Milan: Established and Sons

Established and Sons launched two fantastic pieces during the Salone del Mobile. The first, a set of stools grouped together to form a single seating platform which can be separated to move around the room or reform in different clusters.

I know I have mentioned this before, but I love furniture that you are able to interact with, and the Nekton stool by Zaha Hadid allows you to do just that.

The second piece is the Crate Series, which consists of five separate units that can be used as tables, cabinets and... a spare bed. Jasper Morrison designed them to give the impression that they were home made, perhaps to highlight the practicality of the design and its modest origins.

I am heading off for a family vacation to the Costa Brava and Barcelona. I hope to bring back some exciting finds for my posts after May 20th. Adios!

Milan: Formfjord

At the Salone Satellite I found this great shelving system by Formfjord. All of the units are magnetic and can be easily moved around to form various combinations that easily snap into place.



They also make this wonderful vase that is designed to display flowers horizontally.

Milan: Piet Boon

I have seen Piet Boon furniture in magazines before, but Milan was the first time I was able to experience a whole collection in person.

The Piet Boon Zone was part of the Superstudio Piu in the Zona Tortona, which is one of the most exciting areas of Milan to visit during the Salone del Mobile.




Most of his collections are in neutral, earthy tones, with a lot of dark wood and rough textured fabric. They have very classic modern lines, which keeps the furniture from feeling to heavy and overwhelming.


The craftsmanship and the finishing on the chairs and sectionals are really superb, and they are also incredibly comfortable to sit in!

Milan: Moroso

I am a huge fan of Patricia Urquiola and was dying to see her new work for Moroso in Milan. I was not disappointed. In fact, the whole collection blew me away.




I particularly love how Moroso has delved head first into really interesting fabrics, prints and textures. It was a real visual feast after so many stands of solid colours and standard finishes.

Milan: Ceramica Bella

As you may have already gathered from my posts, I have a soft spot for beautiful ceramics. I love the fact that they come from the earth yet attain such ethereal perfection under the right hands.


Rina Menardi is a new discovery for me. She has a range of vases, bowls and serving plates that strike a beautiful balance between delicate porcelain and rustic pottery. The red pieces were absolute show stoppers.

Seletti has also launched a fun line of ceramics that looks as if it found its inspiration in disposable containers and cartons.

Milan: Pircher and Paola Lenti

There was another prefab installation in the Zona Tortona that was far more interesting than the Loft Cube. It was a prefabricated system by Bestetti Associati for Pircher that is entirely made of glass, wood and iron.


Large rectangular prefabricated rooms can be coordinated to create a variety of home designs. They also claim to be environmentally sustainable and energy efficient.

The interiors inside the Pircher installation were decorated with furniture and rugs by Paola Lenti. Their stunning collections are extremely high quality and come in an array of saturated hues.

I am completely besotted with the whole rug collection and particularly those designed by Patricia Urquiola.

Milan: Loft Cube

The area outside the Marcel Wanders Studio exhibit was dominated by a full sized Loft Cube. After seeing it in so many magazines over the last year, I was dying to get inside and quickly joined the queue.


Initially in awe of the layout and clever separation of living areas, my disappointment mounted as the practical woman in me kept searching for storage - any storage, but to no avail. I also do not feel that additional storage space would have affected the design concept. For example, the bathroom and kitchen sinks were wall mounted with no cupboards below. Hmm... where to hide those cleaning products? Perhaps the people who come to clean the cube bring them with them...

The choice of white Corian for the kitchen counters, cupboards and sink looked absolutely stunning, but would drive the average person mad trying to keep clean, as every little fingerprint would stand out like a scar on your lovely new kitchen. I was thinking that perhaps a better choice would be a white Corian counter (which is manageable) and cupboards in a wood veneer to match the window frames.

I often think that what differentiates industrial design from fine art is the fact that great design must be beautiful and practical; definitely a hard balance to strike. In fact, what initially drew me to design was that amazing combination of beauty, genius, function and a grounding in the every day that the very best work achieves.

Milan: Avverati

Salone Satellite is one of the most interesting areas to visit at the Salone del Mobile. It is an area for emerging designers and students to display their designs to talent scouts, manufacturers and a curious public. This year an exhibition called Avverati (A Dream Come True) was held in this area to highlight the many successful pieces that have emerged from Salone Satellite since it began in 1998. There were many wonderful designs here; some that I recognized and some that were exciting new discoveries.

Indaco Design created these ceramic boxes in 2003. They function as storage boxes, display objects and ovenproof casseroles.



A star-shaped cut eliminates material at critical points on this tray designed by Suntae Kim in 2006. When fruit is added they reassemble tropical flowers.





Catherine Mui designed this lamp in 2005. It can be maneuvered to into different shapes by sliding the boxes from side to side.



David Trubridge, who is a new discovery for me, currently has a large collection of furniture and lighting that takes its inspiration from natural forms. He originally exhibited the Body Raft at the Salone Sattelite in 2001 and the Reed Light in 2002.

Milan: Marcel Wanders Studio

One of the most exciting exhibits I came across in Milan was in the Zona Tortona, where a large warehouse had been turned into a gallery for Marcel Wanders' personal designs. These are pieces that are perhaps impractical to produce on a mass scale, but are creations that he felt necessary to explore and exhibit. It was very exciting to see a designer create a forum (self-financed) that seeks to challenge and expand our relationship to design.

Enormous painted bells, illuminated from inside, were suspended throughout the room; each bell decorated in a variety of colours and patterns.


The Crochet Chair, which was exhibited at Design Miami, sat in the centre of the room where a back light outlined its beautiful crochet patterns. (It is hand crocheted and coated with a fibre resin)



This white carrera marble console was sand blasted to leave a similar crochet pattern on its luminescent surface.

There were also magnesium etchings and one in particular, depicting a medieval city and an interplay of moving forms and measurement, that I found quite stunning.


My favourite items were his delft blue porcelain vases and figures. They are a delicate and distinctly modern interpretation of the historic delft blue ceramics. The traditional forms are slightly reinterpreted and the brush strays from the standard outline, splashing out in trails of gorgeous blue over the restrained white classic shapes.