week Doppiafirma Palazzo Morando

Vasi Architettura/Natura, Ugo La Pietra per Doppiafirma, Living Corriere

Interni, Interni Creative Collection – State University of Milan

At the State University of Milan, the theme of nature, linked to its animal species, returns with Survival within the Courtyard of Honor. A raft, a modern Noah’s Ark, welcomes the iconic animals of Qeebo in an extreme rescue attempt from global warming, loaded by means of mechanical elevators.

The exhibition curated by Nanda Vigo with Ctrlzak in the west loggia also has an almost apocalyptic vision. Two large glass cases welcome artifacts and artistic creations in a lunar landscape, enriching them with an otherworldly connotation.

Survival Qeebo Universita Statale Milano Milan Design Week

Survival, Qeebo

Saeturn Nanda Vigo CTRLZAK

Saeturn, Nanda Vigo and Ctrlzak

Care of detail: textured leather inserts for high-end products

If the Fuorisalone reserved great surprises during Milan Design Week 2021 as regards ideas, themes and installations, the credit for the attention to details and finishes certainly goes to the products displayed during the Supersalone. various brands, giving up distinct and iconographic stands, focus attention on the products.
Here then is that details and finishes are even more appreciable.

Among these we mention Turri, whose sofas have leather-covered seams create interesting chromatic and material contrasts.
Also reflected in the detail of the armrest, in which a visible light structure is re-proposed that recalls the initial of the logo.
Also in leather are the CPRN handles with a semicircular development, matching the warm orange color of the doors, also used in the top.

Ceppi embraces the soft structure of a large sofa with containing tie-rods which, rolling around the exposed structure, then winds around the entire external perimeter. Porada embellishes a dark wood console with prestigious pull-out drawers whose handles are replaced by knotted laces.
An almost masculine complement, with an austere and modern look.

The theme of the lace is also found in Hausen, whose bookcase has shelves connected to each other by a metal profile that winds around embracing the individual elements.

sofa detail Turri Supersalone 2021
Turri Supersalone 2021 leather armchair

Turri, Supersalone

Ceppi Supersalone 2021
CPRN Supersalone 2021

Hausen (Left) e Porada (Right), Supersalone

Hausen Supersalone
Porada Supersalone

Hausen (sinistra) e Porada (Destra), Supersalone

Materials among new trends, processes and sensations during Milan Design Week 2021

In the textile world, the well-identified address is witnessing the rebirth of bouclé both in light monochromatic shades and in two-tone variants.
Among the many examples exhibited in this Milan Design Week 2021 we can mention SEM Milano in Alcova and Porada itself.
Still as regards the fabrics, the chromatic choice and the thoughtful combinations of Hermès are masterful.

Turning instead to timeless marble, Salvatori’s proposals are extremely refined, as every year. Miniatures of domestic architecture are combined with objects of common use, made courtly by the eternal material par excellence.

To enhance its ductility, making it almost a fluid material, is the Agglomerati in Alcova proposal. Here the Palissandro marble seems to bend softly in an interesting interlocking game in the MASS proposal. In the Round Table variant, the same principle transforms the top into structural legs, gently unraveling like a soft fabric.

Also noteworthy is the new Antolini showroom inaugurated during Milan Design Week 2021 in Piazza Fontana. Here a spectacular open spot develops from the exhibition wall through double-sided strips. A perfectly successful scenographic effect capable not only of enhancing the beauty of the marble essences, but also the infinite processing skills. On the lower floor, different set-up methods expose the natural material distinguished by color, type or surface finish.

Agglomerati Alcova Milan Design Week 2021
SEM Milano Alcova Milan Design Week

Left: Agglomerati, MAAS
Right: SEM Milano, Alcova

Antolini Showroom Milano Design Week
Antolini black marble sample book
Onice bathtub Antolini Milan Design Week

Antolini Showroom in Piazza Fontana

Conclusions of the Milan Design Week 2021 in the autumn version

After the digital edition of Milan Design Week, what remains of this edition finally in attendance is a great desire to leave. Milan, which seemed almost passable and turned off during the period of the pandemic, instead showed the great car in turmoil that was feeding itself. The spotlights are therefore turned off for this edition, ready to turn on again from 4th to 10th April with the traditional and beloved week of furniture.

 

See you then in 2022, ready to welcome the news!