"I Saloni" The fabulous world of Kartell

Kartell Art Director Ferruccio Laviani created the most irreverent, extraordinary and fun installation

at "I Saloni".

A Sumo wrestler is crashing into "Misses Flower Power" vases for outdoor by Starck and Quitlet, in a new version, made of more precious material than last production.

"Panier" by Bouroullec brothers in an Indian installation

Ghost Buster...the line Ghost this year has added a bed side table and a chest of drawers with classic form

The famous Lou Lou Ghost for kids needed also to be at the Furniture Fair 2009

"Masters" by Starck and Quitlet (who continue to design for Kartell) is a new chair which evokes the lines of three masterpieces: "Serie 7" by Jacobsen, "Tulip" by Saarinen and "Eiffel" by Eames, hence the name.

"Fleur di Novembre" by Fabio Novembre, a new cooperation

between Kartell and the Italian designer.  The table will be produced in a few months.

"Frilly Stool" by Patricia Urquiola in a spectacular installation by Laviani with a series of whirling dervishes.

Transparencies, colours, creativity, fun!

Photography by Ingrid Taro
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"Fuori Salone" Britishness

 Paul Smith, the English fashion designer, has cooperated with Moroso and Icon magazine the exhibition "British Design Embassy" on Made in England creativity during the International Furniture Fair in Milan.   Smith said: "The week of Salone del Mobile is the Design event most important in the world and I am very happy to represent England here". He selected the best names of English Style, including new talents like Pinch.

Exceptional background was the Modern Art Gallery at the Neo-classical

"Villa Reale"  in Milan.

"Supernatural" chairs by Ross Lovegrove for Moroso

Sofa "Misfits" by Ron Arad for Moroso

Desk in lacquered wood by Pinch Design, "Open chair 080" by James Irvine for Alias, "Wired lamp" by Something from Nothing.

Vivid colours of real flowers photographed and printed on cotton by Paul Smith.

Photography by Mara Bottini

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If you really want to know...

Well, if you really want to know where I was born, please go to Michelle Morelan, to see another of her extraordinary drawings.

The picture is small on purpose...go to Michelle's blog to see the real rendering.

Thanks Michelle for a wonderful gift.

"Fuori Salone" Karim Rashid

"An exciting and innovative project experiments with the post-modernist and post-pop language of Karim Rashid. The resulting collection links together the two worlds of textile and design, creating real works of art achieved through mere textile techniques. Developed by the historical brand C&C Milano in cooperation with one of the trendiest and most unconventional contemporary designers, the collection includes house linens besides fabrics in cotton and linen suitable for decoration and contract."
At "Fuori Salone"  (a series of events and exhibitions collateral of "International Furniture Fair" in Milan and open to the public) the new collection "Design Art" by Karim Rashid for C&C Milano was presented.

Karim Rashid, who is used to work in three dimensions with object and furniture, tried and succeeded to reproduce on fabric the sense of movement through clean geometric patterns.

Of course Pink is still his favourite colour also because he said in an interview that he wants to send a message to the world of designers and architects, and beyond, still strongly dominated by male.

Graphic patterns and fluorescent colours

Radiant, Cocoon, Echo, Lattice some of the names of the "Design Art Collection"

A vibrant and contemporary collection of gorgeous fabrics.

Photography by Jacopo Farina

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"Oh Man, it's a Ray" at "I Saloni"

Euroluce, now in its 25th edition, is the eagerly awaited International lighting exhibition, embracing technological and formal innovation, part of I Saloni (International Furniture Fair 2009 in Milan).
525 companies represents during this week a complete panorama of everything to do with lighting, from alternative sources to new technologies, control systems, solutions to solve light pollution in big cities, lights for streets and public spaces and of course new ways to give light to our homes.
Many pieces presented at Euroluce are just prototypes and they will be ready for the public only in the Fall of 2009. But we can start appreciating some images right now:

Ingo Maurer: vivid colours and contemporary shapes

 

"Lacrime del Pescatore" A fishnet, water and crystal teardrops, a fascinating prototype by Maurer. Enclosed in a cobalt blue space, diffuses a magic light while the liquid creates a soothing background.

"Oh Man, it's a Ray"...how can someone be more iconoclastic and ironic than Ingo? a prototype installation very light and luminous with a fun name.

Barovier e Toso "Samurai" table and ceiling lamps (this model is from 1966 and it was reproduced for I Saloni)

Firme di Vetro has a 1400 square meter space, lighted by the new "Reed" made of fascinating

 transparent cylinders.

Karim Rashid, after much pink now uses lavender colours for his lightings.

"Le Soleil" by Vicente Garcia Jimenez for Foscarini, will be in stores in the fall.

"Tolomeo XXL" by Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina for Artemide becomes a giant to be able to go outdoor.

If other companies gave also importance to the installation for Euroluce, Flos major focus was only on the product.

The following lights are all by Flos:

"Wall Flower" by Marcel Wanders, like a constellation on the wall.

"Teca" is a homage to the classic abat-jour by Ron Gilad. The metal tag is the switch.

Conceptual art?

"Full Moon" by Tim Derhaag recreates an eclipse inside your house

"Euphorbia" by Patricia Urquiola for the outdoor.

Light is changing. Change the light.

Photography by Filippo Lamberghi


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"I Saloni" Recession Style

Notwithstanding the dark skies of global economy the big kermesse of "I Saloni" has started with incredible numbers:
2.723 companies represented (more than 400 were not able to participate and will need to wait for next year) about 12.000 new products, 300.000 visitors expected. (Unfortunately some hotels have raised their prices up to 5 times more...so many European operators commute using low-cost airlines, cheaper than spending a night in Milan!)
Italy and Milan remain the center of production where major designers still come from around the world, for the human dimension of the process, the skills of artisans, the culture and the technology.

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A Milanese designer involved with Flos, Cassina, Artemide, FontanaArte, Flou,  Rodolfo Dordoni has presented new pieces for seven different companies at Salone 2009: light, beds, tables and furniture systems that will inhabit the house in a crisis time.

Asked what he expects from Salone 2009 he said:
"what everyone was waiting for, less wanted to be in the spotlight, less illusions, less exaggerations...more value to concreteness. Lately we were going too far from reality, we showed for years an impossible, unrealistic way of living". Recession, he said, could be a healthy rethinking, in fact rationality has returned. We need more attention to the human being and cut excess and waste, form and function are very important but so is the economy of the production.

from an article by Lia Ferrari

 No more Wow effect, now in front of a piece of design we need to say "I like it"
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Tyler Brule' is a frenetic globetrotter, observer of trends, writer of "Fast Lane" page on the Financial Times and founder and director of "Monocle" magazine.

In an interview he said that Milan this week is a place for meeting and confrontation, a big forum and immense bazaar of creativity. Times of recession revolutionizes  customs and habits so the game of business cannot be won with emails, Fed-ex, Skype and that is why, he said, he sent more than usual colleagues to the Salone 2009.
"A melting pot of architects, designers, professors, journalists and people passionate about style all reunited in the same place: the immediate commercial and creativity benefits of Salone probably will have an effect more important of what we saw at G20 Summit held in London a few weeks ago".

From an article by Alessandro Cannavo'
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In times of recession some examples of rational thinking:
For people that can't have the luxury of a walking closet Flou proposes a new wardrobe with multiple modules and customized compartments.
Antonio Citterio's new pieces are inspired by solid concreteness and rigorous realism.
Tom Dixon's collection has an emblematic name: "Back to basics - Utility" and he says:
"There is a need for honesty and usefulness in contemporary design"

From an article by Francesca Taroni
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Design today is determined to find the spirit of its origins: innovation and research.

A contemporary chandelier, assembly not included...by Paolo Rizzatto (four Compassi d'Oro) and Francisco Gomez Paz for Luceplan.
"Hope" is modular, economic, light, easy to transport, eco-compatible, ready to be used with different light sources.
Rizzatto says: " To me design serves to solve emergencies of our time: ecology, economy, practicality"

From an article by Mara Bottini
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So now we have Hope!

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"I Saloni" directly from Milan

Today I received from my niece Valentina and her partner Davide, both architects in Milan, an e-mail about the grand event of the "International Furniture Fair".
"Ci siamo...oggi ha inizio la settimana più glamour, festosa, creativa, cosmopolita, frizzante e gioiosa di Milano!!"
"Here we are...today starts the most glamorous, festive, creative, cosmopolitan, sparkling and joyous week in Milano!!" they said.
The duo will run from work to any event they can possibly see and being insiders they will have the most incredible experience, as any year in the past.   I will report their impressions about the Salone and how the crisis has impacted (or not) the world of Interior Design.

From "Fuori Salone"

Dinner plates by Richard Ginori (image by Emmevi)

Tivoli Audio "The Babel Tower" (image by Congiu)

Vases designed by Mendini (image by Fotogramma)

Milano Design Village (image by Emmevi)

Modular Lighting Instruments (image by Congiu)

All the above is not the "Salone" but only a small part of the "Fuori Salone" meaning events collateral to the big International Furniture Fair and the Design Week.

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"I Saloni" (The Satellite Salone)

The "Satellite Salone" will show about 700 young Designers (under 35) and it is the most experimental part of the Design Fair.
Here are some new names who may soon become internationally famous, let's keep an eye on them:

Anabella Georgi, from Venezuela, creates unique textures mixing fabric and leather with movement, visual impact and joyous colours typical of Latin-American culture.

Ciaccasassi & Zamagna of the Italian "Studio 1+1" are a couple also in real life.

They like to create a new style from forms of the past, reinventing tradition.

Marco Stanojevic and Ivo Otasevic from  Serbia  present a revolutionary rocking chair made of steel

 

and an extravagant outdoor chair

Hwa Seon Lee, from Korea, and his "MedeuXa" lamp, acrylic, rock crystal and chrome finishing

Filip Gordon Frank, from Croatia, presents a metal table with laser decorations and a minimalist light for computer

Just a few examples of young energy and extraordinary creativity.

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Salone del Mobile, 2009, Milano