After the Milan furniture fair, you first need a few weeks’ rest to process all the impressions – and to fine-tune your furniture wish list. In the meantime, we have sorted our thoughts and put together our favorites.
Artist’s Version
Shape & Color
You have to employ creative minds to make living objects do more than just fulfill their purpose. Take Austrian designer Arthur Arbesser, for example. He normally applies his colorful designs to clothing, but for once he went wild with a lampshade. A “simple lamp with unaffected charm” was the aim, says Arbesser. And that is exactly what now lights up the rooms. We don’t need a justification to collect beautiful objects, but we love it when we find a really good reason. The hoof-shaped lamp gives us one: If you put two together, you get a bigger, new lamp. So we need at least two. Or even four. Would eight be excessive?
New Products
The ballad of Jeff and Blume
Want an insider tip when it comes to finding the perfect new piece of furniture? Pay attention to the names. The fact that designers lovingly come up with a name for their creations is a good sign. Even better if it arouses curiosity or confusion. Okay, there’s no science behind it, but design is also about feelings. When we think of Jeff, we actually think of a slick businessman – or Channing Tatum in “22 Jump Street”. But Jeff can also be soft and pink and transform our living room into a pastel paradise. Blume, on the other hand, sounds soft, but is an edgy sideboard that harmonizes perfectly with Jeff. Have we now learned not to judge objects too quickly?
Birthday
Bar hopping
The legendary LEM bar stool from Lapalma is turning 25, which means it is now about as old as the people who prefer to spend their Friday and Saturday evenings on such a stool. If you love the look of bar stools but are a homebody, you probably already have one or two LEMs in your home. For its 25th birthday, the chair is available in three new colors: black, blue and green invite you to expand your home bar.
We Love
View of the sun
When everyday life gradually shifts outside as temperatures rise, it should be just as cozy there as in the living room. You don’t necessarily need a couch for this. A reclining bed is also suitable for sunbathing, reading or power naps. Calipso, designed by Antonio Citterio, blends elegantly into its surroundings. If the lounger does get in the way, it can be stowed away in a flash – thanks to wheels that allow it to be rolled across the patio.
Comfort zone
Soft landing
First and foremost, a sofa must be so comfortable that you have to fight gravity to get up again. MDF Italia has understood this principle, because a lot of material research went into the Goom sofa, with the goal of ultimate softness at the top of the list of priorities. The voluminous piece also impresses with its design. And last but not least, a little individualism is a must. The whole thing is a modular system consisting of individual elements: a chaise longue to which an armrest can be added, two poufs and two corner elements. If you manage to get up from the soft landscape, you can reconfigure it again and again to suit your mood.
Collaboration
Scheme M
With a simple zigzag pattern and bold colors, Missoni defines what recognition value is. The fashion house’s collaboration with Roda proves that the pattern is not limited to clothing. At the Salone del Mobile, they presented the two latest additions to their joint design journey. Will you be allowed to sit on the chairs if you’re not dressed in a matching mission dress?
Anniversary
4 Generations Strong
In 1925, brothers Giulio and Stefano Porro opened a small workshop to supply the Milanese bourgeoisie with custom-made furniture. A century later, Porro has grown into a company with a global audience, drawing on a network of architects, designers and professionals from all over the world. Nevertheless, everything is still in the hands of the Porro family. The Porro cousins joined the company after the Second World War and focused on the production of bedroom furniture. The third generation got to grips with digitalization and revolutionized production and design processes. Now, in the fourth generation, the focus is on sustainability in addition to custom-made solutions. What has remained the same over the 100 years? The unmistakable Porro aesthetic and the love of wood as a timeless and high-quality material.
Ritual
Tea ceremony
Tea can do many things: soothe, heal, awaken – it makes sense that you don’t just down the cup, but create complex rituals around its preparation. Ceccotti Collezioni goes one step further and dedicates an entire range of furniture to the tea ceremony. The magical herbs deserve nothing less. With the Teahouse collection by Christophe Pillet, you could even dedicate an entire room to your herb collection. The star of the show is the Teahouse Cabinet, which can be used to store not only teas of all kinds, but also utensils for preparing them and cups. The collection also includes a table and chair, because you have to drink your hot drink somewhere in peace.
Limited Edition
Butterfly Effect
Design can be playful – perhaps it even has to be, in times like these. Poltrona Frau and Fornasetti know this too. Their collaboration resulted in two pieces: an armchair and a cabinet bar. That’s all you need for a cozy evening. The armchair is a re-edition of a piece from 1919 – people have known how to sit comfortably for centuries. The Isidoro trunk, the so-called cabinet bar, was designed in 2007. There may be several decades between them, but they couldn’t be a better match: Sinking comfortably into an armchair while an exquisite selection of drinks awaits next door? It could hardly be better. The duo is perfect thanks to the “Ultime Notizie” print, an iconic pattern from the Fornasetti archive, designed by Piero Fornasetti in 1950.
poltronafrau.com, fornasetti.com
Re-edition
Minimalist
Is it controversial to say that a large part of design consists of ripping out the old and making it fit for the present? You can’t always reinvent the wheel or the chair. And the return to the archive always works. This year, Molteni is bringing back the iconic Monk, which was launched in 1973 – a seat that sits somewhere between a normal chair and a cozy armchair, which is perhaps precisely why it works so well. “Repetition can be good and right as long as it doesn’t limit the variety of shapes, materials and colors,” says designer Tobia Scarpa. This works with Molteni, as the leather seat can be had in any color imaginable.
Light source
Enlightenment
Bringing light into the dark is not the main task of a lamp. Sounds illogical? A luminaire can change the entire appearance of a room – for better or for worse. For example, who likes to be illuminated by harsh ceiling light? The key word is ambience – a lamp must be able to create this. Designer Elisa Ossino knows her stuff. Her designs are small to fairly large works of art that offer warm light and exciting shapes. The Helium creation is reminiscent of oversized honeycombs in the shape of a lantern and is the eye-catcher of any living room.
Exhibition
Interwoven
Is weaving old-fashioned, if not extinct? Not at all. Fabrics are still created by weaving threads. And Anni Albers proved back in the last century that this craft can indeed be art. She was a pioneer of woven fabric and a representative of the Bauhaus movement. Textile company Dedar is therefore joining forces with the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation and presented “Weaving Anni Albers” at the Milan Furniture Fair. This collection takes the legendary artist’s textile works into a new era, creating a balance between the original artistic vision and modern manufacturing innovations. Five iconic Albers fabrics have been carefully reproduced and reinterpreted using contemporary techniques.
Sand time
Nature’s Curves
Very few of us have a garden that could be mistaken for a mirage in delirium. Sand, dunes, crystal-clear water – you don’t find that just around the corner. But you can also place a furniture set inspired by dunes on a green meadow. Dunne by Gandia Blasco, created by Japanese designer Nao Tamura, looks elegant against any backdrop. The sofa, lounge chair and table are inspired by the “gentle curves of the dunes, the rhythmic patterns of the waves and the ever-changing boundary between the sea and the coast”, says Tamura. And because beauty isn’t everything, the choice of materials was also carefully considered: The series is made of one hundred percent recyclable aluminum, while the seat cushions and backrests are made of water-repellent polyurethane.
Woodwork
Solid
At Nikari, the focus is on wood. And precisely processed wood that requires a great deal of craftsmanship. After all, founder Kari Virtanen set up his first workshop at the age of 19. His simple, solid wooden table Linea KVP11 has been one of the most popular custom-made products since the 1990s. Over time, too many requests must have poured in, as the piece has now been added to the Nikari collection. A hidden modular construction allows for flexible size adjustment so that the table can fit into any type of home.
Kitchen Gadget
Magic wand
A basic rule of design – which we’ve just pulled out of the ground – is that playfulness always wins. Two chopsticks serve their purpose, no matter what they look like. But when these chopsticks suddenly have faces and names, eating sushi is twice as much fun. The chopsticks with personality are called Anna and Alessandro. The idea for them lay dormant in the archives until designer Alessandro Mendini brought them to life. The chopsticks are the epitome of what he wants to achieve with design: creating pieces that are poetic, sophisticated, but also simple and user-friendly at the same time.
There’s also plenty to discover away from the Salone del Mobile. Here are some more design favorites that are on our wish list.
