French designers Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag of M/M (Paris) have a fascination with alphabets and signs, a passion they have fostered and developed with dedication since they founded their studio in 1992. The duo has created and crafted over 50 alphabets, from literal A-Z series to more visual and ambiguous sets of symbols, and these sign systems have become central to its work. The designers’ latest project – a collaboration with Plusdesign Gallery that debuted at Milan during Miart and Salone del Mobile – introduces a new, if not always obvious, functionality to their playful iconography.
The duo have installed a domestic diorama in the transparent glass tunnel that forms Plusdesign’s via Ventura gallery. It’s a sort of utopian ideal inspired by the living units described by Le Corbusier and Jean Prouvé, says Augustyniak, and it was developed from a collection of objects M/M (Paris) designed for Dior Homme in 2014 for the brand’s advertising and stores.
Andrea Caputo and Luca Martinazzoli, who took over Plusdesign two years ago, had been watching how M/M (Paris)’ work has developed. ‘We love their images, a combination of meaning and seduction,’ says Caputo. ‘We noticed that their production includes several objects; they are never in the foreground of the images, but something links them together.
‘We met, and they told us about their obsession with the domestic space, and the radical, utopian living unit they wanted to create.’
The French duo, meanwhile, sees the collaboration, entitled ‘M/Maison’, as a natural extension of its graphic and typographic work and hopes to develop an ongoing partnership with the gallery. ‘Plusdesign is a great platform to construct a vision within the world of design or objects and define what is a contemporary object today,’ says Augustyniak.
The pieces from the Dior Homme project include vertical and horizontal room dividers, a lighting system and a dynamic seating composition, but it’s a collection of new objects on show that pull the display together, acting as centrepieces of M/M’s idealised home.
‘We said, “OK, we need something,”’ explains Augustyniak. ‘Is it a plant? Is it possibly a human being? Is it like a friend? Is it a pet? This is when we started to design a citronnier [lemon tree].’ Which, it turns out, could be a combination of all of the above.
Essentially a series of vanity units, the finished citronniers are compositions of oversized eyes shaped as lemons, installed on a modular metal structure. Blown in Murano by master glass craftsmen, the lemon eyes are combined with smaller foam lemons produced by artist Massimiliano Adami, an expert in the material. The final collection combines semi-industrial and artisanal manufacturing methods that, according to Augustyniak, ‘reflect a contemporary handcrafted approach, but are not nostalgic’.
The citronniers have a kind of organic abandon, a bonkers modularity, something that Augustyniak likes to call ‘the Pinocchio effect’. He explains: ‘It was like Geppetto creating his child; a master crafting a piece of art, then suddenly it gets out of hand and it gets beyond what you were expecting. I think that’s the beauty of any act of creation. Whether it’s an art piece, a design piece, whether it’s a novel, a movie, or whether it’s an alphabet.’
As originally featured in the May 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*206)
M/M (Paris)’ citronniers, as featured on this month’s Wallpaper* cover
The duo have installed a domestic diorama in the transparent glass tunnel that forms Plusdesign’s via Ventura gallery. Click above (and on the following images) for a series of neat, rotational insights into the show
Andrea Caputo and Luca Martinazzoli, who took over Plusdesign two years ago, had been watching how M/M (Paris)’ work has developed. ‘We love their images, a combination of meaning and seduction,’ says Caputo. Pictured left: a detail from the citrionnier
The exhibition is a sort of utopian ideal inspired by the living units described by Le Corbusier and Jean Prouvé; developed from a collection of objects M/M (Paris) designed for Dior Homme in 2014 for the brand’s advertising and stores
INFORMATION
'M/Maison' will be on view until 15 May at Plusdesign Gallery. For more information, visit the M/M (Paris) website
Photography: Leonardo Scotti. Set design: Dimitra Marlanti
ADDRESS
Plusdesign Gallery
via Ventura 6
20134 Milan
-
Five of the finest compact cameras available todayPocketable cameras are having a moment. We’ve assembled a set of cutting-edge compacts that’ll free you from the ubiquity of smartphone photography and help focus your image making
-
London label Wed Studio is embracing ‘oddness’ when it comes to bridal dressingThe in-the-know choice for fashion-discerning brides, Wed Studio’s latest collection explores the idea that garments can hold emotions – a reflection of designers Amy Trinh and Evan Phillips’ increasingly experimental approach
-
Arts institution Pivô breathes new life into neglected Lina Bo Bardi building in BahiaNon-profit cultural institution Pivô is reactivating a Lina Bo Bardi landmark in Salvador da Bahia in a bid to foster artistic dialogue and community engagement
-
Art Deco's centenary is honoured with a grand exhibition in ParisTo mark 100 years of Art Deco, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris is holding a retrospective that includes furniture, tableware, clothing, jewellery and objets d’art (on view until 26 April 2026)
-
Best of Design Miami Paris 2025: animal sculptures and musical ping-pong tablesDesign Miami Paris returns to the Hôtel de Maisons (until 26 October 2025): here are the Wallpaper* highlights
-
At Design Miami Paris, an artful menagerie tells a story of scent and natureVikram Goyal and Sissel Tolaas present ‘The Soul Garden’ at Design Miami Paris (until 26 October 2025), ‘a contemporary fable where the animals take new forms, reimagined for the world we live in today’
-
These are the best design exhibitions to see in Paris this weekAs Design Miami Paris and Art Basel Paris make their return, we round up the best design exhibitions to discover in the city
-
A monumental exhibition of French design revives the spirit of art deco for contemporary timesThe Galerie des Gobelins hosts the inaugural Salon des Nouveaux Ensembliers, a contemporary movement inspired by art deco’s grand traditions
-
‘The club is the place where everything is possible’: this Paris Design Week exhibition is conceived as a disco‘Design Disco Club’, curated by Christopher Dessus during Paris Design Week 2025, presents 30 emerging designers in a dark, disco-like environment
-
Postcard from Paris Design Week 2025As the French capital inaugurates the autumn design calendar, we look at the highlights from Paris Design Week 2025 (4-13 September)
-
O Milano! Design's epic annual spectacle in photosCall us biased, but we believe that Milan Design Week is, at this moment in time, the greatest show on earth
