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Milan Design Week 2023 - Part Two

News | 20.04.2023

As Milan Design Week continues, we're excited to share the second part of our series covering even more exciting and innovative design. The city has been abuzz with exhibitions, installations, and events, showcasing the latest trends and cutting-edge designs from some of the world's most talented creatives.

This year has been a testament to the creativity and innovation of the design industry. Designers are pushing the boundaries and paving the way for a brighter future. Stay tuned for the final part of our series, where we'll wrap up the highlights of this year's event and look ahead to what's next in the world of design.

BassamFellows presents Rail

Bassam fellows celebrates 20 years at Milan Design Week with an installation of modernist outdoor luxury and new Rail design.

The debut of the BassamFellows Rail system offers a path forward for the outdoor pavilion and similar architecture. It’s about unifying open spaces within the context of beautiful scenery, creating interior comfort, but focusing outwards–to a desert, a lake, woodlands, the infinite horizon. This new indoor/outdoor sofa collection by BassamFellows has its roots in the Arts and Crafts Movement but updates and reshapes it with a sculpted and more severe utilitarian style. Natural materials, vernacular forms and skilfully executed joinery converge with a rhythmic play of solid and negative space. Rail was developed for a specific environment-a client’s guest house/pool pavilion designed by BassamFellows close to the studio’s base in New Canaan. The structure of the house/pavilion represents a single long rectangle, with a substantial cantilevered element at one end. To bring an extra element of harmony to the space, it incorporates a central covered outdoor room. While the building contains numerous floor-to-ceiling glass panels, the open-air element profoundly accentuates the interior’s harmony with its wooded setting, separated from the rest of the building by folding glass doors that stack to the side. When opened, it creates one singular living space, running the entire width of the pavilion. Rail was created to seamlessly integrate these indoor and outdoor living rooms with a singular visual element.

Tom Dixon presents CHOICE

New Collections showed for the first time at Euroluce included new PUFF pendants and chandeliers, PORTABLES lights inspired by the iconic MELT, BELL and STONE designs and CONE, along with the best-selling upholstery pieces FAT and WINGBACK, now available in hundreds of colours and textiles.

Tom Dixon demonstrated flexibility, modularity and limitless possibilities of the new CHOICE collection thanks to a collaborative and compliant robot by ground-breaking technology Universal Robots. With a tailor-made, machine-tending application from Universal Robot’s UR10e series, a large OnRobot VG10 gripper configured the new CONE table and floor lights at the exhibition.

New Puff

Inspired by inflatable geometry, Puff is an intricate polyhedral object made of 30 metal panels, arrayed to form the rigid structure of a 45cm diameter lamp. Puff is a true statement light set to act as a focal point in any environment.

New Portables

Tom Dixon also launches a brand-new category of lights: the Portables. Poised to become a must-have with design aficionados across the world, this new series of rechargeable lights are super expressive, skilfully engineered and highly compact in size. The new collection includes Melt, Stone and Bell.

New Cone

A brand-new pedestal that can be mixed and matched with 28 of Tom Dixon shades including MELT and MIRROR BALL. “A perfectly executed metal cone becomes the most appropriate and elegant pedestal to support and enhance a multitude of different luminous possibilities from our range of polycarbonate lampshades.” – Tom Dixon

E15 presents New Releases

This year at Salone del Mobile, e15 proudly introduced GALERIE, a table by David Chipperfield, the 2023 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Evolving with the study of forms and materials, e15 also showcased a distinct group of side tables; KAISA in glass by Annabelle Klute and HEIJI in lacquered plywood by Philipp Mainzer.

Galerie by David Chipperfield
In 2012 David Chipperfield Architects were commissioned to restore the Neue National galerie in Berlin, an icon of twentieth-century architecture by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, built from 1963 to 1968. Table Galerie was originally designed for the café of the Neue National galerie. The table’s slim and elongated outline reiterates the pure and striking character of the iconic building. In play with proportions Galerie is scaled in small, medium and large with corresponding tabletops offered with short or extended overhangs.

The modest and elegant structure of the table is reinforced with custom metal hardware, allowing for stability and the extended length of the overhangs. Made of solid oak, Galerie is available with oiled finish or black lacquered.

Heiji by Philipp Mainzer
Inspired by simple and essential Japanese forms, side table Heiji by Philipp Mainzer is scaled in small and medium sizes and can be arranged to display intriguing open or closed sides. Offered in orange, cream and black lacquered plywood, Heijiis a charming and functional side table that serves in various combinations for lounge and sleeping areas.

Kaisa by Annabelle Klute
Inspired by Art Deco jewelry and industrial glass developments of the time, side tables KAISA illustrate sculptural elegance with abstractions in faceted and linear forms. Designed by industrial designer and goldsmith Annabelle Klute, Kaisa side tables are scaled in small and medium sizes and are offered in black, mirrored and brown glass. Exploring different combinations and gradients of translucency. Kaisa presents a distinct character from each angle, drawing the eye to perceptive details and reflections.

Herman Miller celebrates 100 Years of Herman Miller

This year, Herman Miller unveiled a specially curated exhibit and limited-edition poster reprint celebrating its rich graphic design history in its Milan showroom. Throughout its history, Herman Miller has worked with many graphic designers and artists who came to define the look and feel of their respective eras.

The exhibition showed graphics from Alexander Girard, Irving Harper (responsible for the “free” M in Herman Miller’s logo to this day), John Massey and his protégé Steve Frykholm. During Salone, Herman Miller has made available for sale limited-edition prints of the John Massey-designed Eames Soft Pad Group poster, originally produced in 1970. The print embodies this statement from Massey: “I always tried to build into each piece a life beyond the purpose for which it was created.”

BD Barcelona presents New Perspectives: 50 Years of Design

Since its inception, BD’s attention to process has been pivotal in attracting the collaboration of internationally-celebrated designers. Using the most appropriate means of manufacture each time, often with an emphasis on local, small-scale makers, it sets an international benchmark, while keeping its heart in Barcelona.

Exhibiting at the Palazzo Belgioioso, a beautifully restored late 18th-century building, it is showing a selection of pieces from the last 50 years, all elevated on a structure fashioned from industrial aluminium. This display device is the work of Arquitectura-G. The intention is to create, quite literally, a new perspective. Looked at afresh, against the background of the Belgioioso’s elegant interiors, BD’s provocations—its teasing confrontations of beauty, humour, and practicality—are as wild and original as ever.

Derlot presents Tsukiko

During Milan Design Week, Derlot Introduced ‘Tsukiko,’ a radiant new table lamp designed by Alexander Lotersztain in collaboration with Kojima Shōten, the esteemed 10th generation Kyoto-based lantern makers. The name ‘Tsukiko,’meaning ‘Moon child,’ in Japanese, pays homage to the lamp's soft and warm glow, reminiscent of the gentle light of the moon.

Kojima Shōten's reputation for exceptional craftsmanship is attributed to their unique jibari-shiki manufacturing method, which involves using thicker bamboo strips for the frame and paper for the lantern. ‘Tsukiko’ is a testament to Shun Kojima & Ryo Kojima for their exceptional skill and artistry, reflecting the company's commitment to preserving the traditional craft for future generations.

Alexander Lotersztain's fascination with traditional Japanese crafts, honed during his professional career living and working in Japan in the early 2000s, is evident in the design of ‘Tsukiko’. The light object showcases the purity and extraordinary craft of the technique, while striking a delicate balance between the new and the traditional.

Functional and elegant - Tsukiko’s soft natural materials used in its construction create a soothing and relaxing atmosphere. Its warm glow creates an ambiance that is both alluring and welcoming, making it the perfect addition to any space.”