Best of Supersalone & Milan Design Week 2021, Part 01.

Every April, the streets of Milan flood to welcome an international spectrum of designers, architects, and artists for a week-long immersion into leading contemporary design. This celebration is known as Salone del Mobile, Milano and 2021 marked its 60th year anniversary in practice.

However, this year was quite unlike any other as we know. With the pandemic’s toll and limitations, the mere thought of people flooding any confine of space, outside or in, was enough to thwart the attendance of veteran visitors and big brand investment. As one yearly Salone devotee told me, this year’s version would be “baby Salone,” another told me, “it simply wouldn’t be worth it,” others, unfortunately, could not leave their respective countries to make the pilgrimage.

Frankly, I wouldn’t have known the difference of what’s worth or scale as this was my first visit to the lauded design Mecca with my familial team at Hello Human, an international PR collective based in New York City. I was simply lucky to be there. Another first for me is this: A byline with a design vanguard like Yellowtrace who, due to Australia’s lockdown, was unable to attend.

So, Australia, and beyond, here’s my rookie attempt at delivering Salone and Milan Design Week 2021 to your front door without any pre-existing context other than those forewarnings. Please share your favourites and thoughts as well because connection and dialogue—a natural byproduct of Salone’s packed calendar of events and installations—is what excellent design sparks in the first place.

We begin. As the saying goes, quality always trumps quantity. And even if this year’s work was at a minimized scale, aside from Hermes’ gargantuan presentation, there was a shimmering silver lining—resilience.

Salone 2021 revealed a creative Renaissance that was diligently at work during the pandemic who then came to the surface in Milan with an eager response to design’s collective future before we are left only to react.

I saw and learned of collaborative masterworks, like Lindsey Adelman’s Paradise or Bethan Laura Wood’s Ornate, that recruited independent artisans to bring astral concepts to fruition, literally for Wood. I saw a rise of young empathetic thinkers and designers in The Lost Graduation Show and throughout Alcova, masterfully developed by Space Caviar and Studio Vedet. I saw thoughtful technological applications, like Audrey Large’s Some Vibrant Things or Rashmi Bidasaria’s Karigari.

At large, I saw a lack of limitation. New hybridities of materials occurred all at once, like with Giopato and Coombes’ Milky Way Collection, or completely introduced, as with Michael Anastassiades’ recruitment of bamboo for his lighting series at ICA Milan.

It was clear to me that in 2020, a tenacious band of designers and curators stole at opportunity with whatever tools and materials were left at hand to make things that really mattered. Supersalone 2021’s standout exhibitors, mentioned below (and in soon-to-come Part 02 of this Milan mega-report), excited and uplifted to challenge paradigms and move the conversation forward. Quickly, we were reminded why we descend upon an entire city, yearly if we can, in the first place. And enlivened by their contagious inspiration, I would be lucky to return in April 2022 to one day become this aforementioned devotee.

Related: Best of Supersalone & Milan Design Week 2021, Part 02.

Written by Meggie Sullivan of Hello Human, a global PR company for small scale design studios.

GROUP SHOWS/ ALCOVA

Abandoned military hospital vibes at Alcova. Photo by DSL Studio/ Piercarlo Quecchia.

Spread installation at Alcova courtyard. Photo by DSL Studio/ Piercarlo Quecchia.

Situated just outside of Milan’s centre, Alcova was a standout destination that more than satiated the curiosities of the adventurous who were willing to step out. The site itself––chosen and curated by Space Caviar and Studio Vedèt—served as a former military hospital and has stood untouched since its abandonment years ago.

Thus, Alcova’s cold tiled corridors, cracked facades, and rusted structures, now overtaken by lush greenery, offered a perfect canvas for Salone’s emerging to veteran talent.

Llot Llov magic at Alcova. Photo by Petra Hurai.

Llot Llov’s Fran lamps, handmade in Latvia.

Left: Osis block tables & Fran Lamps. Right: Medeia vase.

Agglomerati with Fred Ganim. Photo by DSL Studio/ Piercarlo Quecchia. See more here.

Agglomerati X Fred Ganim. See more here.

London-based Agglomerati’s debut collection, MASS, designed by Australia’s own, Fred Ganim, was a manipulation of Palissandro Bluette marble, chipped away from Gruppo Tosco Marmi’s quarry.

In an interplay of gravity and the materials’ sheer structural force, Ganim and Agglomerati created a cantilevered and modular shelving series: MASS Large, Medium, and Small. Round Table, a reinvention of Ganim’s early work in 2015, was deftly engineered from a singular block of Quartzite as if it were silk.

Lindsey Adelman’s Paradise installation at Alcova. Photo by Matteo Imbraiani. See more here.

See more of Lindsey’s stunning Paradise collection here.

Not to be missed, was New York City’s Lindsey Adelman and her collaborative work: the Paradise chandelier. A galactic reinterpretation of Murano glass artisanal traditions and centuries-long expertise, Paradise’s pink and amber glass globes were blown by Brooklyn-based Michiko Sakano and Pennsylvania’s Vetro Vero studio.

Adelman tapped textile designer, Taryn Urushido, to magically disguise electrical wires with her crocheted brass chains. Adelman’s orchestration gave way to a stunning braided assembly of pinned glass globes, chains, and links. Not to be unnoticed, was Adelman’s bespoke brass hieroglyphics, of her own amusing lexicon (i.e. “lol”, “fun is a virtue”,“seek balance”).

Objects Of Common Interest X Etage. Photo by DSL Studio/ Piercarlo Quecchia.

Objects Of Common Interest X Etage. Photo by Stefanos Tsakiris.

Within what was Alcova’s coldest and most dreary of former medical rooms, stood the chromatic, domesticated space-age landscape of FUTURE ARCHAEOLOGY from OBJECTS OF COMMON INTEREST’s Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis and Etage Projects.

In a joyous response to the brutalist-loving environs they were allotted, the teams played with illusion and perception via colour and form inherent in their arched, kinetic, and bubbly works.

Josefin Zachrisson & Mira Bergh’s Seats System.

Josefin Zachrisson & Mira Bergh’s Seats System at Alcova. Photo by DSL Studio/ Piercarlo Quecchia.

Making their debut at Salone, Mia Bergh and Josefin Zachrisson, aka Swedish Girls, hosted a near party with Motion Surrounded where their Seats System, a joint work, welcomed visitors to idle and recline in conversation.

The kinetic outdoor-indoor modular bench and table collection was also situated alongside Zachrisson’s independent Mess, a crevassed series of glass vases that delicately held her beautiful violet proteas.

Peel Vases by Alyssa Lewis & Marcela Trejo. Photo by Studio Santiago.

SEM Milano at Alcova. Photo by Amir Farzad.

Alea chair and Butterfly Dining table by Giulio Spotti for SEM Milano.

Aracea Lamp by Gupica X Visionnaire. Photo by Elettra Bastoni.

Mut Design’s RAÍCES installation at Alcova celebrated the studio’s 11th anniversary.

Tapestry 270 by Adaptism. Photo by Emma Batsheva.

Design Academy Eindhoven graduates, Paul Youenn and Eliott Vallin of  Adaptism Space, presented, Tapestry 270—a layered investigation into the ways we transition between indoors and outdoors. Upon the Merino Wool tapestry, applied outlines of garment patterns (which could be used if chosen) were encompassed by a visual meta-reference of merino wool fibre observed at a microscopic level. Tapestry 270 serves multiple functions Adaptism sought to recognize: warmth, protection of space (and its users), as well as a whimsical storytelling object.

The Tapestr Collage by Kristina Sipulova + Rita Koszorus Nora and Jakub Caprnka.

Hear My Roooar by Andrey Budko.

Jutta Werner for Nomad. Photo by Anna Daki.

Jutta Werner for Nomad. Photo by Anna Daki.

Jutta Werner for Nomad. Photo by Anna Daki.

Botanica by Leo Rydell Jost. Photo by Luis Venegas.

What’s Milan without a little cheek? Botanica by Leo Rydell Jost. Left: Photo by DSL Studio/ Piercarlo Quecchia. Right: Photo by Luis Venegas.

Giovanni De Francesco for Trame. Photo by Mattia Parodi.

Maddalena Casadei for Trame. Photo by Mattia Parodi.

Artificial Wasteland by Ignacio Subias Albert reimagines the artificial reproduction of grass. Sights of the lawn currently deemed as ‘ugly’ are carefully reproduced in 100% plastic in order to present them as equally desirable ideals.

GROUP SHOW/ MASTERLY

Bloomlight by VOUW Studio responds to the passersby and bends to meet them.

Bloomlight by VOUW Studio at Masterly, Palazzo Francesco Turati courtyard.

The Masterly show, held within Palazzo Francesco Turati’s courtyards and Beaux-arts-adorned hallways, hosted the work of 100 Dutch artisans, makers, and agencies with a curation achieved by Nicole Uniquole.

To start in the courtyard: Amsterdam-based Vouw Studio’s Mingus Vogel and Justus Bruns manifested their philosophy of ‘slowtech’ with Bloomlight. A series of towering lanterns that respond to passersby as if they were a hospitable creature, bend when one approaches. Bloomlight’s technology senses our presence and reacts, blooming open to greet and warm one with light. VOUW notes that their use of technology is an effort to “slow down the world.”

Rive Roshan shared the free spirit of childhood through a collection of carpets painted by their 3-year-old daughter and produced by Moooi Carpets.

With a fantastic take on the prodigal artistic child, Rive Roshan embraced their own three-year-old, Ava Paloma de la Rive Box. Little Ava’s “The Sky Owls and the Puddle”—her abstract painting achieved during lockdown in her parent’s studio—was transformed into a MOOOI carpet masterpiece. And a star was born.

Alongside her carpet, Rive Roshan shared a new range of 3D-printed sand objects also inspired by their dearest Ava, stoking the youthful spirit within us all.

Studio Selma Hamstra at Palazzo Francesco Turati.

GLASSSH by Studio Selma Hamstra.

GLASSSH from Rotterdam-based, Selma Hamstra, featured a series of rose-hued glassworks all crafted and designed by Hamstra—a rare continuity when one asks most designers today, “who made this?”.

Standing nearby, Hamstra’s collection was an ode to her master, Gerte Bullee, and training at Gerrit Rietveld Academy she devotedly noted. With GLASSSH, Hamstra took on an academic dive into taming a material that delicately straddles utility, artistry, and craft all too literally, even beyond her own liking, representing an achieved discipline more so than any other medium we may know.

Studio Stefan Scholten presented The Stone House, the first solo project of the Dutch designer since partying ways with Scholten Baijings, the studio he established and ran with Carole Baijings for nearly two decades. Photos by Simone Bossi.

Stefan Scholten’s The Stone House product is produced of 100% marble and travertine waste, working along with the masters of the traditional techniques to give a new and irreverent interpretation to stone and terrazzo.

The Stone House by Stefan Scholten of Amsterdam-based Studio Stefan Scholten, marks his solo debut collection commissioned by Stone Made Italy.

A sustainable material investigation, Stone House integrated terrazzo with what-would-have-been discarded offcuts of marble, sourced from local quarries near Forte dei Marmi, Italy. The collection of chairs, dining tables, a stone ‘carpet’, wall, and coffee table reveal a brand new technology that values imperfection and an amalgamation of color, pattern, and minimalist line.

INSTALLATIONS

Hermes installation. See more here.

With tactility and technique being the major focus of Hermes’ new home collection, the French luxury brands’ much-awaited return to its usual Milan Design Week stakeout ​​in the La Pelota Jai Alai event centred in the heart of Brera, was nothing short of an atmospheric showstopper. The colourful and immersive space designed by Charlotte Macaux Perelman, titled Contemplating Materials, echoed his peers beyond. The space featured five monolithic patterned and painted architectural chambers, outfitted in a series of geometric fabrics, all resting on a bed of terracotta-hued sand that blanketed the Pelota court’s floor.

Amongst the volumes, the new home collection could be found, and highlights included designs such as ‘sillage d’Hermès’, a chair with an endearingly organic form, designed by Studio Mumbai. The presentation set out to examine the characteristics and technical approaches behind the brand’s creation of raw and natural materials. The environment toed the line between tradition and innovation — and as one would expect from the storied French house — evoked warm feelings of refinement, comfort and elegance. See more here.

Studiopepe X Mohd. Photos by Silvia Rivoltella.

Studiopepe’s Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto, took on a collaboration with Mohd to share Botanica Collettiva — a verdant immersion of Mohd’s home design collections selected and staged by Studiopepe, and situated in a greenhouse of sorts with meandering pathways and live monarch butterflies fluttering throughout the showroom.

I’ll Be Your Mirror by H+O Studio. See more here.

Visually arresting, immersive installation by long term collaborators Elisa Ossino and Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer of H+O Studio took over the Milanese gallery apartment on via Solferino. The interior featured a carefully curated medley of objects from a range of Italian and Nordic design houses, exhibiting furniture, lighting, ceramics and art dedicated to the concept of the mirror. See more of this installation here.

Ron Gilad’s surreal installation for Unifor honoured the work of Aldo Rossi. Photos by DSL Studio.

Be Water Installation by Maurizio Cattelan/ Toiletpaper Mag for Desigual at Cozzi Swimming Pool.

Luke Jerram’s Gaia installation at BASE Milano. Gaia is a touring artwork by the UK artist, measuring seven metres in diameter and created from 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface. Photos by Tiziano Demuro.

Gufram’s Super Pratone Installation at Piazza San Fedele. Photos by Roberto Conte.

Note Design Studio’s Mixed Habitat exhibition for Vestre reused and reinvented the Norweigan company’s award-winning stand from Stockholm Design Week 2020. The stand and the exhibition reflect Vestre’s deep commitment to sustainability, initially designed in 2020 with all materials carefully selected for easy recycling or reuse. 

Out Of Ordinary by Vogue Italia for Cassina, with the set and window created by interior stylist Laura Tocchet, at Cassina Milan Showroom on Via Durini 16. The installation celebrated the re-issue of the Soriana, designed by Afra and Tobia Scarpa, brought to life with a live performance. Photos by Stefania Zanetti. 

DESIGN GALLERIES

Ornate by Bethan Laura Wood at Nilufar Gallery at Via Della Spiga, 32. See more here.

While Nilufar’s presence could be felt throughout the streets of Milan, from the Nilufar Depot across town or within Alcova, a trifecta of its leading talent—Audrey Large, Bethan Laura Wood, and Analogia Project—were nestled within Nilufar Gallery, Nina Yoshar’s main base.

Ornate, a solo show by London’s Bethan Laura Wood, is the product of Wood’s decade-long synergistic dialogue with Yashar. While most of us dream in black and white, Wood dreams in technicolor. And in her partnership with Yashar, our mind’s eye took a trip from two-dimensional decoration to three-dimensional form. From her bon bon chandelier and sconces in collaboration with Pietro Viero, aperitivo Venetian-glass mirrors, Meisen-print cabinet and desk, and squiggly aluminum bedhead, Wood conjured the vibrant influences from her global travels, a mixology of materiality, and applies a conglomerate of artisan collaborators, from Mexico to Venice.

Some Vibrant Things by Audrey Large at Nilufar Gallery. See more here.

Some Vibrant Things from Audrey Large and curated by Studio Vedet, scratched a brand new surface, for most, of the infinite possibilities 3D-sculpting and ZBrush illustrations brings to functional design.

The goal for Large was to, “articulate a metaphor of liquidity that largely permeates the vocabulary we use to think about our digital worlds.” While liquidity is ephemeral in its movement, Large’s underlying theme points to a new design sorcery that I am confident will soon turn mainstream.

Analogia Project at Chez Nina. See more here.

Analogia Project’s ARCOIRIS collection of floor and table lamps, pendant and wall lights, and a large coffee table utilized a spectrum of cut marble arcs—carrara, verde alpi, giallo verona, and rosso alicante—to create a series of rainbows.

Analogia’s wireless ARCOIRIS table (or wherever really) lamp was an object to hold and behold.

Jungle by Khaled El Mays and Site-specific Installation by Federica Perazzoli at Nilufar Depot.

Sun Ra by Nanda Vigo at Nilufar Depot.

German Ermics at Rossana Orlandi. Photo by Marco Menghi.

Draga & Aurel Golia Coffee Tables at Rossana Orlandi. Photo by Riccardo Gasperoni.

Draga & Aurel Golia Coffee Tables at Rossana Orlandi. Photo by Federica Lissoni.

Sergio Roger’s mindblowing Textile Sculptures at Rossana Orlandi. Photo by Marco Menghi. See more here.

Sergio Roger’s Textile Ruins. See more here.

In his “Textile Ruins” series, Barcelona-based artist Sergio Roger interprets classical sculptures by replacing stone and marble with delicate pieces of antique linen to create his elaborate pieces. Mind—blown. See more of Roger’s incredible work here.

No Title Lamp by Mayice. Photo by Pablo Gomez.

Left: Photo by Pablo Gomez. Right: Photo by Knu Kim.

Sand In Motion, Natural Sand Pleat Mirror by Rive Roshan.

In addition to showing at Mastery, Rive Roshan were also at Rossana Orlandi with their project Sand in Motion—3-D sculptural vessels (Flow Vessel & Spin Vessel) and a table mirror composed of sand, which stood in our awe and formulaic resistance to gravity.

La Vie Grace Sofa by Nika Zupanc for Sé.

Sé La Vie Oshun Sofa and Tambor Table.

Sé La Vie Athena Sconce.

Ganges Rug by Alvaro Catalan de Ocon x Gan. The intricate tapestry, made from 100 per cent recycled PET, is the first of four rugs to anchor Gan’s Plastic Rivers collection.

Hung for our contemplation in Rossana Orlandi Gallery for the Ro COLLECTIBLE DESIGN was its prize-winner: The GANGES rug, made in collaboration with GAN and A.

Created from 100% recycled PET (plastic), which employed a hand-tufted technique, GANGES is a paradoxical masterpiece visually emblazoned with its origin story: an aerial map of the centre of India’s spiritual life, a river that carries the most plastic waste, and roads turned to highways that carry this plastic waste to the ocean.

THE LOST GRADUATION SHOW AT SUPERSALONE

For a Fleeting Moment by Bijin Davis.

In a year where schools paused, there was a graduate class of design talent on the rise, left to contemplate the future of their creative endeavours at home, alone. The Lost Show, curated by Anniina Koivu, showed the silver lining to the pandemic: a creative renaissance from design’s leading institutions. The common threads were empathy, radical and truly sustainable materialities, and constant reminder to look to younger generations for our greatest inspirations. 

Tokyo-based designer and Musashino Art University graduate, Bijin Davis’s For a Fleeting Moment, created an emotionally stirring series of shelves inspired by our cultural desire for new appearances and interaction. When the shelves are separated, their colours fade. Yet, when juxtaposed or layered, they shed light on one other and illuminating colours appear in response.

Seam Of Skin by Chiaki Yoshihara. Photo by Michiko Ishikawa.

Seam Of Skin by Chiaki Yoshihara, sees the young designer turn polystyrene foam into two-tone seats with a wood grain-like texture. Photo by Yunosuke Ishibashi.

EN 312 Superoffice by Haus Otto.

From Germany, Haus Otto’s Patrick Henry Nagel and Nils Körner brought EN 312 and its composition of recycled wood, also known as chipboard.

One of the most widely used materials in the furniture industry, chipboard is usually hidden under layers of synthetic or veneers. EN 312’s three movable parts can be individually combined/arranged to support flexibility with storage and space.

Kaarigari Tapestry by RCA graduate Rashmi Bidasaria.

Kaarigari Tapestry by RCA graduate Rashmi Bidasaria.

The Royal College of Art’s Rashmi Bidasaria and her work, Karigari celebrate stories of revival and of the craftsperson. With her tapestries, Bidasaria turns the block printing work of artisans from Sanganer, Rajasthan into visual data, charting their individual unique and signature styles. As a result, each tapestry yields a beautiful, renewed perspective on their identity.

Natalia Triantafylli objects are made by a combination of rapid prototyping mediums and traditional slip casting.

Also from The Royal College of Art, Natalia Triantafylli presented Chimeras of a high tide through a combination of rapid prototyping mediums (photogrammetry and 3D printing) and traditional slip casting. Triantafylli scanned the details of Victorian street furniture then merged them with clay at a figurine’s scale to playfully comment on the transitions which occur between original and reproduced design forms.

Haruka Isono Into.

Oneseo Choi. Photo by Park Yoon.

South Korea’s Oneseo Choi’s anodized aluminium PF60-STOOL 02 pays homage to industrial sites and their materials.

Due to its aluminium profile, the stool’s assembly methods play a functional advantage in fabrication methods.

Potted Plant Furniture by Max Guderian. Photo by Michelle Mantel.

Dots by Chiara Torterolo & Luca Vernieri.

Dots by Chiara Torterolo & Luca Vernieri.

Kitsch Study, The Shared Happiness by Jiaqi Liu.

Air Inflated Stools by Xiulai Zhou.

SOLO SHOWS

Michael Anastassiades’ solo show ‘Cheerfully Optimistic About The Future’ at ICA Milano.

Michael Anastassiades’ solo show ‘Cheerfully Optimistic About The Future’ at ICA Milano.

At Fondazione ICA Milano, London-based designer, Michael Anastassiades created Cheerfully Optimistic about the Future, a show curated by Alberto Salvadori.

The exhibition, developed during last year’s height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was hosted at two different spaces: First, at the Glossary Room, where Anastassiades laid a Darwinian-like assemblage of natural objects from last year’s foraging where I imagine him reciting to no one really, “I am cheerfully optimistic”.

Then, in the main building, Anastassiades left for us another repetitive and raw configuration of lighting structures composed of bamboo (a new materiality for his practice), threaded linen, coupled with exposed bulb holders, wires, and glass cylinders. The point was that each part could be interchanged, borrowed, and reinvented as desired—something we were all forced to do last year.

Marcin Rusak’s solo show Unnatural Practice, curated by Federica Sala. See more here.

Marcin Rusak’s solo show Unnatural Practice, curated by Federica Sala. See more here.

Making his Milan debut with a bang, Unnatural Practice showcased Marcin Rusak’s most recent works together with archival and “in progress” pieces that inform the studio’s ongoing research. Expertly curated by Federica Sala, this solo exhibition took place at Ordet. See more of this fascinating show here.

[Images courtesy of the designers. Photography credits as noted.]