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Milan Exposure
With our own small (yet perfectly formed) team busy holding the Mix and Mixology
‘babies’, we asked some real proper experts to review the offerings at this year’s
Milan Salone for us – starting with perennial Mixology chief judge, BDP Design
Director Mark Simpson.
I’ve missed the last couple of Salones, so a
trip to Milan in Expo year was something
I was looking forward to. In the two
years I’ve missed there have been new ‘zones’
opening up around the city as well as the
established areas such as Tortona and Brera to
see. It gets bigger every year – now taking up
the whole city and the whole week.
The main fair at Rho is of course a must,
this year hosting Euroluce alongside the
furniture exhibits – as is a trip to The Trienalle
Di Milano, Milan’s Design Museum.
In addition, this year a number of Milan’s
hidden Palazzos were opening their doors with
exhibits and shows.
Perhaps the most spectacular of those
was the Palazzo Crespi on CorsoVenezia.
Airbnb, in association with Fabrica, staged
‘Housewarming’ – an exhibition of the work
of 19 designers on the theme of ‘Welcome’.
The venue is a sumptuous private home
with an amazing series of decorative rooms.
Originally built in the 17th century and
restored in the 1920’s, it is home to an amazing
array of rococo furnishings and two huge
Canaletto’s, rumoured to be worth £100m
each. It is very rarely open to the public.
Further down the road the Palazzo Bocconi
played host to an installation of limited edition
pieces commissioned by LouisVuitton. Each
piece in this ‘Objets Nomades’ is inspired
by travel and folds or packs away in some
form or other. Of course, any such collection
wouldn’t be complete without pieces by
the omnipresent Barber Osgerby ( a lamp)
and Patricia Urquiola (a swinging seat). My
favourite piece was however the foldable
‘Ernest’ bed by Gwenael Nicolas.
The first party of the week was the opening
of the new Poltrona Frau showroom on via
Manzoni. Entitled ‘Making Masterpieces’, the
store held a demonstration of their Ghostfield
chair being expertly crafted.The new store
is vast and in the space formerly occupied
by Driade. Probably once a Pallazzo, it has
elegant original frescos in the high ceilinged
rooms to the rear of the space. BDP is
assisting Poltrona Frau with the opening of
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2. 80 Mix Interiors | 154
their new London flagship in the autumn, so
it was good to see this new concept in the
flesh.The Poltrona Frau Group also had a
large presence at the Salone itself with a large
and impressive stand sitting alongside sister
brands Cassina and Cappellini and the Cassina
Theatre, which showed the documentary ‘Le
Corbusier 50’, celebrating the Le Corbusier
and Charlotte Perriand classics that Cassina
have now been making for 50 years.As part of
those celebrations Cassina has introduced new
finishes and colours the series.
Poltrona Frau launched a new version of
the best selling Archibald sofa, the ‘Archibald
Gran Comfort’ – even fatter and lovelier than
the original – as well as the Bullit sofa and Ilari
series of coffee tables by Jean Marie-Massaud
and the very cute Hudson side tables by
Virginia Harper.
B&B Italia launched a series of pieces
in its via Durini showroom.There is a new
variant on the Husk series by Patricia Urquola,
completing the family, the Oskar table series
byVincentVan Duysen and an elegant chair
called Charlotte by Antonio Citterio and a new
outdoor collection.
Maxalto also had new Citterio designed
pieces – a chair/chaise called Febo, and the
Fulgens stool.
At the Salone, BlaStation launched new
pieces, which caught our eye. Honken by
Thomas Bernstrand+ Lindau Borselius is
inspired by ice hockey nets and is a generous
tubular steel and expanded metal mesh chair
with a seat and back cushion – quite fun.
And equally fun is the SuperStraw by Osko+
Deichman – a curious tubular framed chair
with flattened corner details.
Knoll had an interesting fetishistic stand,
all rubber curtains and neon. Inside they
launched new versions of the Bertoia chair
in polypropylene and the new pilot lounge
chair by Barber Osgerby.They also celebrated
Bertoia’s 100th birthday with an exhibition
in central Milan designed by OMA’s Rem
Koolhas.
Zanotta launched new items at the fair as
well as issuing updates of some of their most
iconic pieces, including the lovely Maggiolina
by Marco Zanuso (1947), a low slung lounge
chair which they showed alongside Genni by
Gabrielle Mucchi from 1935, and the very,
very beautiful Moretta timber and cowhide,
designed by Bernard Marstaller in 1917 – all
classics of 20th century furniture design. I think
I enjoyed them more than any of the new stuff
by the current omnipresent superstar designers.
Which brings me to one of the highlights of
my week, a visit to the Nilufar Depot.This is
a gallery space housed in a former warehouse
curated by Nilufar founder NinaYashar.A
series of spaces have been created over three
levels to displayYashar’s own collection of 20th
century design.There are extraordinary pieces
by Gio Ponti, Gaetano Pesce and one of my
favourite designers, Franco Albini, alongside
more contemporary commissioned items by
Martino Gamper, Bethan Laura Wood and
Maarten de Ceulaer.This is a permanent
installation but from May only open by
appointment. If you are visiting Milan for
the Expo or for any other reason I’d highly
recommend a visit.
While you’re there you can’t miss visiting
the ‘Arts and Foods, Rituals since 1851’
exhibition at the Trienalle de Milano, reflecting
the food theme of this year’s Expo.This is a
fascinating exhibition spread over four gallery
spaces featuring design items, films and pop
and contemporary art all on the subject of
food.There are pieces by Jean Prouve,Andy
Warhol, Jake and Dinos Chapman and loads
besides. Give yourself at least two hours to
take it all in. after which you should sample
the temporary restaurant installed on the roof
of the gallery. It’s not cheap but the food and
views are amazing.
So what about The Brits? Well, as ever you
can’t escape seeing new products by Barber
Osgerby, Pearson Lloyd,Arad, Lovegrove et al
but other stalwarts are also on show. SCP held
a cool exhibition of their back catalogue, from
which they are re-launching pieces called SCP
Classics. For those who remember SCP starting
out 30 years ago, it was a trip down memory
lane with pieces by Jasper Morrison and
Matthew Hilton sitting alongside newer work
by Lucy Kurrein and others – it is now staged
at London’s Design Museum until 6th June.
Tom Dixon held his own show in a former
theatre in the San Babila area next door to
Design Junction, housed in a former school.A
host of British brands exhibited here, mirroring
the London and NewYork shows such as
Beyond Object, Modus and Case. Lee Bloom
even opened his own department store. Boss
launched new pieces at the Salone and Made
in Ratio presented the new Alpha chair, a sleek
stackable chair in walnut and solid or ebonised
ash – very beautiful with, for me, a hint of
Gaudi about it. Not so beautiful is the Double
Zero chair series by David Adjaye for Moroso.
Truly horrible and aptly named.
That is a very quick round up and does
not cover everything I got to see.There was
actually far too much to take in even over a
week, but Milan is always worth a visit even
outside of wardrobe week.
If you are planning to go see the Expo,
many of the shows and showrooms I mention
are open for viewing.The UK Pavilion looks
stunning and looks well worth a visit. It just
happens to be a project BDP has worked on
as architects, landscape architects and lighting
designers, alongside British artist Wolfgang
Buttress. Sorry – couldn’t resist the plug.
Impressions from Milan
Nobody believes me when I
say it’s stressful visiting Milan
furniture fair. ‘Pressure?’ they
say, ‘What pressure?’ Simple.
The pressure of a special ‘find’
that everyone else missed. The
pressure of getting around it
all, in its entirety, Ralph Capper
Interiors’ Ben Capper tells in
the first of two views of the
show from leading furniture
providers.
These two things are, I believe, actually
impossible.The special find that you could
have stumbled across exclusively 15 years
ago is already trending on Twitter thanks to a
blogger from Burnley.As for seeing it all – try
getting around all the events and showrooms
Clerkenwell has to offer during CDW and
combining it with Orgatec – in three days of
25 degree heat!
My approach with Milan is to split time
between the fair and the city showrooms
proportionately.You tend to get a feel via
emails, spoilers and ad campaigns for some of
the interesting imminent new releases, but you
still need to put in the legwork to visit key
players and do a spot of networking for tips.
Vitra as always is a talking point.‘Have
you seen theVitra stand?’ someone asked.‘I
mean honestly, it’s a mess. Crates and boxes
everywhere.’
I went to see it shortly after that
conversation and loved it.The new Belleville
chair and table summarise a common theme
at Milan 2015 for me: familiarity.The chair
looks like something you know and have seen
before, but refined and repositioned in a way
that makes it fresh and relevant. Combine this
with a stand that onlyVitra can execute to
perfection: a warehouse.
Workshop, industry, craftsmanship – these
are all words you could associate with the
Vitra stand and visitors were then seamlessly
introduced to the Bourroullec’s other table
collection at the adjacent Artek stand (what a
great acquisition that was).
This year at the fair a huge space in the
Workplace 3.0 area was designed by famed
architect Michele De Lucchi, named ‘The
Walk’.An oasis within the hustle and bustle of
the fair, this space offered highline walkways,
quiet places for thought, carpentry workshops
and a large open lecture theatre for learning.
The thinking behind it was simple and clever:
take a walk for stimulation and creativity, rather
review review
Bolon Vitra
Mix Interiors | 154 81

3. 82 Mix Interiors | 154 Mix Interiors | 154 83
than prolonged periods sitting at your desk
lacking inspiration.A great way to demonstrate
the importance of movement and health in the
workplace.
Speaking of workplace, Boss was flying the
flag for the UK with a range of new products
after significant investment in tooling and
design. Congratulations to Brian, Jamie and the
team on Coza, one of their latest additions to
the family that has clearly been a labour of love.
Bolon had a fantastic ocean themed stand
(not a seashell or lifejacket in sight) to launch
their Flow collection and caught an emerging
trend, which is ‘scales’ (as in fish scales) as a
pattern. Zig zags and chevrons are still very
much de rigeur, but fish scale shapes are where
it’s at kids. If you don’t believe me, check out
Vitra’s Salone invite and Bla Station’s new
acoustic wall panels.
This wasn’t the only trend bubbling away
at Milan this year.Wood is still a widespread
feature and we saw craftsmanship fused with
modern production methods.Alias’ new
Twig chair by Nendo sums this up perfectly.
The warmth of the wood fuses with a
strong aluminium tubular frame in a playful
collaboration of techniques and materials.
USM had a lot to shout about in 2015
with their #Project50 celebrations reaching
a climax. Not content with one stand at the
fair they had two…to compliment their two
external events in the city! The theme tackled
what USM do best: understated modularity.
They launched a simple and refined modular
acoustic screen system based on the format of
their modular furniture, adapted their storage
system to incorporate seating, exhibited student
works in the city – and also found time to
throw a huge party to mark the occasion.
Congratulations!
Brass and copper finishes are re-emerging
along with marble, often with art deco
influences.This was reflected in recent work
by Patricia Urquoila, Marta Sala and our own
Lee Broom – who took the unprecedented
step of taking over a row of abandoned
shops in downtown Milan to create the Lee
Broom Department Store.The concept and
presentation was very well put together, with
a very English theme, shopkeepers and even a
London Cab – not surprisingly it was ranked in
the top 15 shows at Milan this year.The Brits
are back!
I was impressed with Scholten and Baijings
‘Lines Colours and Blocks’ exhibition at the
Herman Miller showroom.The Dutch Design
Duo revived an old technique called colour
blocking to create a series of textiles using
tasteful pastel colours in a grid format.The
Maharam produced fabric’s pattern repeats
every 8.5 metres (yes you read that correctly)
allowing the specifier to create a range of
individual pieces and combine with other
applications. Combine this cool fabric with
the Scholten & Baijings designed Ottoman for
Moroso and you’ve got something very special.
Konstantin Grcic is clearly a sought after
man and with his Remo chair for Plank you
can see why. He describes it as combining
‘artisanal heritage with the latest manufacturing
techniques’ – sound familiar?
Certain names cropped up again and again
around Milan 2015. Urquoila, Bourroullec,
Grcic, Levy, Barber Osgerby, to name a few.
‘Why?’ you say. I’m glad you asked.
Throughout the history of furniture design,
pioneers have steered us into new chapters by
pushing boundaries, re-inventing techniques
and bending the rules with new materials.
Eames, Breuer, Jacobsen, Bertoia et al all had
this approach in common.Today’s trailblazers
don’t just design new chairs, they immerse
themselves in the manufacturing process, ask
questions of techniques and materials and
refuse to compromise their vision. Echoes and
influences from bygone eras are re-interpreted
with state-of-the-art processes and finishes, as
the leading designers get into the nuts and bolts
of modern manufacturing to propel us into the
next chapter.And the world watches…
(via a blogger from Burnley)
Ciao x
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4. 84 Mix Interiors | 154 Mix Interiors | 154 85
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HumanscaleIt is always very exciting to go
to Milan, Steve Fitch, Director
at Dovetail, takes over the
reigns. It really is the leading
exposition of new products by
furniture manufacturers and
designers, as well as lighting
concepts and designs.
Dovetail had a team team to trawl the 2,106
exhibitors and 700 young designers, ranging
over 201,700 sq m.
When we consider the significance of Milan,
it is surprising that the SaloneUfficio, the
biennial workspace exhibition area dedicated
to the office sector, is not better attended.
Several manufacturers were conspicuous by
their absence, and some of those you might
expect in this hall were busy focusing on
their retail stands. As a result we were slightly
underwhelmed by what was on offer.
The key theme that stood out was that of
‘comfort’ in two particular areas:Acoustics –
there is no doubt that most organisations are
committed to a degree of open plan working,
the benefits are clear in terms of collaboration
and team working, however the ‘law of
unintended consequences’ has meant that noise
is a problem and many manufacturers have
been turning their attention to the subject.
USM, who is celebrating its 50th
anniversary this year, launched a new range of
modular acoustic privacy panels, at the show
(whilst offering one of the best things I saw
outside of the exhibition for it P50 event)
Another key issue along the same theme of
comfort was the drive to keep people moving
in the office. Sit/stand solutions have been with
us for a while and are increasing in popularity
as organisations realise the benefits. But it is
not all about the table – the chair matters too.
Innovative seating solutions such as Ballo by
Humanscale, which are designed to encourage
movement whilst sitting, are game changers
and habit breakers.
The centerpiece is by architect Michele
De Lucchi.This huge installation, entitled
The Walk, is a circular never-ending path
through the ‘labyrinthine meanderings of the
workplace’.The emphasis was on movement,
less from a physical health perspective
(although this would be a necessary and
welcome by-product), more to emphasise
the need to move to spark and stimulate the
creative process.
What was incredibly apparent was that, as
you move through the halls, from the lifestyle
brands to the SaloneUfficio, the products are
increasingly similar – has our approach to
the office moved on so far that we no longer
separate halls?
review
Products We Loved
Stua - Costura sofa
Knoll - Bertoia Side Chair now in
polypropelene
Arper - Steeve sofa!
Boss Design - Coza Chair
Pedroni - Trigo Chair beaut
Kettall - Stampa Chair
Capellini - Orla Sofa
Tom Dixon - Melt pendant lamps
Twig & Sean - Alias
Pivot - Guilio Morelli
Stands We Loved
Karl Hansen
Diesel Home
Fritz Hansen
Moooi