out and about :: salonesatellite - confessions of a design geek

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No sooner had I finished writing up all my BlogTourNYC posts, than I was off to Milan for design week (it’s been a crazy few months!), so more out and about posts I’m afraid! I promise to resume a normal service once these are done!

Salone Internazionale del Mobile is the main trade show – a bit like the 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Design of London Design Festival. It’s absolutely vast, so you have to be selective. I focused on SaloneSatellite – for designers under 35, and Halls 16 and 20, appropriately titled ‘design’! Here are my top picks…

As you know, I’m a big fan of yellow and grey, so it was good to see this trend still in evidence. This was Table Manners from Arco.

I loved this bright and modern take on the wing back chair from Adrenalina, an Italian furniture brand with a real sense of mischief.

And perhaps one of my favourite finds from the whole trip was this range from Fratelli Boffi – I adored the juxtapositions between old and new, florescent and subdued, outrageous and understated. I love it!

On a slightly more sensible note, and something that I would definitely like to test out, this ingenious lamp from Design Facility, illuminates an A4 space on your desk, throwing all potential distractions into darkness. Genius! Design Facility is a research lab that is part of the Singapore Polytechnic Design School – it enables students to learn through taking part in live projects.

More ingenuity from Chilean designer Macarena Pollock – the Gorgiera Pack serves a double function as packaging and display stand – and folds flat when not in use.

In all this miserable weather (yes, it was raining in Milan too!), these cosy lamps, appropriately named ‘Granny’ from Casamania, seemed very appealing indeed.

This had me absolutely captivated! A modified ink-jet printer prints geometric patterns onto paper using a special ink and water combination, and if as by magic, the paper curls up into 3D forms. It was designed and developed by Christophe Guberan, a third year student at ECAL / University of Art and Design, Lausanne. A great response to this year’s theme of technology.

Melt Down by Lindsten Form are “based on an amazing inspirational trip to Japan that unfortunately was delayed for six months after the tragic accident in Fukushima. Would an actual meltdown occur and what would the impact be? The disaster is reflected in the lamps where the process already begun and the bulb are about to melt through the last defence of the glass”.

I’m not sure what I thought this was when I snapped it – I think I was just drawn to the yellow(!), but according to designer, Lisa Jo Fan Chang, it is a ‘carpet structure’ and can be used for floor covering, floor seating or even as a table stand. It’s made from vinyl and cork triangles that can be arranged multiple formations.

In another example of getting users involved in the design process, this time as part of the Addict Lab stand, Meric Kara has enlarged and simplified the weaving structure so that people can assemble Loom themselves.

The Mother Mine And All of Us collection by Ana Fatia, all inspired by human anatomy, really stood out from the crowd.

On a completely different note, I also really liked the naivety of this chair and footstool by Rui Alvas and ‘My Own Super Studio‘.

I was very pleased to discover Studio Baag, a collaboration between Swedish designer Caroline Bauer and Italian architect Pier Francesco Galuppini. I loved the lights above, and the hat stand below, which is actually burned to get that effect – and then varnished.

These salt and pepper mills called Tvi Tvi by Siren Elise Wilhelmsen are inspired by spinning tops and Siren hopes people will be encouraged to play as they twist them to grind and collect the salt and pepper.

And finally, these Corniches by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra are inspired by “little protrusions in nature” and designed for spontaneous displays.