Hasta La Ideas

Fixtures that put light first and other revelations from Finland’s design pioneers

In 2010 Artek celebrated its 75th anniversary. This past week as part of Milan’s design festivities, the Finnish company made a strong statement positioning themselves with a confident eye toward the future, grounded by their design heritage as they head into their 76th year. Along with a new forward-thinking line of lighting fixtures called White (pictured above), Artek announced Open Archives, an online repository of images of Artek interiors, as well as the acquisition of the rights to produce Ilmari Tapiovaara’s furniture collection, a true icon of Northern European design. (See more images of the White collection in the gallery below.

In a private showcase at Galleria Giò Marconi, we asked Ville Kokkonen, Design Director of Artek, who also heads up White about the new series of lighting solutions. Consisting of four models, the line is the upshot of in-depth research on the use of light fixtures in domestic, office and public settings. “We have studied the effects of lack of lighting in the Northern Countries,” Kokkonen shared, “and this was the starting point for the achievement of the right intensity and quality of light that we wanted. We have also interviewed creative people in order to understand how light should correctly fill working environments.”

As a result, the White light collection is utterly essential; the strict standards and quality requirements of the light determine the design of each object. Composed solely of wood and matte plexiglas, each box-like lamp has a pure, simplistic character. “We chose not to use LEDs, because they don’t produce the diffused and uniform light we were thinking about,” Kokkonen explained. “At the end, each one of our new lamps obtained a medical certification, since they meet all the necessary characteristics required by the Finnish health associations.”

Another clever new project, Open Archives showcases past and present Artek interiors from around the world, from 1935 to modern-day. The site also functions as a community for Artek’s fans; images can be shared, tagged and freely used in blogs.

Nature, irony and poetry in a budding designer’s Milan showings

A poetic mix of function and decoration,
Tania da Cruz’ objects highlight the hidden aspects of daily life. This is how her newest creations, recently presented at the 50th annual Salone del Mobile, come to life.

Born in Lisbon, da Cruz spent her childhood in Brussels before beginning her design training and education at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. But it was her research at HKU in Utrecht that really started her down the path of uncovering the poetic aspects of projects, both in design and communication.

Of her work showing at Salone Satellite, Wig—consisting of a white ceramic vase in the shape of a head—is among the finest. The clever design allows users to experiment with creating their own imaginative floral hairdos atop designs that recall Modigliani‘s heads in nature and silhouette.

Another ceramic piece, Cuore Sacro (Sacred Heart) is a white lamp in the shape of a cardiac muscle, inspired by classic representations of the organ in Christian iconography. Twee, a clean and essential floor lamp in lacquered steel, resembles a sort of linear, minimalist tree; roots and branches function as base and hangers.

Nature also inspires Florafil, a flexible green rubber cover for wires that looks like a green vine snaking across walls. Its concept comes from the desire to give aesthetic value to a functional and unadorned object.

Senses, a jewelry collection that’s both soft and provocative, is based on the idea of giving emotions through touch. Combining gold and silver with recycled fur in various colors, the different perceptions of soft and hard or cold and warm creates a tactile experience that pairs with the sight of the different colors.

A group show of Belgian design’s witty practicality in Milan

Belgium is Design is the slogan under which three Belgian design organizations have banded together to present local creativity at Milan Design week. The effort has brought 34 exhibitors, well-known designers, emerging talents and companies to several locations throughout Milan.

The program 101% Designed in Brussels promotes Brussels-based designers that show a great deal of promise and innovation. Every year, they introduce designers to international fairs, thanks to a joint initiative of Designed in Brussels and a trade association formed in 2007. The five designers this year—Julien De Smedt, Benoît Deneufbourg, Corentin Dombrecht, Vanessa Hordies and Julien Renault—are exhibiting their most iconic creations in Milan, following a showing in Stockholm. A retrospective is also showing the 25 designers who have been selected since 2007.

Another exhibit, “Lightness,” consists of a selection of products, prototypes and limited-editions about light and grace. The included products share a special focus on daily life, storytelling, reflections on functions and functionality, visual or tactile perception, environmental impact and design ethics.

At Salone Satellite, the Wallonie-Bruxelles Design/Mode is showing a choice of eight young designers from Wallonia and Brussels, some of whom (Antonin Bachet and Linda Topic, as well as Adeline Beaudry and Florine Giet) are having their first taste of an international fair, while others (Raphaël Charles, Loïc Detry/Vertige de lʼAjour, Dustdeluxe, Emmanuel Gardin/Krizalid Studio and Stuut) are more experienced and well-known.

While all the products under the “Belgium is Design” banner vary, from lamps to stools and from furniture to small objects, they all share a light touch, concretized in light shapes, essential functions and a bit of irony—in pure Belgian style.

For a selection of our favorites, see the gallery below.

Escape the Milan fair frenzy at designer Matteo Ragni’s Campari bottle-inspired bar

In the beautiful gardens of La Triennale Design Museum, Italy’s famed aperitivo Campari created a new look for the outdoor bar, a bright red vision designed by Matteo Ragni. Dubbed Camparitivo, Ragni tells us the spirit behind this Talent Capsule design “is continuing toward a ‘futuro meraviglioso’ (wonderful future), like in the previous seasons.” The Italian designer (known for his all-in-one spoon and fork called Moscardino) says of the bar originally created in 2010, “All the ideas around this project are in homage to the classic Campari bottle, designed in 1932 by the Futurist artist Fortunato Depero. But the new ideas aim to define a constant evolution.”

Ragni’s projects for Campari confirm such a conviction. The Clic glass is a glorification of the iconic bottle, the Meditation Telescopes are a variation on the signature conical shape, the Hourglass made with two bottles defines the perfect time lapse to enjoy your drink, and the new Talent Capsules are like rockets for collective creativity.

The Triennale gardens are now punctuated with several Talent Capsules, semi-closed spaces in an open natural space, quiet areas for discussing, concentrating, creating, having meetings or simply drinking an aperitivo.

The Capsule are free to use, but can also be booked on Campari’s website. See more images of the Campari bar in the gallery.

Alessi’s new Milan showroom, lighting collaboration and projects by emerging designers

The opening of Alessi’s new Milan space today was more than just a celebration of their new digs, but also an occasion to present some of the iconic Italian brand’s latest projects, including an innovative line of lamps and luminaries, produced by Foreverlamp and conceived by a team of three young designers.

The trio consists of Giovanni Alessi Anghini, Gabriele Chiave and Frederic Gooris, who explained, “We work as a team, even though we still run our own design firms. We’ve known each other for years and Alberto Alessi decided to give us the chance to create something new.” The AlessiLux project breaks the boundaries between classic bulb and lamp, creating real enlightened and colorful objects. With high quality overall and the latest technology—both in terms of performance and environmentalism—will this team create something new for the future? “We cannot be precise by now, but we are working on ideas able to combine Alessi’s design excellence and mass market.”

Also in the new showroom, ECAL (the University of Art and Design of Lausanne) presented an interesting exhibition to showcase the desk and office objects designed by Bachelor students in industrial design that resulted from a workshop with Elric Petit. A pivoting opening and closing system characterizes the “Frana” pencil box, the “Spettro” flying saucer captures paper clips and “Ora” is a clock mobile that suspends time. Conceiving of the workspace as a friendly and welcoming environment, they came up with tools intended to provide some joy to their users—in true Alessi spirit.

See more images of all the designs in the gallery below.