Match design week colors, crafts and comfort

It’s not a stretch to call Match design week Design is the world’s largest annual global event. The commercial anchor of the annual fair is the Salone Internazionale del Mobile – a trade show held at Rho Fairgrounds from Tuesday to Sunday this year, where design lovers, curators and industry leading players gathered to discover and unveil the latest products and furniture. From all over the world

Within the city, a wide network of related events, called Fuorisalone, gallery and showroom exhibitions, pop-up installations, independent satellite fairs and Instagram-worthy brand activations result in citywide acquisitions.

Following the canceled 2020 edition and the somewhat weakened 2021 “supersalon” program that was postponed three times, this year’s fair, which is usually held in April, is known as the 60th edition of the salon, and later a big comeback. COVID-19 disrupted the industry fairs calendar – Not to mention quick follow up supply chain issues.

“This year has started again with a lot of positivity and energy, and it’s a pleasure to be together through design,” said Marva Griffin Wilshire, founder and curator of SaloneSatellite, the capsule program for new and emerging talents.

“It’s been a bit of a transition year, but it’s not clear what direction the transition will take,” said Eric Chen, artistic director at the Hate Nouveau Institute in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Former Director of Design Miami. “It doesn’t feel like there’s much focus on the ‘new’, because everyone is focused on survival.” He noted that this year’s Milan Design Week felt more grounded in critical discussions.

“There is a clear sense of sustainability and responsibility as a whole,” said Paola Antonelli, senior curator. Architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Especially among young and budding studios. “There is a lot of discussion and these items – chairs, carpets and furniture – are also on display along with their life cycle, which makes a big difference. Trojans are horses, in a way they were not as necessary as before. “

“Sustainability has become a consistent theme here,” said interior designer Kelly Weirstler, using many established studios and brands such as Hermes, Martino Gamper and Demorestudio “re-imagining old works” or reusable materials.

Although the only certainty of Milan Design Week is that not all of it can be seen within a week, more people came out than last year to see how much the fair missed. And as always, the main design take-away made the effort worthwhile.

‘Slow design’

Designers and brands, established and similar, embraced many faces of craftsmanship from different cultures.

“I think every time there is a big change in culture and technology, the local means of craft and production are very importantly regenerated,” said Antonelli. But now we have come to the part where we talk about the middle ground.

An exhibition highlighting the craft, identity and storytelling, “This is America,” highlighting a variety of selections. Independent American designers. The curators, Jenny Nguyen, Liz Wert, and Alma Lopez, the wide-ranging talents and closeness of independent designers of color, were sometimes focused on poignant dimensions. One work that moved Lopez personally was that of Monica Curiel, a Mexican-American designer whose artistic use of plaster lifted her immigrant father, a construction worker, and humble materials.

Rotterdam-based designer, Audrey Range showcased the evolving edge of a hybridized craft with the latest “Emissive Chandelier” in a recent series of works created by combining digital rendering and 3D printing processes.Digital Sculpture “ Technology, as he described it. The resulting work was of a rainbow lavender, pale green and silver, and a craggy, glossy surface visually reminiscent of brocade. Meanwhile, renowned designer Martino Gamper presented “Innesto (rubbing on the wrong tree)”, in which he incorporated fragments of the legs and surface details of the furniture to upset the set of damaged vintage 1930s cox furnishings, using plant graft similarities. Visual mash-up of old and new. “Sometimes, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Gamper said, “maybe just a description or a special emphasis, like with trees.”

Animal rest

A series of new sleep-inspired seat pieces were showcased by Los Angeles Upstart Others Items, founded by fashion designer Sam Klemick who transformed woodwork and furniture at the beginning of the epidemic. “I’m really obsessed with sleep and dreams, and the fact is that we spend a lot Our life of dreaming without understanding Or being able to make sense of it, “she said. The large collection of seats, including tufted, duvet-like cushions and rounded conical legs, continued a form of her work, reminiscent of mushroom stalks and a classic 1961 iconic scene from” Last Year at Marienbad. ” Inspired by geometric hats, the French new wave film appears in an oval, dream-like state.

Elsewhere, New York designer Annie Lee Parker debuted the Cloud Chair at a group exhibition presented by artist Daniel Arsham and StockX, fashion label Wells Bonner, Swiss furniture company USM and others, as well as a favorite online marketplace of hypebist and sneaker heads. Bohink Studio’s Peach Seating Collection and more body-nurturing and comforting functions – a curve to celebrate the feminine form, made up of voluntary outlines – sPoke the desire for touch, comfort, and consolation in an age of ongoing epidemics.

Eye candy

“Across the board, it’s really refreshing to see the use of color this year, where previously it was quite monochrome,” Wearstler said.

For all the uncertainties of the past three years, the perennial trend of thin geometric forms and color palettes has been the mainstay for the social media age. It is a beauty that pleases the eye equally and translates well on the screen.

Highlights from the colorful pigeon table – a colorful tiered display and buffet table inspired by Gohar’s childhood in Egypt – created by artist Laila Gohar and Belgian design studio Mरller van Severen – highlights from Monomental Wonders, a multi-level design company from the design firm OMA. Contains natural and semi-precious stones.

Others include Bharat Mahadavi’s Loop Chair, available in three colors for Thonet, and a collection of wares and items from independent designers, including Studio Berg, who took direct inspiration from sweets and desserts.

Great indoor

The mere sight of a plant is said to increase calmness. After the epidemic locks that spent many months in solitude at home, the designers embraced the ruthlessness and escapism of pastoral settings and landscapes. With motifs ranging from waterfalls to floral illustrations and forest landscapes, many designers shared collections that offer aesthetic offerings in biophilia.

Calico wallpapers focus on many of them Design around abstract nature scenes, Including sunset, moonscape and flowers. For the company’s latest release, in collaboration with Tableau, interior design and architecture studio AB Concept, the team looked out for inspiration. The conifer-dotted, alpine mountain ranges within a range of eight panterly metallic colorways are based on photos taken by Ed NG, founder of AB Concept, from his home in Karuizawa, Japan.

“We just moved out of town to New York City at the time of the epidemic, and like Eddie, we now live in a hilly house surrounded by beautiful jungle,” said Rachel Cope, creative director and co-founder of Calico Wallpaper. “We’ve always had this idea of ​​bringing in outsiders to Calico, but because of the epidemic, we’re more focused on bringing in these immersive scenarios that could take us to another place and time.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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