Milan 2014: brushed steel frames surround monochrome shirts at this installation that Japanese studio Nendo has created for fashion brand COS, unveiled in Milan today (+ movie).
The COS x Nendo installation comprises a series of white shirts, which are displayed on stands and hung from the ceiling at different heights throughout the space.
Geometric brushed-steel frames in a variety of heights and widths surround the clothes, and the parts of the shirts that sit inside them are dyed with different shades of grey.
“I feel that Nendo and Cos have a lot in common with how we see things, simplicity, purity and focusing on the small details,” said Nendo founder Oki Sato. “When you look at a white shirt from COS it explains so much, so I decided to let the shirt do the talking.”
At the front of the space are five metal frames that incrementally increase in size. These surround a series of shirts, which gradually change colour from white to dark grey according to the scale of the surrounding stand.
“The white shirt is the cornerstone of our design philosophy; we love to reinvent them every season and so we were really excited that Nendo picked the shirt as a centrepiece for the installation, as it is such an important part of our collection,” said Martin Andersson, head of menswear design at COS.
Milan 2014: British artist Sarah Lucas presents her debut furniture collection, made from concrete blocks and MDF, in Milan tonight (+ slideshow).
The 14 limited-edition pieces have been created for the Sadie Coles gallery in London in collaboration with the London Art Workshop.
The range includes tables, chairs, benches, a desk, and a free-standing partition wall made from materials previously used as plinths and platforms to display Lucas’ artwork. Each piece is numbered, stamped and signed by the artist.
The concrete breeze blocks used in the pieces are identically sized and have been embedded horizontally or vertically into the pale wooden frames, creating a grid-like appearance.
Lucas said she used the materials because they are “meaningful in terms of their uses in the outside world. They say a lot and are also low key, they don’t overwhelm the sculptures.”
The rough concrete and the smooth but sharp-edged MDF are in stark contrast to one another. Lucas said the result was “surprisingly stylish” and the texture and colour “both seem very real'”.
The largest piece in the collection is the freestanding partition wall, a structure made from 10 by 10 concrete blocks that have been set in a uniform grid.
The smallest is a table made of just one block that can slide in and out of its frame.
Other pieces include a bench and chair, both of which Lucas intended as stand-alone pieces for a gallery.
The bench is made of 16 blocks set vertically in the MDF frame. It uses blocks for both the back and the seat and can seat four people. The chair consists of eight blocks set horizontally into the MDF.
The collection will be shown in a private view from 17.00 – 20.00 today at Via San Gregorio 43 / Via Casati 32 20124 Milano.
Here’s some more information about the collection:
Sadie Coles HQ presents Sarah Lucas Furniture
From 8th to 12th April 2014, Sadie Coles HQ presents 14 limited edition, numbered, stamped and signed new furniture designs by the British artist Sarah Lucas, on display at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano. These limited editions – each numbered, stamped and signed – mark a dramatic new development in Lucas’s practice. Materials that previously acted as plinths and platforms for her artworks have been reconfigured into stand-alone pieces including tables, chairs, benches, a desk, and a freestanding partition wall.
Produced in collaboration with specialist fabricators the London Art Workshop, Sarah Lucas Furniture (2013) comprises mass-produced, basic construction materials – concrete breeze blocks and MDF – that have pervaded Lucas’ art for several years. For each of the pieces, identically sized and exactingly arranged breeze blocks have been embedded into hard edged, minimalist MDF frameworks, creating a brutalist kind of inlay or ‘intarsia’, the antique practice of setting wood or stone within a surface.
Lucas describes the concrete and MDF materials as “surprisingly stylish”, pinpointing their appeal through their “texture, colour – both of which seem very ‘real'”. To Lucas, using these versatile materials is “meaningful in terms of their uses in the outside world. They say a lot and are also low key, they don’t overwhelm the sculptures.”
In Lucas’ furniture, concrete fulfils both a functional and aesthetic role, serving as durable readymade building blocks while investing the furniture with a uniform utilitarian appearance. Indeed the grid-like appearance of the breeze blocks in the objects call to mind the modular compositions of Minimalist artists such as Donald Judd and Carl Andre.
This can be witnessed especially in the monumentalism of the free standing wall from the series. Certain of the works have been specifically designed by Lucas as gallery furniture – as seats to be placed within a larger exhibition of the artist’s work.
Sarah Lucas Furniture also echoes the artist’s long-term use of furniture as anthropomorphic sculptural apparatus. Chairs especially have often featured in sculptures as stand-ins for the human body. In the series, Bunny (1997 – onwards), the chair was a key component of the work – stuffed tights clamped to chair legs implied splayed legs in an ambiguous expression of either sexual availability or vulnerability. One implication of this new body of work is that real human bodies have assumed the place, or status, of sculptures.
Overt and often comic literalism has long been a hallmark of Lucas’ work, above all in her use of found real-life objects such as toilets, cigarettes and furniture. That literalist quality is extended in these functioning pieces: their radical blurring of art and life recalls earlier conflations of sculpture and useable furniture by artists such as Franz West, with whom Lucas collaborated on several occasions, and the American artist Scott Burton.
Milan 2014: new design brand TOG‘s furniture can be customised using an app and makes choice “the only trend that is acceptable”, according to Philippe Starck who has created a range of products for the company (+ slideshow).
Alfie Funghi by Philippe Starck
French designer Starck told Dezeen that he wants to do away with trends in favour of allowing consumers to create bespoke pieces, but still at an affordable price.
“The only way to see life is no more trends,” Starck said at the TOG launch in Milan last night. “The only trend that is acceptable is freedom, freedom to be different, freedom to choose what you want.”
Diki Lessi by Philippe Starck
“Everyone wants and needs mass production, because only mass production can raise the quality, raise the engineering and lower the price,” said Starck. “But the problem with mass production is that there are millions of pieces. People said ‘I am happy’, but millions of people have the same.”
Light Rock by Philippe Starck
His solution is to design and produce furniture that uses low-cost mass production but gives consumers the option to chose various elements, finishes and even produce add-ons for the furniture themselves.
“We have 15-20 custom options, in six months it will be 500, and 5000 next year,” explained Starck. “Mrs Jones in Australia can say ‘I want this chair’ but Mr Budu in Africa covers it in pearls. They make a deal, how much is it, $50? When they agree, we send the piece of furniture to Mr Budu who does his work and sends it back. It’s win win win. We make the best furniture, I hope. Mrs Jones has what she wants, she creates her own thing. And Mr Budu uses his creativity and makes a business, we don’t take any profit from that.”
San Jon by Philippe Starck
“Like that you have the best of two worlds,” said Starck, who explained that there are four ways to order pieces from the collection – choosing from a panel of pre-made pieces, buying a “naked” product to customise at home, ordering direct from the factory or accessing a network of creatives for bespoke commissions via the TOG app.
“You have some sort of panel here to do it. Or you buy the product naked, in the flagship [store]. TOG will have the first one in São Paulo in four months. Or you can order it on the internet from the factory and say ‘I want this colour, and this colour, and this shape.’ We can also print images on so you can customise. You can also go to the flagship and do the same.”
“TOG is the first company that has solved the paradox between the brain, the computer, the theory, the engineering, the high technology, the mass market, the mass production and the hand, the talent, the craftsmanship, the small artists, and you can make both,” said Starck.
Starck became involved with the TOG project through his friendship with the owners of Brazilian footwear company Grendene, who are behind the new brand.
“We are partners because the owners are huge industrial company in Brazil and I’ve helped them make shoes,” said the French designer. “There is no art director here, everything is about the freedom. That is why today we have started with some designers, because you have to start. After, people will arrive and chose the designer. It’s really a company of freedom.”
Misa Joy by Philippe Starck
“My next collection for them will be even more designed for customisation,” he added.
TOG’s range is on show at Torre B, Piazza Gae Aulenti, in Milan until 13 April.
Here some information from TOG about the collection:
TOG
In occasion of Milan Design Week, on the 7th of April, a new design player comes to life. TOG is an innovative furniture brand and a creative community, combining the best of industry with its highest technology and the best of humanity with craftsmanship.
Ema Sao by Philippe Starck
For TOG – ALLCREATORSTOGETHER – anyone can be creative: blending a bold and innovative approach to design and its imaginative process. TOG is an open source platform, a collaborative yet individualistic, irreverent and yet respective project able to adapt itself at everyone’s likings. TOG offers an already high quality product – design wise and production wise – together with a wide array of customisation options should the client wishes to make the item unique. TOG is creating a virtuous unique system where creators, clients, artists, artisans and industrials share the same values and the same goals, in the direction of an exceptional design made of dream and reality.
Captain Surf by Jonathan Bui Quang Da
TOG is an oblique network where customers are asked to be involved if they wish, to take the leadership and become part of the practical, cheerful process of making and sharing new ideas for new customised objects. It is a collective escalation: TOG creative-team designs the piece of furniture; the company produces it. At this stage the client has the freedom to enjoy the distinguished design piece naked – as proposed by the company – or has a large range of choices, in house, in store or online to create their own personal mix of forms and colours through a large and various platform of possibilities. TOG enables its clientele to create a one off object according to their desires through photos printed on or through interventions of a wide range of selected artists and artisans.
Vodo Masko by Ambroise Maggiar
TOG pulls together the best of humanity with craftsmanship, along with the best industry development with its highest technology: TOG tries to solve a strong paradox that is to offer all the advantages of democratised production – that grants high quality and service – with the best of human craftsmanship that grants the uniqueness. TOG guarantees the quality of its products in terms of design and manufacturing also creating a support for other people’s creations. It means giving profit to the customisers without TOG taking any profit. TOG is social conscious: for example various communities and local Yawanawa and Varzea Queimada Brazilian tribes, are involved in the creative customising process – for example developing decorated slip covers in straw or pearl chains for a chair by translating their traditional patterns and techniques in contemporary design elements.
Castable by Ambroise Maggiar
At TOG, there is no style but freedom, therefore customisers are from all areas, ethnics and diverse backgrounds. TOG suits everyone’s taste.
TOG is not just a brand on the market: TOG sets up a global system, a web community of customers, enthusiasts and professionals sharing ideas via a user-friendly brand new app. TOG, that will allow cheerful exchanges with various medias including video, and that soon will also lead to a community award. TOG is communicative and interactive, is industrial yet crafty, traditional and ground-breaking, and its visual campaigns are fresh and surprising. TOG is a new approach to the design industry at large.
Apolo Chapo by Ambroise Maggiar
TOG maximises logistics and transports with less volume, but also reconciles the advantages of mass production with individual and distinct acknowledgement, it’s eco-responsible.
At the Torre B in Milan, TOG will introduce 21 families of products. The first collection includes a creative rooster of high quality designers, such as Sebastian Bergne, Jonathan Bui Quang Da, Sam Hech + Kim Colin, Ambroise Maggiar, Nicola Rapetti, Dai Sugasawa and Philippe Starck.
Tubo by Sam Hecht + Kim Colin
The main shareholder of TOG is the brazilian industrial group Grendene, already the world’s largest footwear producer using mostly plastic as its field of expertise. With the launch of TOG, Alexandre Grendene, a visionary in the sector, enlarges the circle of activities of the GROUP. It was logical for TOG to develop its entire production in Italy: the worldwide centre of design with the best engineers and best manufacturers. The Grendene brothers Alexandre & Pedro are very proud to invest in Italy, their home country of 3 generations ago. Their grandfather had left Padova, Veneto, in order to set up vineyards in Brazil. Coming back to invest in Italy is also a natural personal and cultural choice for them.
Amber Fame by Nicola Rapetti
TOG’s high ambition is to bring back together dream and reality, volume and uniqueness, theory and practice through high quality designed furniture that can be customised by everybody.
TOG believes that anybody can be creative. Its goal is to create a virtuous collaborative system where designers, clients, artisans and industrials share the same values and goal.
Milan 2014:Dezeen has teamed up with design research collaborative Space Caviar to distribute a free publication generated by an algorithmic journalism machine which will trawl content from social media and talks in Milan this week.
Led by former Domus editor Joseph Grima, Space Caviar has developed a real-time publishing algorithm called Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) a piece of software that will automatically create written articles from live speech and social media streams during a three-day programme of talks held in the Nike Aero-static Dome at Palazzo Clerici this week.
The FOMO publications will be printed and handed out for free from a travelling press room, but will be available to download from Dezeen.
“Inspired by the idea – as Bruce Sterling said – that “events are the new magazines”, FOMO asks whether there is a remedy for the syndrome of missing out,” said Space Caviar co-founder Joseph Grima. “Can the seemingly dead medium of print publishing adapt to the electronic age’s demand for instant gratification by embracing the speed of Twitter streams, Storify and various other social media?”
“The Salone is a very brief event unlike other exhibitions that last for months, everything here is compressed,” added Grima. “If events are the thing that now drives contemporary production, we need to find a way for publishing to adapt to that condition, to explore a way to create an instant record.”
Production process
Five speakers a day will participate in the On The Fly series of talks, including Atelier Bow Wow, Linda Fregni, Clemens Weisshaar, Formafantasma and Italo Rota.
They will explore contemporary design practice using a set of proscribed themes as a starting point – sustainability, weightlessness and seamlessness. Each speaker will also present a minimum of two images to accompany their talk.
FOMO will use voice recognition software, combined with information scraped from online data including tweets and instagram activity using the hashtag #OnTheFlyMilan, to automatically generate a PDF document.
This is will then be published on the FOMObile – a roving publishing press with its own built-in power generator and solar-powered wi-fi hotspot. The press will print each PDF, which will be saddle stitched on the spot before being distributed for free. The PDF will also be available to download from Dezeen.
FOMObile
“FOMO is a commentary on the ever-accelerating automation of many professions, including journalism,” said Grima. “It tests the conceptual boundaries of publishing technology, questioning what the systemic and aesthetic consequences of a future of automated everything will be.”
The On The Fly project will be FOMO’s first test in a real-world environment. Anyone, anywhere will be able to take part by using the #OnTheFlyMilan hashtag on social media on Wednesday 9, Thursday 10, and Friday 11 April between 5.00 and 7.30pm CET.
Milan 2014: German brand e15 will launch a collection of floor, table, pendant and wall lamps at this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, including lights made from copper discs and X-shaped extruded aluminium (+ slideshow).
North pendant light
Six designers have created five families of lights for the e15 collection.
North pendant light and North floor light
Hamburg-based Eva Marguerre and Marcel Besau have created North, a collection of lights each made from two circular brushed copper or powder coated steel discs, joined at just one point on their circumference.
North pendant light
The lights reflect abstract geometrical forms or phases of the moon depending on which angle they are viewed from and are available as pendant lights, wall lights and floor lights. The powder-coated steel versions come in white and yellow.
North pendant light
Palo by Michael Raasch is a horizontal disc-shaped light diffuser that slides onto a slim vertical stand, enabling its height to be set as desired.
North wall light
Palo is made from steel and powder-coated aluminium in white or black, and comes with an optional marble base in white Carrara or black Marquina marble. It is available as a floor or table light.
North pendant light and North floor light
Also by Michael Raash, Span is a horizontal, x-shaped pendant suspended from either end. It’s made from extruded aluminium in sections of up to 3000mm and can be used for uplighting or downlighting, making it suitable for working or dining. White and black finishes are available.
North floor light
The collection also features new floor, table and wall versions of Mark Holmes’ Seam Light Series, as well as the Colour lamp designed by Daniel Rybakken and Andreas Engesvik in 2010.
Colour floor light
The e15 lighting collection will be launched on Tuesday at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Hall 16 Stand E53, alongside furniture by German designer Jörg Schellmann and accessories by Philipp Mainzer, Mark Braun and Jan Philip Holler.
Span pendant light and Colour floor light
The products will also be exhibited at the e15 showroom, Via Tortona 31, from 8 to 13 April.
Here’re some more information from e15:
e15 Lighting
In Milan e15 celebrates the debut of e15 lighting, a progressive lighting collection of strikingly simple lights consistent with the brand’s artistic point of view. Consisting of five distinct lighting families, the lights bridge between residential and contract applications featuring enduring design with innovative quality construction, energy efficient LED technology and sufficient light output.
Span pendant light
E15 also showcases three unique products by German designer Jörg Schellmann and a collection of elegant and functional accessories with character for dining and living in premium materials.
Palo floor light
After its premiere at Cologne, the e15 accessory collection will be presented internationally for the first time, featuring enduring design in combination with high grade materials and innovative, handcraft production methods.
Span pendant light
With diverse lighting requirements in mind, a range of floor, table, pendant and wall lights in pure materials and colours elegantly define a comprehensive collection featuring e15 lighting. Five lighting families designed by internationally renowned designers Daniel Rybakken and Andreas Engesvik, Mark Holmes, Eva Marguerre and Marcel Besau as well as Michael Raasch reflect e15’s brand ethos of high grade materials paired with extraordinary craftsmanship.
Span pendant light
Emitting beautiful atmospheric light NORTH is an expressive floor, table, pendant and wall light with distinct underlying simplicity, designed by Hamburg-based design duo Eva Marguerre and Marcel Besau. Minimalism, theatricality and architecture illustrate the essence of COLOUR by Norwegian designers Daniel Rybakken and Andreas Engesvik. In its refined simplicity free of conventional aesthetics, the light COLOUR expands the field of sculpture and light.
North wall light and North pendant light
With sculptural structure and accurate folds the SEAM light series by Mark Holmes follows the principle of reduced components and focuses on the element of light itself. SEAM is made of firmly bonded, folded sheet aluminium, available as a floor, table and wall light. By German designer Michael Raasch, the light PALO elegantly offers smart solutions for floor, table or bed side reading. The slim light diffuser in cylindrical form simply slides onto the linear stand. The visible cord lends a casual and dynamic edge to the precise form of PALO while accommodating individual positioning for down lighting at desired points. An optional marble foot adds a luxurious touch.
Palo table light
Simplicity is the allure and strength of the SPAN pendant light, also designed by Michael Raasch. Balanced from two suspension points, the unique X-shaped extruded aluminium section is made exclusively for e15 and incorporates a diffuser. SPAN radiates plentiful light suitable for dining or working environments.
Milan 2014: Dutch design studio Droog has adapted pieces from the 8000 objects in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum to create a studio space for Milan design week (+ slideshow).
Table skin Embroidery by deJongeKalff for Rijksmuseum
Spaces set up at Droog‘s Rijksstudio m2 exhibition will include an entrance, bedroom, kitchen, living room and dining room.
Table skin Embroidery by deJongeKalff for Rijksmuseum
The walls and ceiling will be decorated with Dutch graphic designer Irma Boom’s wallpaper, referencing works in the museum’s collection by the likes of Vermeer and using the colour palette she developed as part of the 2013 Rijksmuseum renovation and rebrand.
Table skin Embroidery by deJongeKalff for Rijksmuseum
An eighteenth-century tapestry will be transformed into wallpaper, while a painting with birds and clouds will become part of a reflective gradient wall in the bedroom.
Table skin Strings & Things by deJongeKalff for Rijksmuseum
The furniture and homeware range created as part of the installation takes its lead from historical artifacts and pieces within paintings in the museum’s collection.
AA Glass series by Studio Droog, photo by Mo Schalkx
A bathtub, a daybed, a writing desk, a mirror, a nightstand and a candleholder are executed in wood and leather.
AA Glass series by Studio Droog, photo by Mo Schalkx
Droog is also launching products previewed at Milan last year that are now in production. The collection takes colours, shapes and details from traditional artworks and uses contemporary materials such as rubber and titanium to create contemporary products.
Pleated Collar napkin ring by Studio Droog, photo by Ingmar Swalue
The AA Glasses mimic the form of five historic glasses in the Rijksmuseum whose makers are unknown. They are available in transparent, or matte black for blind tastings.
Tea for one by Richard Hutten for Droog, photo by Mo Schalkx
Table Skin is a silicone cast of traditional Dutch ribbons and piping embroidery, used to form a durable, waterproof and easy-to-clean table cloth.
Tea for two by Richard Hutten for Droog, photo by Mo Schalkx
The collection also include a 3D-printed napkin ring by Studio Droog that resembles a pleated Tudor ruff.
Lampion Light by Richard Hutten for Droog, photo by Mo Schalkx
As well as these, Droog will present new products from its New Original series referencing iconic Chinese products such as the Tea for One and Tea for Two teapots by Richard Hutten.
Exhibition preview of Droog’s Rijksmuseum set
The exhibition will be open at Via San Gregorio 29 in Milan from 8 to 13 April.
The Drop chair was originally produced alongside the archetypal Swan and Egg chairs for the interior of the Radisson Scandinavian Airlines System Hotel in Copenhagen, designed by Danish designer and architect Arne Jacobsen in the 1950s.
The tear-shaped chairs were produced exclusively in a limited edition for the hotel’s bar and lobby.
“Confronted with a synthetic material that lacked any structure or suggested any form, Jacobsen took his inspiration from the human form and the contours of the body,” said architect, author and Arne Jacobsen expert Michael Sheridan.
“In this way, he humanised technology and the Drop chair for the Royal Hotel represents a masterful intersection of art and industry.”
This version of the Drop chair has been updated using new production methods and materials.
The chair comes in plastic in black, white, blue, grey, red and yellow. The plastic versions are available with either chrome or powder-coated legs in matching colours. The seat is available with textile or leather upholstery.
The chair will be exhibited at the Republic of Fritz Hansen‘s showroom at Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi 77 in Milan from Tuesday next week.
Other Danish Modernist chairs that have recently been launched include Hans J. Wegner’s CH88 design, revived by Carl Hansen & Son.
We’re heading to Milan to report on the city’s annual festival of design exhibitions, installations and parties next week. You can see all the products launched during the Milan 2014 furniture fair and satellite events on our new Pinterest board, which we’ll be updating daily. See our new Pinterest board »
Milan 2014: steel tubes slot into an oak base to create this clothes rack by Swedish firm Note Design Studio, which will debut in Milan.
Note Design Studio‘s Plateau storage unit for Spanish company Punt was designed for storing outerwear such as coats and footwear.
“In Scandinavia it is very common to take off your shoes when you come home and there is always a problem with where to put them,” Cristiano Pigazzini of Note Design Studio told Dezeen. “Everyday stuff like shoes and bags in the hallway or sleeping room that lands on the floor looks messy and out of order.”
Two white steel bars are bent to create rails for hanging garments and accessories. An oak shelf to place footwear on hovers above the ground, punctured by the rails that also form the feet.
“When the same stuff is placed on a podium or a plateau it suddenly has another value,” said Pigazzini. “The function of the plateau is to elevate your belongings from the floor and to create order in chaos.”
The two rails are different heights, offset and sitting one in front of the other. The larger includes a circular tray for storing small items on one side.
The design will be exhibited on Punt’s stand, Hall 6 Stand E22, at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan from 8 to 13 April.
Milan 2014: Danish brand Gubi will be launching a side table and updates of existing stool and chair designs by Copenhagen studio GamFratesi at the Urban Stories exhibition during Milan design week.
TS Table
GamFratesi will be presenting side table TS, the Beetle Bar Chair and a new swivel base for the Masculo chair.
TS Table
The TS side table features a circular marble top in Bianco Carrara, Nero Marquina, Verde Guatemala or Marrone Emperador, atop a geometric lacquered black frame. The tables come in three heights, so that they work together as a group and can also be used separately.
Beetle Bar Stool
An iteration of the Beetle Chair introduced in Milan last year, the Beetle Bar Chair offers the same comfort at bar height, something that traditional bar stools often lack.
Masculo Swivel
The Masculo chair was GamFratesi’s first design to make it into production. They have now added a swivel base, which gives the chair a new role in business environments and home offices.
Masculo Chair and TS Table
Every year curators Caterina Mosca and Valerio Castelli invite selected designers to tell their “urban stories” in unusual locations. This year the event is at Palazzo Litta in Corso Magenta.
Masculo Chair
GamFratesi designers Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi anticipate that the Baroque setting will provide an appropriate backdrop for their work. “We’ve often been inspired by art, whilst also being aware of the heritage of design,” said Fratesi.
Beetle Chair
Urban Stories will also feature projects by Alvin Huang, Daniel Libeskind and Emmanuel Babled in collaboration with companies including Volvo and Venini Glass.
Beetle Chair
Gubi will be showing new work by GamFratesi at Urban Stories Tuesday 8 April – Saturday 12 April 12noon – 10 pm and Sunday 13 April 12noon – 6 pm. Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24, 20123 Milan.
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