Where is design going?
A gazillion objects were introduced at the Milan fair. Here are some that stood out
A 3-D printed house that left a chalky taste in the back of your throat. Adorable animals transformed as if by a wizard’s wand into lamps and tableware. Chairs and sofas as chubby and pale as marshmallows.
These were some of the irresistible objects on display at last month’s International Furniture Fair in Milan, the world’s pre-eminent showcase of contemporary design. People visit “to have a vision of the future,” said Claudio Luti, the fair’s president.
Here are six things that revealed where design is now and where it may be heading.
Breaking up with plastic
As the so-called sea of plastic grows not just in the ocean but in consumers’ minds, some plastic objects are being reinvented in wood. Kartell, the Italian plastic furniture company, unveiled a seating prototype called Woody, which rendered familiar Philippe Starck-designed silhouettes in thin shells of ash and striped rosewood. But the company has not completely repudiated its heritage — the chairs’ legs are still plastic.
The ’80s, now and forever
Will the decade of big hair and tiny portions ever go away? Standing out among the ’80s retreads was Four Wheels, a coffee table designed by William Sawaya of Milan that paid affectionate tribute to Gae Aulenti’s 1980 classic: a low slab of glass on four functioning wheels. Sawaya created a cheeky update from a folded sheet of brushed steel with round, flat feet going nowhere. The piece is part of his continued experiments in what he calls “soft origami.” Available in August; $3,800 to $4,200.
Frankenstein chair
Design companies are resurrecting pieces from their morgue. Cassina, for instance, is reissuing Taliesin 1, an angular chair designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1949 for Taliesin West, the architect’s winter home and school in Scottsdale, Ariz. Produced between 1986 and 1990 without much success, the chair returns in a slightly modified version approved by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Available in cherry or oak veneer from $4,100; a limited edition upholstered in hide is $5,500.
Clinking not recommended
La Double-J, the fashion and housewares brand of J.J. Martin, introduced a fanciful tableware collection called Housewives. The Tippetto glass goblets are based on vintage designs and handmade by Salviati glass-makers in Murano, Italy. The elaborate shapes and jewel colours are typical for the pattern-happy Martin: Zig Zag, Sun, Ring Pendant, Turquoise, Dragon and Rose. Available May 28; $4,900 each.
Scandinavian cosy
Now that hygge is a global aspiration, a Danish brand called Warm Nordic is here to help. It is reissuing the Bloom table lamp, a 1950s classic by Svend Aage Holm-Sorensen, with a swan-neck stem and a bonnet-like shade. It will be available in the United States by fall for $719.
Is it a sofa or table?
“What if a carpet becomes threedimensional and blurs the line of seating, dining, walls, decoration and floor covering?” That was the question posed by Lyndon Neri, of the design duo, Neri & Hu, who created a modular seating concept called Lan, including a sofa with a vertical textile-draped frame reminiscent of a weaving loom. Available in September through Gan, a Spanish textile brand.