Prada and Formafantasma announce the fifth edition of their collaborative symposium. Prada Frames will take place from 19 to 21 April 2026 during Milan Design Week, and this year's theme is 'In Sight'.

What is Prada Frames?

Prada Frames made its debut in 2022: a series of lectures and conversations led by Formafantasma, the symposium has since become a key moment of Milan Design Week (in 2023, the initiative also had a two-day event at Hong Kong's M+).

‘Education and culture are essential instruments that help us not only comprehend ourselves and the world we live in, but also urge us to explore the unknown,’ said Miuccia Prada on the occasion of the project's launch in 2022. ‘Conversations have always been at the core of Prada’s approach and investigation of the world, so Prada Frames with Formafantasma was a very natural step in this direction.’

This has proved to be a successful approach, with the three-day symposium returning year after year and exploring themes such as 'On Forest', 'Materials in Flux’, 'Being Home' and 'In Transit' - both reflecting Formafantasma's own research focus and the key topics resonating across the creative industries (and beyond, with speakers ranging from the fields of film, philosophy and science).

Prada Frames 2026: 'In Sight'

The 2026 theme of 'In Sight' focuses on image-making. 'Images, today, embed a net of entanglements, challenges and contradictions,' read a note introducing the upcoming edition. 'No longer a reliable depiction of truth, they embody a tension between the real and the represented, with distinctions between human-authored and machine-generated increasingly blurred. As a result, reference points crumble, complicating the ability to discern reliable information from fabrication.'

In typical Formafantama modus operandi, the infrastructure of image-making will also be addressed, from a point of view of extraction of resources, energy consumption, data storage, and invisible forms of labour.

As in previous years, the symposium's location will also play a key role in shaping the audience's experience. In the past, Prada and Formafantasma have taken over key historical Milanese venues such as the National Braidense Library, Luigi Caccia Dominioni's Teatro Filodrammatici and Gio Ponti's Arlecchino Train. The 2026 edition will be staged within the sacrestia of Santa Maria delle Grazie church, notably the home of Leonardo's 'Last Supper'.

Guests will experience the Renaissance space (attributed to architect Donato Bramante), defined by cabinets inlaid with biblical scenes by Domenico and Francesco Morone. Small groups will be allowed to join guided visits of the building, expanding the context of the symposium into an architectural experience.

'Prada Frames is a space where different forms of knowledge meet,' say Formafantasma founders, Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin. 'The challenges we face today are complex and interconnected, and they cannot be understood from a single point of view. Bringing together voices from different disciplines – whether science, the humanities, activism, or the arts – creates a richer conversation and allows us to look at the present from multiple perspectives.

'For us, this exchange is essential to better understand the systems shaping our world and how we might navigate them.'

Admission to Prada Frames In Sight is complimentary, based on availability, upon registration at prada.com from April 13. Speakers will be announced closer to the date.

Prada Frames, 19-21 April 2026, Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie, Via Cardosso 1, Milan

And so concludes another Milan Fashion Week, a season marked by its debuts: across the week, Maria Grazia Chiuri presented her opening vision for Fendi as the house’s first sole creative director, young Belgian designer Meryll Rogge made an expressive debut at Marni, and Demna hosted his first runway show for Gucci – a virile mediation on sex and the body which had everybody in fashion talking. Meanwhile at Giorgio Armani, Silvana Armani – the niece of the late eponymous designer – made her ready-to-wear debut at the house. Though true to Mr Armani’s well-established codes, she said this was ‘a new perspective on the Armani style’ – light, fluid and purposely ‘imperfect’.

Alongside, there were standout shows from Prada – in a feat of quick changes and expert layering, 15 models wore 60 looks without pause – and Bottega Veneta, where Louise Trotter conjured Maria Callas and Pier Paolo Pasolini in a riot of colour and texture. While at Jil Sander, Simone Bellotti found new freedom in his sophomore runway show after the rigour and restraint of his debut.

Here, reported by Wallpaper* fashion & beauty features director Jack Moss and contributing writer India Jarvis, the 14 standout shows which defined the week.

Fendi

‘Less I, More Us,’ was the mantra Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri chose for her debut as sole creative director for Fendi, emblazoning it across the runway which stretched the length of the house’s Milanese HQ on Via Solari. Chiuri is fond of such mission statements: for her debut collection as the first female creative director of Dior in 2016, she printed the title of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book-length essay ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ across a T-shirt. Over the nine years which followed, she would champion numerous women artists and collaborators.

Her mantra at Fendi is perhaps a feminist one too, despite the fact that Chiuri also showed menswear on the runway (and will be equally in charge of the house’s mens- and womenswear lines). It was, in part, a reference to the collective force of the formidable Fendi sisters: Alda, Carla, Paola, Franca and Anna Fendi, who took over from their parents, house founders Edoardo and Adele Fendi, in 1946. Speaking before the show, she said that people speak too often of Karl Lagerfeld’s influence – the designer was creative director of the house for 54 years – and not enough of the sisters, who employed him and would work alongside him until the company was sold to LVMH in 1999. ‘I would like people to remember all that they created at Fendi,’ she asserted.

Chiuri, who began her career at Fendi in 1989, working with the sisters until her own departure in 1999, said she credits her working ethic to them: ‘They were my mentors. They gave me my career. And I felt part of their teamwork.’ In the show, the idea of collaboration came through projects with women artists SAGG Napoli (colourful football-like scarves were created alongside the Naples-born artist) and the estate of Mirella Bentivoglio, whose slogan-like works appeared across garments. But the idea of a collective ‘us’ stretched to dissolving the divide between mens- and womenswear, too, the designer said: ‘Feminine and masculine cease to be categories of opposition and become adjectives used to describe shared qualities,’ envisioning not two separate collections but ‘one wardrobe’.

As such, the A/W 2026 outing – which eschewed theatrics in favour of a more pragmatic approach – moved between sleek, elongated tailoring and flourishes of romance, from layers of sheer tulle and lace (some evocative of her work at Dior). Meanwhile fur – the founding material of the house – came back to the fore, with Chiuri introducing the ‘Echo of Love’ project whereby clients can have their old furs transformed in an act of circularity. Across vivid two-tone chubby fur coats and patchworked fur handbags, all the materials had been sourced from leftovers in the house’s fur department – another act of practicality over spectacle. ‘Fashion is not entertainment. Fashion is a job. I am that kind of designer,’ she said. Jack Moss

READ: ‘Less I, more us’: Maria Grazia Chiuri lays out her vision for Fendi in Milan

Jil Sander

After a brilliant debut last season, Simone Bellotti continued to cleverly hone his vision for Jil Sander with a sophomore collection which he said was inspired by the idea of ‘home’. Presented in the house’s stark Milanese HQ – this season, warmth was added by the addition of a rust-coloured carpet which had been installed the length of the upper floor – the former Bally designer said he was thinking about home as an ‘an emotional space where one lives, feels safe and belongs to’, leading to a collection which diverted from restraint and rigour of last season towards something freer, more eclectic. Indeed, the designer said this was a collection about ‘flow, flou [and] movement’, with Bellotti imagining garments imbued with a life of their own through an intriguing use of pattern cutting – whether raised shoulder lines, curving seams, folded waistlines, or intentionally puckered tailoring (the slashes through garments also returned from his debut). Meanwhile evocative moments of colour and pattern added visual richness: flashes of electric blue and leopard print met fabrics evocative of interiors – a nod, Bellotti elucidated, to his father’s career as an upholsterer. ‘The question this season is whether abandon can convey restraint,’ he said of this newly liberated approach. Jack Moss

MM6 Maison Margiela

One of life’s great pleasures is watching other people, and what better place to sit and do it than a train terminal? It’s a pleasure that MM6 Maison Margiela tapped into for its A/W 2026 show – one designed around the comings and goings of passengers in an ‘archetypal train station’, in this case Milano Centrale. An archetype is a recurrent, even constant, principle, whereas a station is innately transient – how do the two meet? At MM6 it was with ‘a veritable spectrum of individuality’, and ‘sartorial actions rooted in the genuine appreciation for garments as they are, looking for ways to see them anew, which is where the fun lingers.’

What does that look like? It looks like pea coats with bunched and scrunched hems, loosely tacked to reveal quilted or flannel linings. Clashing stripes with check – something you might serendipitously pair when hurrying to get dressed. Backless khaki trench coats and skirts. And lots of tucking: hair tucked into jumpers, jumpers tucked into jeans, jeans tucked into high-gloss Wellington-style boots.

There was a strong equine theme too – afterall, 2026 is the year of the firehorse, a symbol of forward movement and independence that is characteristically MM6 – from horse motifs printed on oversized T-shirts and teddy fleeces, to full cotton flounced skirts with a decidedly American frontier feel. A train station welcomes all kinds of people going all kinds of places, after all. India Jarvis

Prada

This season, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons played a clever runway trick: instead of the usual 40-or-so models cast in a given season, the pair chose just 15 to walk the A/W 2026 show. In an impressive act of timing, they wore 60 looks in total, walking the runway four times each in quick succession, achieved through removing a layer of clothing during each quick change. When you realised the conceit (for me, I wondered if Bella Hadid had a doppelganger or secret twin after what seemed like an impossibly quick reappearance on the runway), it made for one of the most thrilling Prada shows of recent times – there was a near-breathless energy to the spectacle. (Indeed, chatting to one of the models backstage, she said she had never sweated so much, or walked so far, in a runway show during her career.)

But this was no gimmick: post-show, the co-creative directors said the collection was a reflection of the way that women wear clothing on a given day – the removal of a coat to reveal a cocktail dress, the addition of a scarf. ‘It’s about life, and how you dress each day with the clothes you have,’ said Simons. ‘About real, human people.’ The garments themselves were infused with Prada-isms: purposeful marks of wear (some appeared stained or creased; others saw layers of fabric torn away to reveal another beneath) met an insouciant, bourgeois-inflected glamour in embroidered stockings, feathered and beaded footwear and a use of satin and organza. A feeling of utility, meanwhile, came in uniform-style tailoring and riffs on classic outerwear styles, from the parka jacket to the raincoat. ‘As a woman, your life is layered – each day demands not only a shifting of clothes, but a richness of identities within yourself,’ said Mrs Prada. ‘You make choices, you decide who you want to be.’ Jack Moss

Max Mara

Is a growing interest in the history and aesthetics of the Middle Ages a reaction to the hyper-digitised, blue-lit world of today? An idealised fantasy of a pre-capitalist society? Or perhaps a byproduct of the popularity of the romantasy genre? Whatever the answer, for Max Mara’s Ian Griffiths​, whose unlikely seasonal muse was the 11th-century diplomat and military commander Matilde di Canossa, ‘there is something so strikingly of the now about so-called Dark Age design’.

Griffiths’ interpretation of pre-enlightenment era clothing saw tunics in luxurious, butter-soft suede, ankle-skimming cashmere coats and hooded garments reminiscent of the coif shapes worn by Di Canossa and her contemporaries. Standout pieces included a caramel-coloured bias-cut silk gown with a mohair, funnel-necked yoke; a suede muff worn belted around the waist; and a taupe wool playsuit accessorised with the gathered suede, elbow-length opera gloves that were seen throughout the show. Griffiths has been with the house since graduating from London’s RCA in 1987, and over the four decades which have followed, there is nobody who knows the Max Mara woman better than he. The A/W 2026 collection offered new-yet-medieval twists on the tried and tested house codes, which keep this woman returning to the brand, season after season. India Jarvis

Emporio Armani

Following the death of its eponymous founder in the autumn of 2025, Emporio Armani took an understandable hiatus from showing at menswear week in January, but returned for A/W 2026 with a combined men’s and women’s runway outing. ‘Maestro’, as the collection was titled, was not only a narrative device, but an ode to Mr Armani himself – the eminent composer, conductor, and virtuoso of fashion symphonies for almost 50 years.

The imaginative backdrop for the season was, according to show notes, a music school, and the maestro – and maestra, for this is a co-ed conservatoire – who stepped out in Leo Dell’Orco and Silvana Armani’s first jointly developed collection wore loosely tailored overcoats and baggy denim, and student-y accessories including baker boy caps, backpacks, and ties just visible beneath oversized striped knits. Leg warmers styled over patent leather pumps evoked the chill of a rehearsal auditorium, whereas the show’s second act saw rather more performance-ready pieces in the form of draped velvet, wide-lapelled tuxedo jackets, and starched white collars (a recurring motif in Milan this season: most notably in Maria Grazia Chiuri’s riff on Claudine à l'école at Fendi).

For the finale – the crescendo, if you like – the models turned out in Lydia Tár-esque monochrome. Tight leggings or flowing slacks on the bottom, white dress shirts on top, each with a different button, brooch, pin, collar, or embroidered flourish. ‘A simple and rigorous statement – now more than ever rebellious – of modernity and self-awareness,’ that could only be Armani. India Jarvis

Marni

The Belgian designer Meryll Rogge chose to collaborate with Formafantasma on the runway set for her debut show as creative director of Marni. Transforming the house’s Milanese headquarters with wood-effect panelling and fabric-covered benches – recalling a banal office space, or entranceway to a Milanese apartment block – the space was punctuated with mirrored panels which had been painted with ‘fragments drawn from quotidian life’, from office chairs to cigarette lighters. ‘The structure of the set suggests a bourgeois interior wooden frame, hints of domestic architecture – but fragmented, slightly taken apart. It feels familiar yet unsettled, as if a room has been carefully disassembled and reassembled in another order,’ Formafantasma’s Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin told Wallpaper*.

It linked with Rogge’s vision for her tenure at the Italian house: to create something which felt both familiar and contemporary, evoking Marni’s founding principles with her own distinctive twists. ‘I have a very personal connection to Marni,’ she said. ‘It’s a brand that shaped my design sensibility during my formative years, and through the show I wanted to acknowledge that sense of familiarity.’ It made for an astute opening outing: there was the irreverent spirit of founder Consuelo Castiglioni in its eclectic combinations, not only in its amalgam of nostalgic prints, swinging paillettes and boldly graphic jewellery, but also in the way a sweater might be worn with a cocktail dress, or a colourful sporty parka over a suit and tie. Rogge’s own twist on the Marni protagonist was a newfound toughness, figured in some great leather trousers and skirts, some with Western-inspired detailing. In their slung-on sensuality – imbued with a certain 1980s nostalgia – they might well fill a gap for those who are already missing Dario Vitale’s Versace. Jack Moss

READ: Formafantasma created the ‘familiar yet unsettled’ show set for Meryll Rogge’s Marni debut

Sportmax

If there are a few thematic ideas that inevitably crop up and play out in different ways by different brands in any one season, then for A/W 2026 one such example could be travel. At Loro Piana and MM6 Maison Margiela the vehicle of choice was a train; at Sportmax, the journey seemed to be taken by air. ‘Dynamism’ was the word they used, but ‘aerodynamism’ may be just as apt – as the brand itself puts it: ‘There is no clutter weighing the Sportmax woman down.’

Dresses were close-fitting and body-skimming but with movement in the draping, worn with long wraps which fell backwards over the shoulder like wings. Some of the weightier outerwear nodded to aviator-style jackets with their gargantuan lapels and collars, and contrasting textures and fabrics. Clutches were spheroid, almost discus-shaped; one could imagine them flying through the air with ease. Flashes of skin were visible beneath a kind of jumbo mesh effect leather, used for tops which were worn as a base layer beneath more autumn-winter suitable coats and gilets. Speed and movement were the defining characteristics of the collection – even the show itself was a particularly fast-paced affair – as the show notes said, the Sportmax woman has ‘places to go’. India Jarvis

Gucci

Prior to his debut runway show for Gucci, the mononymous Georgian designer Demna said he had been searching for the ‘Gucciness of Gucci’, a trip which took him to the Tuscan city of Florence, where the house was founded as a leather goods company in 1921. There, he visited factories and the archive, though it was stood in front of Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus at the Uffizi Gallery – just a few hundred metres from the Palazzo Gucci on Piazza della Signoria – that Demna had his lightbulb moment. ‘Standing in front of it, I felt overwhelmed,’ he wrote in a letter distributed before the show. ‘The beauty in it was unconditional; it was absolute. It made me realise how deeply the Italian Renaissance shaped everything I understand about art, about proportion, about desire, and about beauty. When I left the museum and stepped into Piazza della Signoria, the first thing I saw was Palazzo Gucci. In that moment, I understood the place Gucci holds within Italian culture.’

It was part of the reason why he staged the A/W 2026 collection amid an imagined museum constructed in Milan’s Palazzo delle Scintille, clad in marble and populated with plaster recreations of ancient sculptures (the vast statues had been 3D-scanned and crafted by Tuscan artisans to appear as if hewn from marble). This was a veneration of Gucci as an expression of Italian style and insouciance: after the show, he said this opening act was simply about capturing a feeling, rather than anything more intellectually overwrought. ‘I hope I made you feel Gucci today,’ he said, expressing a desire for Gucci to become an ‘adjective’. ‘That was my main purpose with this show.’

The essence of ‘Gucci-ness’ that Demna landed on was one of unbridled sensuality, a morning-after-the-night before glamour which borrowed from Tom Ford’s transformative tenure at the house in the 1990s (all the way down to a recreation of his 1997 double-G G-string, which here appeared as an in-built thong in a gown worn by Kate Moss to close the show). Other garments had been constructed without seams or with curved hemlines in order to emphasise the relationship between body and garment, while muscled male models burst out of skin-tight T-shirts and jeans. Slung on jackets, lean tailoring, and a final flurry of shimmering evening gowns completed the look. ‘[I think] it’s because of my relationship with myself, to my own body, to the way I want to see myself,’ he said. ‘I want to feel like that. I want to feel sexy.’ Jack Moss

Tod’s

It takes deft craftsmanship to imbue leather with real lightness – after all, leather is better known as a material of protection and toughness. But Tod’s’ A/W 2026 ready-to-wear was characterised by a levity of touch that could only be the handiwork of a house that makes an art out of leather (and a designer who’s got pedigree when it comes to this particular material).

In Matteo Tamburini’s latest, leather may have been the protagonist, but the plot itself was all about artisanal excellence – a fact reinforced by the real craftspeople stitching, folding, or carving objects in the entryway to the venue at Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea – cherry-picked by the brand for their impressive skill. Amongst these were brothers Vincenzo and Manuel Aucella, coral artisans and cameo carvers who represent the fourth generation of a family tradition that began in 1892 (that’s around 30 years before Filippo Della Valle started the shoe-making business that would later become Tod’s).

As for the clothes themselves, feather-light asymmetrical leather dresses fluttered with all the delicacy of a silk handkerchief, blanket-style outerwear enveloped luxuriously about the shoulders, and saddlery techniques and hand-finishing synthesised tradition and modernity. Overall, the effect was a masterclass in Italian craft and sprezzatura. India Jarvis

Ferragamo

The 1920s were a formative decade for Salvatore Ferragamo: in 1927, he founded his eponymous footwear company in Florence after returning from Los Angeles, where he worked as a shoemaker for the burgeoning film industry in Hollywood. The British designer Maximilian Davis has found fertile creative ground in the decade, with recent collections channelling what he sees as the ‘liberated elegance’ of the era – one in which conventions of dress were interrupted and marginalised groups found new freedoms (last season, Davis evoked the Harlem Renaissance, the proliferation of Black art, culture and intellectual output from the New York neighbourhood in the 1920s).

This season, in one of the curving Giovanni Muzio-designed upper galleries of the Triennale di Milano museum – dimly lit and sheathed with floor-to-ceiling curtains – he evoked the 1920s speakeasy, ‘a locus of liberation; a space where conventions of class and identity are disrupted’. As such, a louche, after-dark mood infused the collection – negligées, molten-gold dresses and vampish stilettos all featured – while riffs on maritime attire were a nod to those who frequented such drinking spots. Though the evocation of the sailor also nodded to the notion of travel which informs the Ferragamo story – the transformative experience of moving away from your home in search of something new.

‘That’s something that both Salvatore and my own family experienced – he left his home in Italy for America before returning home, and my family moved from Trinidad and Jamaica to Manchester,’ said Davis. ‘They all crossed the water to discover new beginnings.’ Jack Moss

Dolce & Gabbana

Dolce & Gabbana’s A/W 2026 collection was an assertion of brand identity, said designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, all the way down to a front-row cameo from Madonna – perhaps the most well-known house muse and the current face of The One fragrance. The musical powerhouse watched on from the front row as the pair performed their own greatest hits: an outing near-entirely in their signature vampish black, replete with house hallmarks – lingerie-inspired silhouettes, hourglass LBDs, and, of course, plenty of lace. Though perhaps most desirable this season was the tailoring: if best known for their body-contouring dresses, the pair have always possessed a strong sartorial prowess, here encapsulated in some brilliant tuxedos which nipped at the waist and flared across the shoulder, inspired by archival silhouettes from the 1990s (they would make a great Oscars look for those wishing to eschew the traditional princess gown). Post show, Domenico and Stefano were keen to make clear that drilling into the archive was not about ‘nostalgia’ but ‘presence’, ‘a language built on roots that are still alive – Sicily as emotion, black as strength, lace as intimacy, tailoring as authority,’ they said. Jack Moss

Bottega Veneta

The particular joy of good fashion is that it’s a work of art you can actually touch – and with Louise Trotter’s sophomore collection for Bottega Veneta, touch is exactly what you want to do. The shaggy, curvaceous shapes she creates out of fibreglass need to be felt to be believed. Great piles of shearling cry out to be fondled. Even less immediately showy pieces, like a tailored grey coat with exaggeratedly round shoulders and cinched waist which was made from a thick, almost foamy looking fabric, was just begging to be squished between the fingers.

It’s the mark of a talented designer that to describe their work as ‘wearable’ doesn’t just mean ‘commercial’, or, worse ‘boring’. The Sunderland-born designer, whose previous creative director roles were at Lacoste, Joseph, and Carven, makes clothes that are infinitely wearable, but here the word might mean things that feel really wonderful to actually wear. On the practical side: pieces have pockets, shoes are flat, and bags are roomy. The more flamboyant garments are countered by easy tank tops and shirts. But more than that, there is a sensuality and tactility that sets Trotter’s work apart. Is this the byproduct of being one of the few women making womenswear at the head of a luxury house? Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that she is one of the most credible designers working today.

The A/W 2026 collection carried what Trotter described as a ‘suggestion’ of Maria Callas and Pier Paolo Pasolini – two of 20th-century Italy’s most erudite and subversive exports, and unlikely friends. Both figures have been brought back to the forefront of the cultural conversation in recent years – operatic prima donna Callas was played by Angelina Jolie in a 2024 biopic, and before that her life and lonely, premature death was dramatised on stage in an opera project conceived by Marina Abramović and co-starring Willem Dafoe. Dafoe, in turn, has played Pasolini, the poet and filmmaker whose brutal murder, presumably at the hands of far-right thugs, was commemorated on its 50th anniversary in the autumn of 2025 through a series of cultural programming and new publications. If these sound like unlikely characters to influence a ready-to-wear collection, consider that Callas and Pasolini had more in common than just tragic ends: formidable artistic talent, potent sexuality, and confident personal style amongst them. For Trotter’s debut last year she described her use of intrecciato as a conceptual device as well as a literal braiding technique – by citing these two artists she is articulating a continuation of that weaving principle, but also making a bold declaration of what Bottega Veneta, under her stewardship, is going to be. India Jarvis

Giorgio Armani

The Armani Privé show in Paris marked the debut collection from Silvana Armani, the late Giorgio Armani’s niece, who worked closely with the designer in his lifetime and was a fitting successor to uphold his legacy. On Sunday in Milan, she made her ready-to-wear debut at Armani, selecting the house’s headquarters on Brera’s Via Borgonuovo to show the A/W 2026 collection (the address was also the site of Mr Armani’s personal Milan home). At the time of the Privé show, we wrote that she had presented a collection ‘not of divergence but of continuance’, and the same could be said of this collection – it felt recognisably Armani in its louche, unstructured tailoring and interplay between Eastern and Western tropes of dress – though there was a greater feeling of softness and ease. Indeed, Silvana Armani said she was looking for lightness in both construction and spirit: jackets were assembled without padding, wrapped silhouettes appeared thrown on, and the slouchier, pleated trousers – held in place with wide belts – felt contemporary in proportion. She called it ‘a new perspective on the Armani style,’ one which she said was informed by being a woman, designing for women. ‘It is fluid, enveloping, perfectly imperfect.’ Jack Moss

Belgian designer Meryll Rogge’s anticipated debut show as creative director of Marni, which took place during Milan Fashion Week A/W 2026 yesterday (26 February), was first teased across social media with a series of short videos directed by Davide Rapp, captioned ‘echoes of the familiar’ and showing just that: a key sliding into a lock, coffee being poured into a glazed mug, a bakelite telephone. Even the show invitation mimicked, luxuriously, that most ubiquitous of office stationery – the post-it note. ‘I have a very personal connection to Marni,’ Rogge tells Wallpaper*. ‘It’s a brand that shaped my design sensibility during my formative years, and through the show I wanted to acknowledge that sense of familiarity.’

This familiarity – with a few surprises, of course – was a throughline for both collection and scenography, the latter of which was a close collaboration between Rogge and research-based design agency Formafantasma (Wallpaper* Designers of the Year in 2021, and the brains behind our 2026 Design Awards trophy). In the space, founders Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin transformed Marni’s headquarters with wood-effect panelling and fabric-covered benches, while a play on perception came in mirrored panels which were partially painted with ‘fragments drawn from quotidian life’, from car headlights to office chairs. The effect was a space which felt familiar – banal office space; the entranceway to an apartment block – though hard to place.

‘The structure of the set suggests a bourgeois interior wooden frame, hints of domestic architecture – but fragmented, slightly taken apart. It feels familiar yet unsettled, as if a room has been carefully disassembled and reassembled in another order,’ Trimarchi and Farresin tell Wallpaper*. These recognisable elements, resonant yet subverted through scale and deconstruction – for example a monumental doormat covering the floor in lieu of a carpet – were part of ‘a very clear atmosphere’, that Rogge already had in mind for the space when Formafantasma was brought in: ‘something real, unpretentious, open – but without suggesting a specific place’.

‘Our conversations with Meryll Rogge started from an open discussion about what “reality” means in fashion,’ say Trimarchi and Farresin. ‘We found that interesting, especially because a runway show is, by nature, constructed. It is a staged moment, carefully framed and controlled. Instead of trying to disguise that, we chose to acknowledge it. The set became a way to think about how fashion exists somewhere between lived experience and representation, never entirely one or the other.

‘We also spoke about how fashion moves through domestic and social environments,’ they continue. ‘Clothing is worn in kitchens, offices, streets – not only on runways.’ Indeed, in its vivid assemblage of elements – which shuffled between pragmatism and glamour – Rogge’s debut collection captured a human way of dressing, where a parka might be worn over a suit, or a sweater over a cocktail dress.

A penchant for elevating the everyday has long been a speciality for the Belgian designer, whose much-loved eponymous own brand, founded in 2020, is known for its imaginative take on practical dressing. Although the move to Marni marks her first role at the head of a major house, Rogge is a seasoned veteran of the industry, with stints at Marc Jacobs and Dries Van Noten, and is obviously staying true to the aesthetic values she has honed along the way. In 2022, she told Wallpaper* about her desire to create ‘pieces which evoke a sense of nostalgia, in a familiar and reassuring way’, a foreshadowing of the intentions she set for Marni with this energetic debut.

Follow our live coverage of Milan Fashion Week A/W 2026.

Despite the works of over 65 artists being on show together, the third edition of Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale (until 2 May 2026) manages to make the works feel connected and part of a cohesive experience. With artists hailing from 37 nations and working across various mediums and styles, scenography is just as important as curatorial theming.

On show at Jax, Riyadh’s vibrant former-industrial centre-turned cultural hub, the biennale is titled In Interludes and Transitions, led by co-artistic directors Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed. The exhibition’s scenography has been created by multi-award-winning Milan-based design studio Formafantasma, who have reimagined Jax’s industrial architecture as a weightless arrangement of colour and form.

In Interludes and Transitions: Formafantasma's exhibition design for Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale

As a nod to the theme – which unpacks topics of migration, transformation and alternate pathways – Formafantasma’s founders Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin have crafted a fluid composition of shifting planes and curved passages across the 12,900 square meters of exhibition halls, courtyards, and terraces.

'For In Interludes and Transitions, we approached exhibition design as a spatial condition rather than a backdrop,' Farresin tells Wallpaper*. 'The main idea was porosity: avoiding rigid separations and instead creating a sequence of transitions between works. Rather than using conventional plasterboard walls, we worked with floating partitions made of textile stretched over simple wooden frames.

'These elements guide the visitor without imposing a fixed route or hierarchy. They hover in space, allowing visual and spatial continuity, and create moments of overlap rather than enclosure,' he adds. 'Colour was also central to the concept. We deliberately avoided white, which has become a default and often unexamined choice in contemporary exhibition making. Instead, we worked with subtle, calibrated tones that support the works without neutralising them, and that help define the atmosphere of the exhibition as a whole.'

Many of the artworks contain sonic elements, so the textile partitions soften the space acoustically and allow the works to maintain their integrity, rather than having audio track clashing together in the large hangers.

The modular structures – which reference the familiar construction of a panting canvas – create thresholds and rooms; screens and partial views, which encouraging a slower, more exploratory movement through the exhibition. Certain platforms extend into benches, allowing rest stops for contemplation of the artworks, and in some cases, activating the pieces themselves.

'In this sense, the scenography acts as an interlude itself: a mediating layer that frames the encounter between the viewer and the artworks, without overwhelming it,' Farresin says 'It’s fundamentally a mediation between the viewer and the work: an intellectual, spatial, and emotional encounter that shapes how an artwork is understood and experienced.

'Good exhibition design is not neutral; it actively articulates ideas and provides a context in which meaning can unfold,' he concludes. 'We are interested in how spatial gestures become thinking gestures: how material choices, thresholds, platforms, and architectural presence can invite reflection. It roots art in reality.'

When we were thinking of a way to commemorate this year’s Wallpaper* Design Awards winners, we didn’t have to think far: Formafantasma was the first name to come to mind, for their ability to encapsulate the creative zeitgeist of this moment in design.

Our Designers of the Year in 2021, Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin proved to be the perfect collaborators for this special trophy and enthusiastically leapt on the challenge we set them: to create an expressive sculpture made of paper, to be received by this year’s winners in a flat-packed envelope and to be assembled by each honoree independently.

Paper, the designers explain, is often the starting point of their work, as a prototyping material to test ideas. 'This time, instead of being just the first step in the process, paper becomes the final object,' explains Trimarchi. 'Something celebratory, joyful and deliberately simple.'

The studio worked from references including models from past projects, such as Ore Streams and Maison Matisse. The designers’ early moodboards included colourful sculptures whose lightness mimics the effortlessness of paper, artworks by Giacomo Balla, and Bruno Munari’s Sculture da Viaggio (travel sculptures) – these revolved around creating an object as simple as it was expressive, using folded flat sheets in a variety of materials, that could be scaled up or down, depending on its final destination or function, and reproduced by anyone.

'There is a kind of magic in seeing a flat sheet of material turning into 3D just through simple cuts and folds,' adds Farresin.

Their contemporary response is an object made of three parts, crafted from Gmund Colors Matt papers in delicious, textured hues, that intuitively slot together to create a microarchitectural celebration that we can’t wait to deliver to our worthy winners.

Salone del Mobile has announced Salone Raritas, a new initiative that will open the fair to limited-edition design and high-end creative manufacturing (21-26 April 2026).

Until now, collectible design has been an outsider at Salone del Mobile, quite literally: dotted everywhere in the city around Fuorisalone, it rarely entered the fair itself. For its 64th edition, Salone del Mobile embraces one-off designs with a new platform curated by Annalisa Rosso, Editorial Director and Cultural Events Advisor of Salone del Mobile, and designed by Formafantasma.

'We have worked to build a new design, cultural and commercial ecosystem that constitutes a concrete and valuable opportunity for both exhibitors and visitors, generating new connections and market opportunities,' says Rosso. 'Salone Raritas builds open channels of communication between realities that until very recently seemed far apart, allowing many of them a chance to meet for the first time.'

Salone Raritas aims at bridging the gap between highly-skilled creative production and the contemporary design market. The exhibition space will feature limited edition and collectible design, unique pieces, antiques and fine craftsmanship. It will cement Salone del Mobile's mission to be 'not just a commercial platform but also as a cultural infrastructure: a place where rarity ceases to be an exception and becomes a shared design language.'

Adds Salone president, Maria Porro: 'Salone Raritas was born of an awareness that is also a responsibility, which is to read the evolution of the international market and provide a response consistent with the identity of the Salone del Mobile.Milano.'

Salone Raritas: exhibition design by Formafantasma

Through Formafantasma's exhibition design, Salone Raritas is set to become a large 'architectural lantern': designers Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi imagined a space that 'puts light and rhythm at the service of the pieces. The modular, respectful design allows each gallery to express its own identity while maintaining a choral narrative, designed for both visitor memorability and for market effectiveness.'

Salone Raritas will be part of Salone del Mobile 2026, from 21-26 April at Pavilions 9-11. Fiera Milano, Rho

Formafantasma has been everywhere lately – including on Wallpaper*'s 2025 Design Awards roster. But the Milan-based design duo has never staged a gallery exhibition in the United States. This month, though, Formafantasma has unveiled 'Formation,' a showcase of fresh work and ideas at New York's Friedman Benda gallery. The exhibition, on view until 1 August 2025, is the result of the studio's deep exploration of the relationship between the history of furniture making and its more domestic, intimate qualities.

Formation: Formafantasma's debut exhibition at Friedman Benda, New York

'Formation' includes a table, a desk, an armchair and several lamps . Each design is deliberately restrained and imagined as a dialogue between the materials, which encompass cherry wood, a reference to classic American furniture making; textiles, for their domestic qualities; and aluminium, a material that evokes contemporary technology.

Also at play is Formafantasma's interest in the work of the Shakers, Frank Lloyd Wright, and George Nakashima, whose work attracted founders Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi for their combination of aesthetics and philosophical approach to making.

'The Shakers’ approach to utility and transcendence is mirrored in the collection’s essential forms,' reads a note from the studio, while 'Wright’s synthesis of craft and technology, and Nakashima’s reverence for timber as a living entity, find echoes in the collection’s interplay of warm wood and brushed aluminium.'

The pieces in the collection are the result of an in-depth exploration of archetypes in domestic interiors. Each object's construction starts from a simple plank, 'the most elementary unit of cabinetmaking,' the studio notes.

The lighting, meanwhile, features rectangular LED panels that evoke 'the ubiquitous screens of mobile devices and portable laptops' while draped linen shades seek to soften and 'recall the quiet craftsmanship historically associated with women’s labour.'

Taken as a whole, 'Formation' feels like a natural progression of Formafantasma's work, one that melds the studio's ongoing fascination with design history and the ways in which shifting technology impacts the way we live.

According to the designers, it's all part of an effort to 'not to mimic nor reject history, but instead to expand upon it.'

'Formation' is on view until 1 August 2025.

Friedman Benda
515 W 26th St 1st Floor
New York, NY 10001

The Shakers: A World in the Making

On 7 June 2025, the Vitra Design Museum in Germany will launch ‘The Shakers: A World in the Making’, which will run until 28 September. The exhibition will explore the enduring influence of the Shakers, a Protestant sect that originated in England in the mid-1700s, its members emigrating to the American colonies in 1774.

‘The Shakers: A World in the Making’, with an exhibition design by Milan-based studio Formafantasma (a winner at Wallpaper's 2025 Design Awards), will bring together over 150 original Shaker artefacts, as well as newly commissioned works by contemporary artists and designers, creating a dialogue between history and modern creativity.

One of the exhibition’s four sections, titled ‘I Don’t Want to be Remembered as a Chair’, argues that Shaker design should not be appreciated purely for its aesthetics but through the lens of the group’s religious and communal philosophy. Thus, ‘The Shakers: A World in the Making’ will examine how these values became a wellspring of inspiration for modern designers, and how the Shakers’ legacy continues to resonate in art and design today.

Today, ‘Shaker style’ has come to mean a number of things: design that is simple, minimalist and democratic; functional, practical and optimised; and that prioritises craftsmanship and, later, technology. Below, we explore how these principles are manifested in key 20th-century movements such as modernism and Bauhaus, which find their roots in the Shakers’ way of life.

How Shaker principles have informed modern design

Simplicity, minimalism and democratic design

The Shakers were, in many ways, ahead of their time, espousing egalitarian ideals and even institutionalising gender equality in the 1780s. These values extended to those with physical disabilities. The Shakers’ inclusive philosophy, explored in the exhibition through the work of artist Finnegan Shannon, was reflected in their architecture and design, which prioritised accessibility and simplicity – design for all, not just the elite.

This laid the groundwork for modernism, which emerged in the early 20th century as a reaction against the ornate styles of Victorian and art nouveau. Modernist designers preferred clean lines and rejected unnecessary decoration, intending for their work to be applicable across cultures and contexts. The likes of Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Charles and Ray Eames admired Shaker principles.

Bauhaus, which emerged in 1919, adopted similar ideals, with its clean lines and geometric shapes, avoiding ornamentation. Scandinavian design, too, bears the hallmarks of Shaker design, with its uncluttered, streamlined look (think Danish designer Hans Wegner’s iconic ‘Wishbone’ chair, as seen in this Swiss chalet, which has distinct echoes of Shaker seating). It also follows democratic ideals, aiming to create high-quality design for the many, distilled in the business model of Swedish stalwart Ikea.

Functionality, practicality and spatial optimisation

The importance that the Shakers placed on labour translated into designs that were functional: think ladder-back chairs, straight-legged tables, built-in cupboards, and efficient storage solutions such as wall-mounted rails, boxes and baskets. The Shakers were early adopters of serial furniture production; in the exhibition, in the section titled ‘When We Find a Good Thing, We Stick To It’, audiences can see examples of standardised and customisable Shaker chairs.

This element of Shaker design can be felt in Bauhaus, where decorative elements were minimised unless they served a function, and Scandinavian design, which seeks to create beauty from utility. Modernism sought to create efficient spaces and objects for modern life; the idea underpinning the ‘Eames Molded Plywood Chair’, for example, was that every element served a purpose. Modernism’s layouts, meanwhile, often used an optimised grid system.

‘The Shakers: A World in the Making’ uses furniture such as cabinets, chests of drawers and sewing desks to illustrate the community’s instinct towards orderliness, as codified in their 1821 and 1845 Millennial Laws, a body of teachings covering a wide range of aspects of Shaker life, including behaviour, dress and even how to climb stairs.

Craftsmanship, natural materials and openness to technology

The Shakers had a strong work ethic, which also translated into a focus on craftsmanship. In ‘I Don’t Want to be Remembered as a Chair’, the Shaker belief in labour as a form of worship is reinterpreted by artist and designer Chris Halstrøm through a large-scale embroidered artwork where each stitch is represented as a prayer.

The group’s emphasis on handmade quality resonated with the Arts and Crafts movements which took off in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and valued natural materials, simple joinery and built-to-last construction. The idea is also felt in Scandinavian design, where quality is paramount; this movement also, like the Shakers, favours organic materials such as wood, leather, linen, and stone.

Despite their insular communities, the Shakers were open to outside influences. The exhibition’s ‘Every Force Evolves a Form’ section traces how they interacted with the advancements of the wider world, showcasing oval boxes and rudimentary power tools. In ‘The Place Just Right’, audiences can see a radio that belonged to the Shaker community in Canterbury, Connecticut, as well as musical artefacts such as a metronome (music was a big part of Shaker life; they gained their moniker through the worshipful dance for which they were known). Shaker innovation is also explored through a commission from Christien Meindertsma, who reimagines their basketry as a biodegradable coffin.

Like the Shakers, later design movements such as modernism and Bauhaus embraced technological progress, especially industrial production, as a means of improving everyday life.

Full exhibition details at vitradesignmuseum.de

Flos has form when it comes to collaborating with the best designers around, whether it is to create instantly sought-after lighting designs, or the spaces to present them in. Following on its 2024 ‘Icon’ project, which spotlighted some of its classic lamps and their creators through archive imagery and atmospheric videos, the Italian house has enlisted the help of Formafantasma, the winners of a Wallpaper* Design Award 2025, and director and producer Nicolò Terraneo, known for his fashion campaigns.

Together they created a set design and a video installation for ‘The Light of the Mind’, Flos’ exhibition at Euroluce during Milan Design Week, where new pieces by seven designers were on display, including the ‘Jam Session’ floor lamp by Piero Lissoni, ‘Linked’ by Michael Anastassiades, and a new version of Philippe Starck’s ‘Bon Jour Unplugged’. Formafantasma also contributed an installation based on its own ‘SuperWire’ collection at Flos’ showroom on Corso Monforte.

The seven short films for ‘The Light of the Mind’ are designed to reflect the essence of the products and what lies behind them: the thought, imagination, fragility, and strength of the creative process. ‘This means stripping away additional storytelling, because the lamp itself, with its charm and design intelligence, is the narrative,’ says Formafantasma.

‘Each new product had three films running simultaneously alongside it that gave us glimpses of the designer’s studio and the designer at work – it was a beautiful piece of creative direction,’ explains Wallpaper* acting global design director Hugo MacDonald. ‘I was impressed by their use of film as a poetic, suggestive communication tool to enhance our appreciation of the designers’ worlds and ways of working.

‘It was so much more engaging than the standard “to camera” interviews that people usually lump for. Weirdly, without any words, and with three screens playing, we learnt so much more about the designer, their process and their products. Sometimes saying less can be so much more in the visual overload of Milan.’

To create the videos, Formafantasma provided director Nicolò Terraneo with a selection of materials including custom footage, found objects, book excerpts, film clips, and snapshots of the prototyping process. Terraneo also visited the designers’ studios but avoided the traditional interview format. The result, say Formafantasma, is an ‘honest portrait of the creative process: a continuous flow of free associations and almost alchemical combinations of thoughts, techniques, technologies, and materials.’

Here we highlight three of these short films, which its authors say ‘require the viewer to use their imagination, offering intentionally fragmented stories and a plurality of layered imagery.’

‘Seki-Han’ floor lamp, by Tobia Scarpa

The renowned Venetian architect and designer Tobia Scarpa originally designed the ‘Seki-Han’ wooden floor lamp in 1963. It has now been re-edited with ash wood rotating blades rather than the original fixed slim Douglas fir panels.

‘The reissue of the “Seki-Han” lamp gave us an opportunity to enhance the performance of the light source, leading to an increase in the height of the lamp, which further highlights the slender proportions of the thin wooden blades that screen the light,’ writes Scarpa. ‘The name of the lamp comes from a symbol of good fortune: in Japan, “seki han” (red rice) is a traditional dish often prepared for special occasions, such as the celebration of a birth.’

‘Luce Sferica’ pendant, by Ronan Bouroullec

Ronan Bouroullec’s modular glass pendants, ‘Luce Sferica’, are defined by their lightness and poetry. Although they seek to capture a fleeting moment, they are also inspired by an industrial, functional spirit.

‘“Luce Sferica” is a lamp that seeks delicacy and the beauty of simplicity, like raindrops clinging to a thread or a soap bubble blown by a child,’ writes Bouroullec. ‘On the synthetic base of the extruded aluminum, mouth-blown glass spheres glide, as if a bubble were to rest on a thread. Here, it is softness, magic, and technical sophistication that prevail. An object of great technical precision that expresses delicate beauty and poetry, more than synthetic mechanics.’

‘SuperWire’ collection, by Formafantasma

Formafantasma’s ‘Superwire’ collection was the star of Flos’ site-specific showroom installation at its flagship on Milan’s Corso Monforte. Launched last year and now produced in four versions, the collection was presented with fabric partitions that acted as a portal revealing the lights’ key components or the videos.

‘A few years ago, while working on “WireLine”, we experimented with the illuminating filament of LED bulbs. We liked its aesthetic presence and its flexibility; we imagined using it as a removable light source, one that could be replaceable by anyone,’ write Formafantasma’s Andea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin. ‘“SuperWire” is the result of a journey that lasted years and owes a lot to the Flos research and development team, who managed to transform the functional detail of a mainstream product into a unique light source.’

flos.com

Milan-based designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, the duo behind transdisciplinary studio Formafantasma – which has just unveiled the fourth edition of the now-yearly Prada Frames symposium – have become a fixture on the global cultural calendar. True to their practice, where nature and design intersect, they retreat to the tranquillity of northern Italy’s Lake Maggiore, less than an hour’s train ride from Milan, to recharge from a life of constant movement.

During the weekends, you’ll likely find them at their small town apartment, housed within an old Renaissance castle, indulging in the recommendations shared below.

What to see and do in Lake Maggiore, Italy

Where to eat and drink

ll Sole di Ranco

‘This family-owned Italian restaurant features uncompromised views of Lake Maggiore. Our go-to course is spaghetti freddi, a refreshing pasta salad best eaten during summertime heat.’

Il Sole di Ranco is located at Indirizzo Commerciale, Piazza Venezia, 5, 21020 Ranco, Italy; ilsolediranco.it

La Tavola

‘The Il Porticciolo hotel’s restaurant is located on its lower level and opens out directly on to Lake Maggiore. Deliciously fresh dishes, made using the lake’s fish, come with a side order of striking panoramic views.’

La Tavola is located at Il Porticciolo Hotel, Via Fortino, 40, 21014 Varese, Italy; ilporticciolo.com

Osteria del Sass

‘When the restaurants along Lake Maggiore are too busy and the crowds of tourists are overwhelming, head a few kilometres away to the lesser-known town of Besozzo where you will find Osteria del Sass, a small restaurant serving fantastic food. Our favourite dish is the rabbit ragù with lasagnette.’

Osteria del Sass is located at Via S. Antonio, 17b, 21023 Besozzo VA, Italy; osteriadelsass.it

Pasticceria Cardy

‘The rich aroma of butter and the skilful creations at this pasticceria will change your mind. A must-try is the Cannoncini alla Crema Pasticcera, creamy and delicious.’

Pasticceria Cardy is located at Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 57, 21026 Gavirate, Italy; pasticceriacardy.it

Circolo Arolese

‘In Italy, village bars are where locals of all ages gather for coffee, food, and games like cards or bocce, an Italian version of bowling. Circolo Arolese oozes this convivial atmosphere and proposes a locally sourced menu that is mostly plant-based.’

Circolo Arolese is located at Via A. Volta, 55, 21038 Leggiuno, Italy; @circolo.arolo

What to do

Isola Bella

‘One of the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore, Isola Bella is home to Palazzo Borromeo and the grand Giardino dell’isola Bella, a famed Italian Baroque garden comprising ten overlapping terraces that form a truncated pyramid and feature statues, obelisks, and grottoes from the second half of the 17th century.’

Passeggiata dell’Amore

‘Passeggiata dell’Amore says it all with its name – a romantic stroll by the lake. Towards the end, near the old Fornaci factories, you can take a refreshing dip in the crystal-clear waters.’

Passeggiata dell’Amore, 21027 Ispra, Province of Varese, Italy

Villa Panza

‘Perched on the hill of Biumo Superiore in Varese, this 18th-century villa, once home to the Panza family, now houses a contemporary art collection, much of it sourced by the late modern art patron Giuseppe Panza. Our favourites include a series of Light Sculptures by Dan Flavin. The villa’s restaurant and Italian-style garden make for a perfect visit.’

Villa Panza is located at Piazza Litta, 1, 21100 Varese, Italy; fondoambiente.it

Where to shop

Il Mercato di Luino

‘Taking place every Wednesday, this market is well-known for its privileged position steps away from the lake and a wide variety of local products, crafts and flowers, as well as vintage clothing and furniture.’

Il Mercato di Luino is located at Via Comi, 4, 21016 Luino, Italy; ilmercatodiluino.it

When Formafantasma’s Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin first announced their now-yearly Prada Frames symposium, launched in 2022 during Milan Design Week with the support of the Italian fashion house, it was a welcome antidote to the unforgiving pace and commercial focus of the event. Previous editions have dealt with materials and their relationship to the natural world, the exploitation of forests, and the politics of home. But, for its fourth edition, the pair plan to tackle the connective tissue that unites these issues.

‘We’re looking at infrastructure through the lens of movement,’ says Farresin of the theme, which they have titled ‘In Transit’. More than a dozen academics, designers, artists and thinkers – including MoMA senior curator Paola Antonelli, AI scholar Kate Crawford and poet Tung-Hui Hu – will lead discussions around how AI shapes the environment, the infrastructure of borders, and the intricacies of global trade. The symposium will take place in two locations: the Padiglione Reale, the waiting room once used by the now-deposed Italian royal family at Milano Centrale station, and the Arlecchino (Harlequin) train, designed by Gio Ponti in the 1950s and refurbished by Fondazione FS Italiane in 2020.

Trimarchi and Farresin see the Salone del Mobile as a prescient moment to present this topic, noting that the fair itself is a microcosm of global circulation. ‘There are so many things arriving in the city,’ says Farresin. ‘When we talk about products, it’s impossible not to talk about the distribution process. We felt we had to address how freely these goods travel around the world in comparison to the impositions put on many people.’

The distribution of goods and materials, the pair explain, is something they have been exploring, at least tangentially, in their practice for several years. They point to their 2020 exhibition ‘Cambio’ at London’s Serpentine Gallery, which interrogated governance in the forestry industry, and their ongoing research project, ‘Oltre Terra’, on the global dynamics of wool production. ‘The starting point seems to be the materials,’ says Farresin. ‘But it’s always about the infrastructure of extraction.’

The symposium also gave the pair the opportunity to seek out an icon of Italian design and transportation history. ‘We were always fascinated about the Arlecchino train, but we had never seen it in person,’ says Farresin. ‘So we thought, let’s see if we can use this occasion to also present the train.’

Once a stylish connection between Milan and Rome, the Arlecchino was designed in the 1950s and kept in service until 1992. Ponti’s visual concept for the express train was inspired by the diamond pattern motif worn by the jester-like Harlequin character from the Italian commedia dell’arte tradition. Each of the carriages is rendered in a jewel-toned colour – ruby, emerald, sapphire and gold – with signature wingback seats easily recognisable as Ponti’s style.

‘Instead of having screens and films as a way of communicating knowledge, we can start from the space we are in to establish a conversation on transit and infrastructure,’ says Farresin. ‘A train station is an obvious place to start in terms of location, but it also represents one of the major shifts in infrastructure over the past century, from the physical distribution of goods to the advent of online delivery systems.’

More than just a conference, Trimarchi and Farresin see the format of Prada Frames as a new model for design collaborations. ‘It helped us understand that you can do projects that are not necessarily object-based,’ says Trimarchi. Within a context like Milan Design Week, where brands are often jostling for attention by staging bigger and more elaborate events – namely, temporary installations that will be dismantled and disposed of once the week concludes – hosting a project based solely on discussion is almost radical. ‘It’s the antithesis of anything commercial,’ Farresin says. ‘When we started working on this with Prada, the idea was that there are enough products. Why should we add something more?’

However, they don’t see Prada Frames as an indictment of the Salone del Mobile as a whole. Rather, it’s an opportunity to rethink what design week can be beyond product showcases, while shifting the focus toward critical dialogue and reflection. ‘It’s a way to consider the things that are often overlooked in design,’ continues Farresin. ‘Everything around us is design. At the end of the day, it’s looking at contemporary culture.’

By rooting each edition in research and conversation, Prada Frames pushes the boundaries of what a design event can be. Rather than temporary spectacles that fade once the week ends, it fosters an ongoing dialogue – one that extends beyond Milan and into the wider world. ‘It’s about understanding the world we inhabit,’ says Farresin. ‘That’s what makes it interesting.’  

‘Prada Frames: In Transit’ is on from 6-8 April at the Padiglione Reale and Arlecchino train, Milano Centrale. For more information and to register for complimentary attendance, visit prada.com

‘The starting point is the human feeling, and thus the human being who experiences the space,’ said Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025, as she presented today the 63rd edition of the industry's leading international event (8th-13th April, Fiera Milano). Her view is undoubtedly inspired by the communication campaign ‘Thought for Humans’, which reminds us, she underlined, that every project must respond to human needs in the name of emotional intelligence.

To address these needs, after listing the event's numbers (2,000 exhibitors, 38% of whom from abroad, and 148 brands, including first-timers and returnees), Porro revealed three big names who contributed to the next Salone del Mobile.Milano cultural program: Pierre-Yves Rochon with ‘Villa Héritage’, Paolo Sorrentino with ‘La dolce expectation,’ both on the fairground, and Robert Wilson with ‘Mother’ at the Museo Pietà Rondanini - Castello Sforzesco.

Rochon, the architect and designer who revamped the Danieli in Venice and the Dorchester in London, signs his Villa Héritage: ‘It is inspired by my Salone experiences. You have so much to see, you want to see everything, and you are so tired,’ Rochon said, announcing what will be an oasis of beauty and a space of relief to rest. With a video, Italian film director Paolo Sorrentino announced the immersive installation La Dolce Attesa, which, he explained, aims to approach the non-places through which we all pass, such as hospital waiting rooms or airport boarding areas: ‘My concept is to dismantle the stylistic features of classic waiting and to create a place where waiting is deceived.’

‘Light makes spaces appear,’ Wilson explained. His eagerly anticipated Mother, a conversation with Michelangelo's Pietà Rondanini at the Sforzesco Castle, is the ideal way to remind everyone that this will be the year of Euroluce. We all recall the great innovations of the previous edition, including a new layout by Lombardini22 and the 'darkened' pavilions. This year sees a new evolution, with the first edition of The Euroluce International Lighting Forum, directed by Annalisa Rosso with the collaboration of APIL: the focus of the two-day event, literally, will be to stimulate the exchange of ideas and promote innovation in the lighting world through masterclasses, round tables, and workshops, hosted in The Forest of Space Arena designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.

The cultural program remains dense and rich: for the third year running, the Formafantasma Arena will host ‘Drafting Futures. Conversations about Next Perspectives’, featuring, among others, thinkers and architects such as Lesley Lokko, founder of the Africa Futures Institute and curator of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of Biennale di Venezia, and Valeria Segovia, Director and Design Director of Gensler in London, with filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino concluding the lecture series.

Finally, SaloneSatellite, which brings together young talents under 35, will have 700 designers (‘And we still receive requests, despite the applications being closed,’ explains with pride SaloneSatellite's creator and soul, Marva Griffin) from 36 countries and 20 international design schools and universities. All united by the theme of ‘New Craftsmanship: A New World’: Griffin describes it as an invitation to reimagine the world of handmade products beyond the vernacular. A highly stimulating reflection - or, more specifically, some thoughts for us humans.

Jil Sander’s premium fragrance collection, Olfactory Series 1, has just landed. The edit of six perfumes – conceived by creative directors Lucie and Luke Meier alongside some of the industry’s most esteemed noses – marks another new chapter for the brand, which expanded its remit of ready-to-wear, shoes, bags and accessories to include fine jewellery last month (December 2024).

Championing the minimalist codes established by Jil Sander, who founded her namesake fashion line in 1968, Olfactory Series 1 takes inspiration from the finishing touches on a piece of clothing. ‘At Jil Sander precious details are sometimes hidden; intended for the wearer only,’ says the brand in a statement, referencing the inside of a cuff. ‘Who does not remember, and wear, something for its smell or touch, rather than for the way it looks?’

Olfactory Series 1 also celebrates Jil Sander’s long-standing partnership with Coty. The French beauty giant has worked with the label since inaugurating its fragrance line in 1979 with Pure; a chypre scent contained in a bottle designed by Peter Schmidt. In the case of Olfactory Series 1, Formafantasma (a design practice now featured in the Wallpaper* 2025 Design Awards issue) conducted a series of experiments alongside artisanal glassmakers before arriving at the final bottle: an asymmetrical, bell-like shape housed in a white aluminium cloche.

Each of the new perfumes – titled Leaf, Miel, Black Tea, Earth, Coffea, and Smoke – has been stripped down to just a few essential ingredients. This includes CO2-extracted natural oils, synthetic aldehydes to act as ‘sparks of light flashing through the fragrances’, water and a blend of alcohols (some of which are derived from upcycled carbon emissions). From the aroma of petrichor to a freshly picked heirloom tomato, read more on how each of them smells below.

What does Jil Sander’s new perfume collection smell like?

1. Leaf

Leaf, by nose Julie Massé, is a zesty, verdant and fresh scent capturing the ‘remembrance of a freshly picked Black Krim tomato, fruit and leaves, in a Mediterranean garden.’ The aldehydic element combines lime, CO2-extracted cardamom and the cooling sparkle of mint.

2. Miel

For Jil Sander’s Miel, Mathilde Bijaoui has created a woody composition, with the essence of upcycled cedarwood and vetiver. The inclusion of CO2-extracted jasmine provides honeyed sweetness via a radiant and heady floral burst.

3. Black Tea

A contemporary take on an amber perfume, Nathalie Lorson’s Black Tea is spicy and intense, with the warmth of osmanthus and cinnamon. The black tea is CO2 extracted, which obtains ‘a pitch as close as possible to its natural note’.

4. Earth

‘The smell after the rain, small puddles of water, the first memory of a Matsutake mushroom, the generosity of the Earth,’ is how Jil Sander describes Earth, a perfume also by Julie Massé. Here, two different types of rose meet with the Matsutake, alongside patchouli leaves.

5. Coffea

Paul Guerlain has captured the essence of freshly brewed coffee in Jil Sander’s Coffea, a floral amber perfume. The inclusion of orris and the resinous notes of Peru balsam, extracted from the Myroxylon tree, captures the feeling of bathing in early morning sunlight.

6. Smoke

Both intensely woody and spicy, Berenice Watteau’s Smoke gets its name from the perfume’s use of cedarwood, cade, elemi and oud. Enveloping and enigmatic, it evokes the comforting smell of freshly washed laundry ‘drying near a fireplace’.

jilsander.com

Paris Design Week rumbles on, with design professionals and aesthetically-minded members of the public perusing various locations to discover the latest collections in decor and interiors.

The event, born from the trade-focused Maison&Objet, showcases more than 150 brands who, via affiliated occasions like Paris Déco Off and Maison&Objet in the City, welcome attendees into their showrooms. The doors of workshops and ateliers are thrown open and Paris' sequestered design spaces unlocked, extending collections and archives usually reserved for industry insiders, to the public.

Attendees can take various routes around Paris to discover these collections, exploring the spots that make up its design ecosystem. Head of Interiors, Olly Mason, spent a couple of days traversing the capital’s arrondissements, dipping in and out of studios and getting the rundown on exhibiting brands.

We catch up with Olly for her highlights, reflections and meditations on Paris Design Week…

Melodic tableware at Hermès

Hermès presented En Contrepoint, a tableware collection, at the Conservatoire National Des Artes et Métiers, a former abbey in Paris’ third arrondissement. The 33 porcelain pieces are lined with friezes in 30 shades, from pinks and violets to blues, greens and oranges. Motifs are vibrant and geometric, hand-drawn and painted by artist Nigel Peake.

‘The collection was really beautiful,’ says Olly. ‘The word “contrepoint” actually refers to a style of musical composition that uses multiple melodies, and the whole collection related to this.’ En Contrepoint is all about refrain and tempo – this is transposed onto the designs via metrical patterns and rhythmic shapes; the repetition of these shapes becomes hypnotic, arranged into different permutations, as music is on a score.

Acidic upholstery at Sahco

Sahco presented its collection in the whitewashed surrounds of the Galerie Dumonteil. Room Service, an installation predicated around the theme of ‘icons of Modernism’, was staged by American designer Rafael de Cárdenas, who took Modernist motifs and imbued them with Sahco language.

Set among vintage and classic furniture and objet d’art, Sahco’s pieces also felt, in some ways, archaic and artisanal. In making them, however, traditional techniques were combined with high tech.

References came thick and fast: the colours recalled Franz West, the Austrian artist known for his unconventional objects, and designer Ulf Moritz, who shaped Sahco in the 1980s. A fringed sheer made with fil-coupé alluded to the glamour of Marilyn Monroe, and a snakeskin motif was unexpectedly rendered in heavy jacquard. ‘The first thing that struck me was the colours,’ says Olly. ‘But then you saw that the designs stood up to this.’

Looking back at Liberty

Next on Olly’s agenda was the Rue de Seine to preview Liberty’s 150th anniversary collection, The House of Liberty. ‘This was a deep dive into Liberty’s archival designs, which the brand had taken abstracts from and reworked, some more literally than others,’ she says.

The collection, which consisted of interior fabric and wallpaper, drew on key moments from Liberty’s past, with the intention of bookending the last 150 years to make way for a new era. Dusty, leather-bound books containing charcoal hand-drawings of original designs left audiences in little doubt about the scope of Liberty’s 60,000-strong archive.

In The House of Liberty, the stories of these fabrics were told and celebrated, reimagining Victorian paisleys, bohemian botanicals and 1970s florals. Palm Parade, for example, discovered as a fabric fragment in an 1880s pattern book, references an artwork originally made using woodblock printing. With every nod and reference, the collection sought to revive and update the craftsmanship at the heart of Liberty.

Modular minimalism at Liaigre

Interior architect Liaigre reissued the Bloc collection at its Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré flagship with a new edition of the Bloc Library, a collaboration between architects Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost and Dominique Perrault. The bookshelf – which builds on a design created in 1995 for the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, reimagining this at a domestic scale – is all about conservative minimalism and clean lines. It’s extensively adaptable, being fully modular, with almost limitless customisation options.

A special setting at The Invisible Collection

The Invisible Collection’s presentation took place at the enchanting Féau Boiseries workshop, which houses stacks upon stacks of antique wood panels, at its 150th anniversary. Stepping inside the appointment-only space was another standout for Olly: ‘You go through this unassuming door on a Parisian street and it’s like a warren – you head through room after room filled with wooden panels through different eras and styles.’

The Invisible Collection partnered with Mobilier national, the institution for French decorative arts, to present their latest furniture acquisitions in this idiosyncratic setting. These included a collection of Fauvist rugs by BENI, Laura Demichelis’ Rhino Table, Sophie Dries’ Nogye Table, and Alice Gavalet’s Guéridon.

Olly was particularly drawn to Elliott Barnes’ latest creation, White Endless Summer II, a limited edition bench in white Synderme, a material made from natural leather fibres mixed with paper and latex – notable for the fact that it uses vegetable leather to structure as opposed to just cover. Placing this state-of-the-art material in such rich, textural surroundings only enhanced its impact.

Old meets new at Nordic Knots

Nordic Knots' debut installation, The Grand, celebrated the intersection of contemporary design and ancient artistry. The venue for the presentation, therefore, could not have been more perfect, says Olly: ‘Galerie Chenel is known for housing these beautiful, ancient sculptures, and I loved the way that Nordic Knots mixed its pieces amongst them.’

The Scandinavian textile company exhibited its most covetable rugs and curtains draped on and around Galerie Chenel’s Roman artworks. The brand’s broad palette and rich textures were on full show, with plush rugs and all-wool curtains rendered in burnt reds, soft lilacs and sunshine yellows popping against mottled marble and centuries-old stone.

Functional ornaments at Christofle

The French silverware stalwart, which has been going since 1830, launched its Perspectives collection by Mathias Kiss. The French artist took the motif of moulding and dissected and reconstructed it to create candleholders, candelabras and a vase.

Because of the nature of moulding, the objects are tightly structured, while managing to feel slightly surreal. Kiss imagines a new functionality for ornamentation, using classical forms to create modern objects.

‘The motif was repeated with different angles and dimensions to create a collection that feels really architectural and contemporary,’ says Olly. ‘And, because of the way they play on a continuous line, each piece can be sat within other pieces to create your own composition.’

Contrasting fabrics at Dedar

Contemporary fabric and wallcovering specialist Dedar brought its 2025 collection to Paris Design Week: a lively amalgamation of contrasts, juxtaposing the classical and contemporary, as well as figurative, abstract and narrative elements. Oriental concepts sometimes crept in, with motifs of mountains, waterfalls, clouds, skies, butterflies and branches. Embroidery was combined with other, usual techniques, sometimes occasioning a clash of materials. Streaks and special dyes created a fusion of saturated, pale and mélange tones, and textures also ebbed and flowed: the Plain Classics, for example, are characterised by a woollen side and a silky side.

Evolution at Rubelli

Rubelli presented a textile collection developed under the creative direction of Formafantasma, Teorema. The collection, the brand has said, aims to better meet the demands of high-end markets, making use of high-performance fabrics such as wool, and angles to disrupt the perception of Rubelli as exclusively employing silks and other luxury textiles. This was a mission statement about the preservation of identity alongside the diversification of offering. Thus, Teorema can reasonably be described as innovative for Rubelli.

Colours were largely neutral, accompanied by some more extroverted shades. Patterns moved away from the botanical – ‘the most archetypal decorative apparatus of the fabric’ – to the abstract and geometric, in a way which echoed the theme of evolution.

The presence of Formafantasma within the design industry reached levels of near-ubiquity in 2024. Cynics might say the breadth of their involvement demonstrates a lack of courage and imagination on behalf of brands. We heartily object. The rigour and quality of Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin’s work is consistently relevant, always fascinating, urgent, even. They stand apart and, excitingly, their mode of critical digging into the systemic forces of life is inspiring a new generation of design progeny to follow suit. For brands, working with Formafantasma is like therapy: the past is mined and overturned to pave the way for a leaner present and a cleaner future.

So Formafantasma’s place on the Wallpaper* Design Awards podium this year was never in question. The project that we have chosen to award was a curiously moving exhibition at ICA Milano, curated by Alberto Salvadori. ‘La Casa Dentro’ (The Home Within) took to task the inherent masculinity and conservatism at the heart of modernism, no less. Modernism was celebrated for its radical departure from what came before; a post-war world needed a new ideology and it had the appetite, imagination and industrial capability to realise it. Modernity meant efficiency, sobriety, rationality. At the crux of ‘La Casa Dentro’ was the question: what was left behind?

Formafantasma's ‘La Casa Dentro’ exhibition wins a Wallpaper* Design Award 2025

The answer was presented as decoration, ornamentation, idiosyncratic detail and sentimental charm. Across furniture and lighting, constructed principally with tubular steel – that enduring emblem of modernism – Formafantasma introduced wooden planks and silk upholstery, embellished with surprising colour, in places embroidered with dainty floral motifs. These moves represented the intrinsic warmth of domesticity, holding space (if you will) for the personal within the essential or universal that those modernists strove to achieve. The designers described their impetus to ‘queer the codes of modernist design’. The juxtaposition was powerful: emotional, intellectual and profoundly memorable.  

formafantasma.com

A version of this article appears in the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper* , available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

It can feel a little trite attempting to parse trends in design. Design is a slower industry than fashion, and developments tend to be more gradual, with incremental change from year-to-year. This is why we talk about decades having a readable personality as movements, rather than seasons. That said, design responds to the present and heralds the future, and it is always an interesting lens through which to view the forces and values that shape our lives and lifestyles at any given moment in time. In place of trends, it feels more appropriate to call these shifts.

Watch: global design director Hugo Macdonald and head of interiors Olly Mason on design worth celebrating

The shifts we’ve noticed in the past year stem from a combination of factors that are symbiotically connected. The world is a pretty scary place at the moment, and the sanctuary or sanctity of home is keenly felt. Comfort is hardly a trend, but we note the abundance of generously upholstered furniture entering the market. Examples that caught our eye include Hannes Peer’s ‘Pillow’ chair for Baxter, an outrageously cosy piece of furniture, as its name suggests. Faye Toogood’s ‘Squash’ collection for Poltrona Frau is playful, comfortable and utterly delightful.

Cassina returned Carlo Scarpa’s 1973 ‘Cornaro’ armchair to production – a beautifully bouncy padded room within a frame. We welcome this great ensoftening of seating; our busy minds and tired bodies deserve some plush pliability in place of the sharper forms and harder edges that we inherited from modernism and its offspring.

For all of their louche appeal, there is a resounding elegance to these pieces, and this handsome mood was prevalent in more structured furniture, too. Michael Anastassiades’ richly lacquered ‘123’ chair for Molteni & C has an almost liquid quality to it. The exquisite stone surface of Jean-Marie Massaud’s ‘Adrien’ table for Poliform is a strikingly smart, grown-up anchor for any space. Meanwhile, Giampiero Tagliaferri’s ‘Ethan’ coffee table for Minotti has an organically shaped surface that appears to float on its chrome-plated base. Jialun Xiong’s ‘Kaleidoscope’ side table, in tempered glass and aluminium, has an Eileen Gray-level of industrial sophistication.

To call these works ‘timeless’ would be lazy, but they definitely have a contemporary heirloom quality that rises above fashion or trend. They achieve that rare balance of quiet charm and archetypal confidence with vivid material expression. Clever, beautiful and eminently easy to live with for a lifetime or two.

Intriguing material developments and applications were in plentiful supply this year, as the quest continues with ever-more commitment from the design industry to find better, smarter, healthier solutions to replace our wanton ways.

The ‘Gathering’ lamp, by Faber Futures, is a beguilingly brutalist object made from biomanufactured materials. Sheyang Li’s spectacular ‘Aluminium Cast Connection’ chair is made from an industrial construction component, with joints forged by melting and forming the same material.

One of the more stellar discoveries of the year for us was Raphael Kadid’s ‘Philae AL’ modular bookshelf. In collaboration with surface technology firm BWB, each aluminium panel was hand-anodised to form a surface treatment that resembles abstract landscapes. Kadid was inspired by aerial photographs of bauxite mining sites. Bauxite is the world’s primary source of aluminium and the humble bookshelf thus becomes an ode to its mineral origins. Ingenious, poetic, ethereal, otherworldly.

A current seam in design that we are particularly enjoying is the celebration of analogue qualities, surely in response to the overcomplication of our increasingly digitised lives. There’s an empowering quality to living with furniture when you can read how it has been constructed and – deep breath – perhaps even assemble, fix or repair it yourself. If Ikea immediately springs to mind, think again – this low-fi movement is increasingly high spec. Anastassiades’ ‘Card’ bookcase for Molteni & C is effortlessly assemblable, while Formafantasma’s mesmerising ‘Superwire’ collection for Flos is a genius component system of glass tubes, each containing an LED light source, which can simply be clipped in and out to allow easy repair.

We could play all day with Jamie Wolfond’s aluminium ‘Set’ table lamp for Muuto; the shade reflects the light source and can be rotated up and down like a hefty corkscrew to manage your desired light intensity.

We were similarly tickled by the easy joy of Anna Karlin’s ‘Post’ floor lamp, which comprises just an illuminated tube strapped to a steel base. Complexity can be overrated.

Objects of a ritualistic function abound at the moment, which we understand as a consequence of paying closer attention to the quotidian domestic acts, turning mundane activities into moments of more ceremonial enjoyment.

We have chosen to highlight Barber Osgerby’s magnificent ‘Pilotis’ candlesticks for Puiforcat and Soft-Geometry’s steel vase, inspired by the fluid curves of the Malayalam alphabet. Both have a soothing serenity and, though we cringe to discuss mindfulness in the realm of lighting candles, there’s no denying they bring a meditative presence to any tabletop.

If it’s all getting a little earnest, take note of Tom Fereday’s sand-cast aluminium speaker for Pitt & Giblin, a veritable beast that puts the woof in subwoofer. Devin Wilde’s sculptural ceramics have a similarly powerful presence with their ancient cosmic forms and tactile glazes.

We round out our hoard of awards with Giles Tettey Nartey’s ‘Serwaa’ chair, a reinterpretation of the West African Lobi stool, here made from welded aluminium.

The surfacing of stories, ideas and voices that have gone unheard by our Western-centric design industry is an ongoing endeavour. With ‘Serwaa’, Nartey has reimagined the Lobi stool as an industrial creation, taking it out of its vernacular craft context and inserting it into the canon of idolised 20th-century furniture. An extraordinary sculptural object in its own right, it encapsulates the special power of design to bridge time and place, inviting us to ask questions about where we have come from and where we want to go.

A version of this article appears in the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper* , available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Browse our Design and Interiors Award Winners for 2025

Private jets, lavish parties, no-holds-barred expenditure: dip a toe into the international art and design circuit, and it’s hard not to ask – is it part of the problem or the solution? At a time when global challenges demand action, the contemporary art world can often feel detached, its performative aspects overshadowing meaningful contributions.

Yet, with so many power players and creative visionaries in the same proverbial room, surely this is where real impact can happen. Do luxury brands, as modern-day patrons, now bear a responsibility to channel their influence and resources consciously? Maison Perrier-Jouët certainly thinks so.

As the world descended on Miami for Design Miami 2024 and Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 earlier in December, the champagne house launched its latest design collaboration in a series that began in 2012. Originally commissioned to reinterpret Perrier-Jouët’s Art Nouveau heritage for the 21st century, the annual collaborations increasingly highlight our relationship with nature (see Fernando Laposse’s ‘The Pollination Dance’ of 2023).

This year, at a spectacular banquet crafted by Michelin-starred chef Pierre Gagnaire, Caroline Bianco, Perrier-Jouët’s new cultural and creative director, unveiled Cohabitare, a long-term initiative in partnership with Milan-based design studio Formafantasma.

Placing regenerative viticulture at the forefront of not just champagne-making but agriculture and design more broadly, Cohabitare aims to foster biodiversity, regenerate the land, and explore new ways of living and working with nature.

Formafantasma and Perrier-Jouët present 'Cohabitare'

'Working with Formafantasma on the Cohabitare project has been a deeply collaborative and reflective process over a long period', says Bianco. 'This is the first time Maison Perrier-Jouët has anchored an artistic project in its own vineyard, making it a milestone initiative rooted in the natural environment of Champagne. This project is not only a work of art but also a contribution to the ecosystem.'

It stems from two years of research and collaboration with ecologists, biodiversity experts, and regenerative viticulture specialists.

The first result is the Îlôt de Biodiversité (Biodiversity Island), a 285 sq m functional installation that welcomes plants and insects while keeping humans at a respectful distance. Formafantasma’s design for the Îlôt includes 74 terracotta posts handcrafted in France and finished with natural iron oxide glazes. Some posts feature cavities of varying sizes to provide habitats for different species of insects.

Native plants further enrich the space, offering food sources for pollinators and contributing to the ecosystem’s vitality. These efforts are guided by Perrier-Jouët’s scientific committee, which will monitor the area’s biodiversity over time. The Îlôt marks the first step in a larger vision to restore additional structures on the estate by 2026. The ultimate goal is to create an interactive hub for biodiversity studies, open to local and international communities alike.

Simone Farresin, co-founder of Formafantasma, highlights the thoughtful approach that underpins Cohabitare. 'The idea of using clay modules came because we wanted to reference the terroir, which is so important for wine,' he explains. 'The material’s properties also made it ideal for supporting biodiversity.'

Designed in consultation with the Biodiversity Committee, the modules are divided into cells, enabling wasps and other insects to nest without encountering one another. This careful attention to detail exemplifies Cohabitare’s ethos: design as a means of intervention rather than decoration.

At its heart, Cohabitare builds on regenerative viticulture – a method that goes beyond conventional monoculture by cultivating the land holistically. By integrating native flora into vineyards, regenerative practices improve soil health, conserve water, and reduce carbon emissions.

The result is a dynamic ecosystem where vines coexist with plants, insects, and other species, each contributing to the terroir’s vitality. As Farresin notes, 'This project reflects the simple yet powerful idea that humans do not inhabit this planet alone.'

This philosophy extends beyond the fields of Perrier-Jouët. During Art Basel Miami Beach, the champagne house hosted The Banquet of Nature, a dinner curated by Formafantasma and orchestrated by chef Pierre Gagnaire.

Conversations at the table explored the interconnectedness of biodiversity and viticulture, enriched by an evocative soundscape by eco-acoustic composer David Monacchi. His piece, Oecanthus, was created using field recordings from Perrier-Jouët’s vineyards, capturing the delicate balance of species that regenerative agriculture seeks to protect.

Unlike many brand initiatives that are short-lived or commercial in nature, Cohabitare represents a long-term commitment. Perrier-Jouët plans to host biannual experiments on its estate to test and refine new regenerative techniques.

Farresin stresses that the project’s insights are not proprietary; the hope is to inspire broader adoption across the agricultural sector. 'We’d like to see Perrier-Jouët sharing their knowledge with other farmers and, in a way, even competitors. I think what is important to realise about these projects is that this is not about "who" – it's not about competition – but rather about creating common ground. I think this project has the objective to do that.'

By marrying agricultural expertise with design thinking, Cohabitare reimagines what is possible for viticulture and beyond. It challenges conventional hierarchies between art, science, and design, positioning them as equal partners in the pursuit of ecological regeneration. As Farresin reflects, 'Beauty alone will not save the world. But design can play a meaningful role in creating new systems of coexistence.' There’s an idea worth raising a glass to.

Inching ever closer towards the holiday season, there can be a fly in the ointment of excitement in the shape of those special loved ones for whom we always struggle to buy a present. As each day passes, yet more options are slayed: international shipping; shipping full-stop; and finally shopping itself. When all else fails, home-made presents are always (often?) charming. But we’re not quite there yet and, though design lovers have a reputation for being ‘hard to buy for’, in fact they are some of the easiest to please if you keep your head straight and don’t fall for the reversible sequin cushions that still seem to be everywhere. What follows is my suggestion of presents with archetypal qualities that won’t fail to charm even the most curmudgeonly aesthete. Ding Dong Merrily Design.

Wallpaper* gift guide: global design director Hugo Macdonald's picks

Poltrona Frau dog leads

It can be hard to show our beloved pets quite how much they mean to us, but giving your pooch a Poltrona Frau dog leash for Christmas will send all the right messages. You can build your own lead to suit your (and your dog’s) preferences. Available in Pelle Frau leather or reinforced jacquard woven ribbon, with galvanized brass hardware and a ring for a treat holder, this is the last word in canine luxury.

The Poltrona Frau Dog Leash is available at poltronafrau.com. Price available upon request.

Les Couleurs Suisse AG by Tekla

This range of beautiful Tekla blankets piqued our interest for their peculiarly familiar colour palette, which is derived from the preferred hues used by Le Corbusier in his work. The perfect present to soften-up any die-hard modernist, the blankets come in either cashmere and lambswool or lambswool, both woven in Scotland, or in mohair, woven in Spain. We feel Le Corb would definitely approve.

Tekla Mohair blanket is $940 and available at teklafabrics.com

Kalvolan Kanto vases by Tapio Wirkkala for Iittala

Originally designed by Tapio Wirkkala in 1947, Iittala’s creative director Janni Vepsalainen has reintroduced the Kalvolan Kanto vases in all their molten glassy glory. Eminently tactile, perhaps even lickable, they come in clear, sultry dark grey or a brand new zesty Seville orange, which would be our preference for a bit of yuletide pep.

The Kalvolan Kanto vases by Tapio Wirkkala for Iittala are £600 and available at iittala.com

Undesigning the Bath by Leonard Koren

A bona fide seminal text for anyone interested in design, Leonard Koren’s Undesigning the Bath makes the case that bathing is never improved by design, leaving the reader to ponder whether design only distances us from our primal, animal experience in life at large. Long out of print, our friends at Blunk Books have brought it back into existence. We could not be more thrilled.

Undesigning The Bath by Leonard Koren is $26 and available at blunkshop.com

Sutherland Sentinels by Oliver Spendley for Bard

Call me biased - because they were made by Sutherland-based Oliver Spendley for Bard, our gallery in Edinburgh - but I would be very happy to wake up on Christmas morning with a Sutherland Sentinel candle holder under the tree. It would come straight upstairs to sit beside the bath, because bathing (as you’ll read in Leonard Koren’s book) really is a transcendental experience. Oliver was last month awarded Best Sculptural Object in the Wood Awards; his Lewisian Gneiss rocks with their brass inserts, perched on charred larch bases, demonstrate why.

The Oliver Spendley Tall Candle Holder is £1,920.00 and available at bard-scotland.com

Samu candle snuffer by Juli and Mika Tolvanen for Nedre Foss

A candle snuffer is a very good present, and this charming cast brass one has the added boon of being a beautiful object in its own right. Designed by American and Finnish duo, Juli and Mika Tolvanen, your friends will thank you for no more singed fingertips at the end of the night.

Samu candle snuffer by Juli and Mika Tolvanen for Nedre Foss is $84.80 and available at finnishdesignshop.com

Magazine rack by Carl Aubock

Whenever stuck for present inspiration, Carl Aubock Werkstatte is a very good place to start. For well over a century, the Viennese dynasty of Aubocks have been casting curios in brass, and using wood, cane and leather to turn quotidian objects into works of wonder. This wall-mounted wicker magazine rack brings a fun and literal opportunity for someone to display their Wallpapers on the wall.

Magazine rack by Carl Aubock is £2,800 and available at sigmarlondon.com

Sarabande artist posters

The veritable gift that keeps on giving, Sarabande is the wonderful foundation set-up by Lee McQueen in 2006 to nurture future generations of creative talent. Sarabande has since incubated and birthed an incredible range of artists, craftspeople and designers into the world. For Christmas, their online House of Bandit’s gallery has launched a series of beautiful A2 posters by four Sarabande artists: George Richardson, Hamed Maiye, James Tailor and Kasia Wozniak for a mere £30 each, with all proceeds directly feeding back into the foundation.

Sarabande Exclusive Poster X George Richardson. Regular price £30.00 and available at sarabandefoundation.org

Of The Gods eau de parfum by To My Ships

One of our most favourite discoveries of the year, To My Ships has been keeping armpits and bodies fragrant with their deodorants and body wash since their launch in September. With 99.97% naturally derived ingredients and packaging designed by Formafantasma, the brand’s design credentials are outstanding. It’s the fragrance, however, with which we are smitten. Green citrus notes of Polygonum, Petitgrain and Patchouli have us stopped almost hourly and asked where it’s from. The perfect present for someone with a fine nose, who enjoys having their neck sniffed.

Of The Gods eau de parfum by To My Ships is £170 and available at tomyships.com

D.847.1 desk by Gio Ponti for Molteni

On a recent trip to Molteni’s headquarters in Giussano, we were reintroduced to the wonder that is Gio Pionti’s writing desk, which Molteni reintroduced 70 years after its original launch in collaboration with the Ponti archives. It is slim, but just right - made from honey-stained ash with brass feet - with jaunty winged ends and a small drawer. Graceful and elegant for that rakish, bookish love in your life.

D.847.1 desk by Gio Ponti for Molteni is available at molteni.it. Price available upon request.

Grau Fire lamp

Designed and manufactured by our friends at the GRAU campus in Germany, the mobile Fire light has an aluminium body and a hand blown glass head. We’ve been smitten by the soothing qualities of the dimmable, programmable orb, gently glowing on our desk and bedside. With 50 hours of battery life after just two hours of charging, you can take your Fire with you wherever you go.

Grau Fire lamp is £348 and available at grau.art

Legendary lighting designer Ingo Maurer once said, ‘Design is a way of thinking, and lighting is a way of feeling.’ Through their substantial size and scale, floor lamps possess the power to transform a room, commanding attention and creating atmospheric pockets of light and visual interest. They can serve as sculptural statement pieces that draw the eye or as supporting acts that quietly enhance the overall ambience of a space. Our carefully curated selection of standing lamps features designs from the 1930s to the present, united by experimental spirit, tactile materiality, and thoughtfully considered proportions.

‘Meld’ floor lamps by Gather Glass and Emma Payne Ceramics

Emma Payne worked with glassmaker Phoebe Stubbs of Gather Glass to create this modular series of ceramic lamps. Also available in table and cocktail sizes, the lamps are formed of ceramic sections that can be stacked to various heights and configured with multiple lights. The sections are made from textural, ceramic-glazed stoneware while the diffusers are hand-blown glass. ‘We worked out the design through a series of collaborative sketches and material combinations,’ Payne explains. ‘As designer craftsmen, we would work in our separate studios and then meet to show how our works had progressed and developed. The meeting of two materials and two minds.’

From £3,100, emmalouisepayne.com

‘Monoscope’ floor lamp by Allied Maker

Notable for its refined details and buttery tan leather shade that casts a diffused light both upward and downward, the ‘Monoscope’ floor lamp by New York lighting brand Allied Maker exudes a classic sophistication reminiscent of traditional libraries or study rooms. Its disc-shaped shade, crafted from two 18-inch diameter frosted glass panels and encased in soft tan leather, pairs seamlessly with a matching leather-wrapped stem, brass pull chain, and bronze patina metal accents.

From $9,900, alliedmaker.com

‘Madra’ floor lamp by Alara Alkan Studio

Turkish-American designer Alara Alkan describes her work as driven by a deep curiosity for materials and inspired by the transformative effects of tides, wind, and sunlight. Her ‘Madra’ lamp embodies this ethos, pairing an airy linen shade with a substantial, tapered white oak stem to create a harmonious balance of form and material. Designed during Alkan’s residency at New York design gallery Colony – an incubator programme nurturing emerging design talent – the lamp made its debut in June 2024.

goodcolony.com

‘Cellu’ floor lamp by Simon Legald for Normann Copenhagen

Created by Danish designer Simon Legald for Normann Copenhagen, the ‘Cellu’ floor lamp combines an archetypal form with surprising materials – a shade made from pleated PVC and a chunky column in powder-coated aluminium. The steel base provides stability and an accent of colour. ‘In my design, I try not to add any unnecessary details,’ says Legald of his approach. ‘I work with simplicity by highlighting the necessities instead of hiding them. It gives the product a simple and honest expression.’

£355, available through Heal’s

‘Roattino’ floor lamp by Eileen Gray for ClassiCon

Recalling a bird elegantly perched on one leg, Eileen Gray’s sinuous ‘Roattino’ floor lamp was designed in 1931, its minimalist form standing in bold defiance against the ornate styles of the era. Now produced by German maker ClassiCon, the S-shaped design has gained renewed popularity, featuring a swivelling fabric shade, a new dimming function, and a fresh white colourway.

£2,074 , available through Aram.co.uk

‘Superwire’ by Formafantasma for Flos

Formafantasma’s ‘SuperWire’ lighting collection for Flos was praised far and wide by design devotees when it was launched at Milan Design Week 2024. Including this three-legged floor lamp design, the ‘SuperWire’ lamps are composed of hexagonal modules encased in flat glass panels, all set within a sleek aluminium framework. Inside each module, 12 slender LED strips, protected by spaghetti-sized borosilicate tubes, emit a warm, inviting glow. Formafantasma designed the series with sustainability in mind, allowing the glass panels to be easily removed for simple repair or replacement of the LEDs.

£4,154, available from November on flos.com

‘Cyclopedus’ series by Atelier Malak

Paris-based designer Malacau Lefebvre of Studio Malak strives to create pieces that are, in his words, ‘as expressive as possible’ and imbued with a sense of ‘emotional charge’. For instance, his bent steel ‘Cyclopedus’ lighting collection features floor lamps that, while resembling simple line drawings, carry a striking anthropomorphic quality – like figures curiously craning their necks for a better view.

From €600, Atelier Malak

‘Uptown’ by Ferruccio Laviani for Foscarini

Three slabs of coloured glass in shades of yellow, red and blue are stacked together to create Ferruccio Laviani’s ‘Uptown’ floor lamp for Foscarini. In a composition that recalls a New York skyscraper, the glass blocks overlap, giving rise to new colourful hues that look alluring whether illuminated or not. Introduced in 2019, Laviani says of the design: ‘The art deco and Memphis geometries, the multiple combination possibilities afforded by glass and the 1960s-style glass slab accessories… the list of what inspired “Uptown” could go on forever. I wanted to convey the intrinsic wealth of the material, its unique way of conveying transparency and colour.’

£3,846, available through Lamp Twist

‘Callimaco’ by Ettore Sottsass for Artemide

With its bold colours, unconventional form and playful details, the ‘Callimaco’ floor lamp, designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1982, epitomises the spirit of the Memphis movement, which Sottsass helped to establish. The lamp's design includes a chrome-plated handle, a sleek painted aluminium stem, and a painted steel cone-shaped diffuser, recalling the silhouette of a trumpet. A true piece of design history.

£1,415, available through Madeindesign.co.uk and Twentytwentyone.com

‘Dórica’ by Jordi Miralbell and Mariona Raventós for Santa & Cole

Inspired by classical columns and named after the Doric order in architecture, the ‘Dórica’ lamp was designed by Spanish designers Jordi Miralbell and Mariona Raventós for Santa & Cole in 1994. Its enduring appeal lies in the thoughtful simplicity of its crafted details and blend of warm materials – a cotton ribbon shade, a sturdy bronze structure, and a leather cord grip. Raventós once said, ‘Design is the art of making the utilitarian into a desired thing, into human warmth, into something generated by man,’ a sentiment beautifully embodied in this piece.

£1,578, available through Lamp Twist and SCP

A new personal care brand, made from natural and naturally derived ingredients, is staking a claim for territory on our bodies and bathroom shelves. To My Ships was founded by Daniel Bense, formerly Head of Commercial at Aesop and Managing Director of Sunspel. Bense’s mission is to bring natural ingredients and fine fragrance together with intelligent packaging to create a poetic brand that might nudge consumer behaviour in a more conscious direction.

Bense called on the talents of Formafantasma to dig deep into all design decisions with their signature rigour. The packaging is post-consumer recycled and recyclable aluminium, and every product is refillable - also from aluminium refill containers. Working with a packaging manufacturer outside Bilbao, the team discovered that reducing the diameter of the bottles in favour of a taller, more slender proportion would save 10% of the material usage, resulting in a family of refined, handsome containers. And what of the contents? The inaugural launch comprises a deodorant, body wash and a fine fragrance, with a peppy main ingredient derived from flowers of the ‘polygonatum odoratum’ or Solomon’s Seal plant. The debut range is called ‘Of the Gods’ and take it from us, it smells divine. We gathered Bense and Formafantasma together to hear more…

Wallpaper*: Working with Formafantasma needs little justification, but I’m curious what attracted you to work with them in this instance?

Daniel Bense: We were keen to balance our brand positioning with our commercial expectations, while making sure we were designing products that expressed our values. Those brains don’t always overlap. We love the breadth of work that Formafantasma has done, whether for brands or cultural institutions, their deep engagement is always so impressive. We got in touch and asked if they’d be interested to help us by doing an audit of our fledgling brand to examine various viabilities. This is how it began – where it ended was a little different!

Formafantasma: We were delighted to see how we might work together, not just because the brand and product itself was interesting, but because there was a desire for a critical approach in their own process and development. This is what we love doing. It is the mindset in which we approach all of our work.

W*: Fortuitous commissioning then, to address systems not end products?

DB: Our entry point was not about designing a product line or packaging at that point. We were fairly certain about using aluminium, but our decision-making was based on assumptions so we were keen for Formafantasma to get digging.

FF: The team at To My Ships granted us full access to all their decision-making. We were allowed to talk with their suppliers, designers, graphics people. We interrogated everything.

W*: Daniel you mention that you ended up somewhere different – I’m keen to hear where?

DB: The team went deep, as we knew and hoped they would. We stuck with fully post-consumer recycled aluminium as the material for our packaging, for its ongoing recyclability. Our learnings were in a shift in dimensions and a confident approach to shift consumer behaviour.

FF: While aluminium made sense for the reasons Daniel says, when we visited the bottle factory and producer near Bilbao, we learnt that if you reduced the diameter of the bottle to make it narrower and taller, you save grams of material – almost 10%. It might sound trivial, but at scale that’s a significant volume.

W*: That’s impressive. Use less is a golden rule of better design.

FF: Wherever possible we like to remove more than we add, work with less material, fewer people, smaller supply chains and see what is achievable. People sometimes say ‘no’ or ‘impossible’ but it’s important to push possibility to effect change. There is always something you can do. In this case, a shift in proportions of the bottles led to different decisions about volumes and quantities, and the relationships between people and their personal care habits. In the best cases you end-up with a refined system, not just a nice product.

DB: In our case we have also ended-up with more beautiful bottles.

FF: What we find sexy in the packaging is that it is not sexy. There’s a wonderful directness to it; it’s not trying to seduce you. There’s no fuss. This is a refreshing approach in the personal care and beauty industry. We were based in Holland for several years; we like straightforward things.

W*: Daniel you mentioned shifting consumer behaviour – tell us more…

DB: It’s widely known and understood that the beauty industry needs to get rid of mini bottles. Formafantasma pushed us to go up in size and to think about refilling less frequently and from vessels also made from aluminium. We aim to encourage refilling and reusing first and only later recycling. We hope the archetypal shape and material of the bottle will encourage people to reuse and not automatically recycle.

FF: More and more beauty brands are doing refillables, with a precious bottle to keep and a shitty bottle to refill from and throwaway. It makes no sense to throwaway a bottle fill up another one. So we equalised the packaging by using aluminium and increased the sizing. We also reduced the label size, and made sure nothing was printed on the bottles themselves, and the label glue leaves no trace on the bottle either. You could use them as a water bottle once they’re empty if you wish.

W* Hmm how clever. I hope it tastes as good as it smells. On that note, tell me about the magic ingredient that I’m unfamiliar with: Polygonum.

DB: Our first range of products is called ‘Of the Gods’ and we’ve used Polygonum Odoratum, native to southeast Asia, from the Solomon Seal family. It’s rarely found in natural sources, but Lily of the Valley is a relative. It has a top note high in aldehydes and a bold natural brightness, which is seductive without being overbearing. Someone described it as smelling like the steam from an iron.

W*: I can totally get that. I have had so many people ask me about it in the short time I’ve been trialling it since we last met. Beyond this wonderful ingredient, what have you learnt through the process of bringing this brand to market?

DB: Integrity and trust really matter when it comes to building any brand, especially in the realm of personal care. It’s not just a rewarding way of doing business, it really resonates with the end consumer. You have to know your suppliers and build relationships with them. Sharper scientific developments nowadays are unlocking the potential for natural ingredients to be used in place of synthetic ones. Science is helping us figure out what nature can do.

Tomyships.com

On a bright and blustery morning, sheltered in a dappled glade outside Edinburgh, we are standing in front of a classical bust by the Scottish sculptor Ian Hamilton Finlay. Titled X Muse (2008) the bust depicts Sappho, an ancient Greek poetess whose work was to be sung accompanied by music. Atop an 8-foot high Portland stone plinth, gazing wanly into the middle distance up at another Finlay work - the Temple of Apollo (2005) - Sappho is a quietly commanding presence. Standing between the two works, it feels like time is briefly suspended.

We are at Jupiter Artland, the sculpture park and home of Robert and Nicky Wilson who have, since 2009, commissioned an extraordinary range of site-specific artworks across their 100-acre site. Phyllida Barlow, Anish Kapoor, Tracey Emin and Cornelia Parker are a mere handful of the 30-odd permanent works here. One of Wilson’s most recent ventures is the launch of X MUSE (pronounced ‘tenth muse’) - the first blended barley vodka inspired by the spirit making traditions of Scotland, infused with ‘art thinking’, as the brand’s co-founder and artistic director Vadim Grigoryan puts it.

X MUSE is of and from, not just Scotland, but Jupiter Artland itself: Hamilton Finlay’s sculpture gave the brand its name and classical roots; the water used in it composition comes from an ancient aquifer on the estate, which sits beneath Charles Jenck’s otherworldly Cells of Life (2010). Jencks’ magnificent work of land art inspired the vodka’s bottle design by Stranger & Stranger. Within the estate there is a new Buckminster Fuller-esque tasting pavilion - the X MUSE Temple - by Formafantasma. It is a beguiling gesamtkunstwerk with every detail designed by the Italian duo. Outreach and education are core pillars of the Wilsons' mission and Jupiter Artland has a fascinating, far-reaching and impressive programme of events, on and off site called Jupiter Rising.

X MUSE is a work of art in and of itself, so it is fitting that the brand is also a partner for the 20th Edinburgh Art Festival (Robert Wilson is a former Chair of Edinburgh Art Festival). EAF is a fulcrum moment in the Scottish, national and global arts calendar with a multitude of exhibitions, installations, events and gatherings spread across 30 venues all over the capital. The art crowd is a thirsty one. Against the backdrop of controversy over the future of sponsorship for several cultural events in the UK, here is a partnership that feels symbiotic. Augmentary, even.

Under the guidance of Wilson and Grigoryan, we are introduced to a range of flagship shows taking place for EAF, tramping the bridges and cobbles, amongst the crowds in Edinburgh for the International and Fringe Festivals, which happen simultaneously. That such a density of global cultural happenings are taking place concurrently is mind-boggling. It is testament to EAF Director Kim McAleese, and her dynamic young team, that the art festival feels like a breath of fresh air, urgent, varied and enlivening in its deft curation, rarely overwhelming. ‘The festival celebrates persistence,’ she writes in her introduction to the programme and, if there is a theme that connects the breadth of work on show, it is the energetic restlessness to question and counter rogue realities. ‘Persistence’ is more optimistic than resistance; less exhausting than endurance.

The festival itself technically closes on Sunday 25th August, but several of the shows run weeks and months beyond. What follows are five of our highlights.

Don't Miss: Edinburgh Art Festival Highlights

Chris Ofili: The Caged Bird’s Song at Dovecot Studios (until 5th October)

Ofili’s commission by The Clothworkers’ Company in London is one of the most ambitious tapestries to have emerged from the hands and looms at Dovecot in Edinburgh in its century-long existence. It took the studio three years to turn Ofili’s watercolour into a gargantuan tapestry, and both the finished spectacle and the story of its making are on show here in a riveting display of process, skill and tenacity combined. Learning about the alchemy of weaving and understanding how the watery brush and hue effects of Ofili’s palette were achieved is a heart-warming story of the enduring wonder and power of craft in our increasingly anodyne digital lives.

Hayley Barker: The Ringing Stone at Ingleby Gallery (until 31st August)

One of the most beautiful shows in the festival, in one of the most beautiful buildings in Edinburgh, this is the first exhibition of LA-based painter Hayley Barker in Europe. ‘The Ringing Stone’ takes its title from one work depicting the enigmatic boulder of the same name on Tiree. It captured Barker’s imagination and her painting reverberates with its own presence here in Ingleby’s Glasite Meeting House, alongside large-scale works that celebrate the cycle of the seasons in her LA garden. It is the colours of these paintings that beguile and captivate; dusty, luminous, dream-like. Utterly seductive.

Home: Ukrainian Photography at Stills: Centre for Photography (until 5th October)

This powerful and arresting show of contemporary photography from Ukraine presents work that explores the meaning of home. Featuring work by eight photographers, each turning their lens on aspects of domesticity, it brings the extreme present of living in a war zone to life in ways that are personal, intimate and deeply moving. The notion of home as a place of safety and sanctuary is un-sensationally dismantled in a variety of implicit and explicit images.

El Anatsui: Scottish Mission Book Depot at Talbot Rice Gallery (until 29th September)

This is the UK’s largest show of the Ghanaian artist’s work to date. Visitors the ominous Old College quad are greeted by the monumental, shimmering work TSIATSIA - Searching for Connection (2013), stitched together from thousands of flattened bottle tops from the liquor industry, representing the reclaiming of cultural identity across the post-colonial African continent. Amidst a show of breadth charting the artist’s extraordinary career, this single image of El Anatsui’s masterpiece, veiling a building built from the proceeds of empire, will live on in the memory of the capital. Anatsui has received an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh to coincide with the show.

Karol Radziszewski: Filo at City Art Centre (until 25th August)

An absorbing and engrossing collection of original material from Filo magazine, one of the earliest queer magazines in Central-Eastern Europe. Founded in 1986 by Ryszard Kisiel at a time of acute police persecution towards gay communities, Radziszewski’s show lays bare the social and political context within which Filo emerged, inspired and persisted. Beyond magazine ephemera, the effect is more like looking at a relative’s photo collection. The material brings the past into the present. A punchy series of portraits by Radziszewski of queer, Central-European historical figures line one wall.

Edinburghartfestival.com; Xmusevodka.com

For as long as Formafantasma, the Milan-based design duo made up of Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, have been operating as a studio, their work has largely been characterised by its rigorous academic approach. Previous subjects have included the environmental effects of the wool industry, contemporary forestry, and the impact of technological waste. But for their most recent exhibition, 'La Casa Dentro,' which opened during Milan Design Week 2024 at the Fondazione ICA Milano (and is on view until 19 July 2024), the pair looked inward, seeking inspiration from the domestic sphere and their own nostalgic perceptions of home.

Formafantasma present 'La Casa Dentro'

The stark industrial confines of the ICA, located in Milan’s southern periphery, provide the backdrop to what Trimarchi and Farresin describe as a personal reckoning with Modernism. According to the designers, recent upheavals in their private lives forced them to rethink what they once considered truths of the 20th-century canon: the centring of rationality over emotion; the dominance of industrial aesthetics; and, most importantly, the absolute rejection of anything that could be classed as feminine or queer. The pair, who are also a couple, see the exhibition as an exercise in unlearning principles imposed by formal design education. For the first time, they have introduced their own personal narratives into their work — one that began amidst the quotidian finery of the family home.

'La Casa Dentro is referring to an interiorised version of the home that is a hybrid between personal memories and a more intellectual understanding of architecture and design,' the pair said in a conversation with curator Alberto Salvadori. Indeed, that hybridisation manifests in the literal sense. The collection is composed of furniture that contrasts strict Modernist aesthetics — curved steel and stark wooden planks — with elements they say reference their childhood memories of home like 'hand embroideries, painted floral patterns and silk volants.'

For instance, a chaise longue — composed of a body made up of unyielding blue-stained wooden boards and a bent steel armrest — has been decorated with a single hand-painted flower. Next to it sits a chimeric armchair: the bottom half upholstered with floral-embroidered fabric and a pleated sofa skirt, while the back and armrests are again made of wood and steel, this time stained a pale pistachio green. The collection’s standout piece, however, is a hanging lamp made up of a long horizontal cast glass shade suspended by steel rods. All along the metal supports, delicate glass flowers have been attached with metal ties, creating a sense of tension that feels as if it could shatter the fragile blooms at any moment.

'We wanted to depart from this staple of modern design and to stress its implicit ideologies by pairing it with decorative patterns either painted or embroidered,' they explain of the collection. 'This isn’t a postmodern pastiche, neither an ode to campness nor to kitsch. It is a romantic attempt to dignify personal memories and what is often culturally vilified, the decorative, the cute and, by extension of meaning, the feminine.'

'La Casa Dentro' by Formafantasma is on view during Milan Design Week 2024 and until 19 July 2024

Fondazione ICA Milano
Via Orobia, 26
20139 Milano

icamilano.it
formafantasma.com

Prada Frames returns for its third instalment, with another trusty collaboration with Prada and Formafantasma running alongside Milan Design Week 2024. The multidisciplinary symposium returns after its 2022 debut in Milan’s National Braidense Library, followed by the takeover of Luigi Caccia Dominioni's Teatro Filodrammatici in 2023, both of which have been a celebrated success.

Continuing to recognise the ever-important theme of the intertwining relationship between the natural world and design, Formafantasma’s Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin team up with Prada to present ‘Being Home’ at the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum. The theme delves into how the living environment can be used to address contemporary challenges, and focuses on how the home creates a dynamic and intimate space for open conversation.

‘We want visitors to leave with a restless mind,’ Farresin told Wallpaper*. ‘We will have speakers in the bathroom, or in the living room, the library and so on. I think this idea of having more intimate conversations will add to the symposium, which will feel very different than last year. We are looking forward to seeing how this will affect our content moving forward.'

Prada Frames 2024 by Formafantasma

'To be designers in this century is to be making sure that in whatever we do, we need to expand the conversation to other disciplines, to involve the voices of those who are generally left out of the design conversation,' Farresin continues. 'We need to challenge what design can do, as design is not just about aesthetics.’

The three day program is held at the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan, which was a home until 1974. The space provides the perfect backdrop, as it is a complex example of blending different periodical furniture and objects within a home. The neo-renaissance house museum overlaps personal history and art history, with one of the earliest expressions of Milanese design. 

Contributions to the symposium include Paola Antonelli, Brigitte Baptiste, Kate Crawford, Jack Halberstam, Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen, Anna Puigjaner, Alice Rawsthorn, Isabella Rossellini, and Françoise Vergès. They will have the opportunity to share and exchange intimate conversations and thematic lectures within the building's various living spaces.

During the symposium, spatial-design studio Limbo Accra will be revealing ‘Euclid Stools’ from the Canto IV collection. Drawing inspiration from Dante Alighieri's ‘The Divine Comedy’, and Limbo Accra’s design philosophy, the stools ‘reflect a journey through various realms of literature, architecture and design.’ The brutalist seating will be presented as seating during the founders, Dominique Petit-Frère and Emil Grip’s, talk around the theme of ritual and care.

The symposium runs from Sunday, April 14 through Tuesday, April 16. Admission to Prada Frames Being Home is free, based on availability upon registration at prada.com

Bagatti Valsecchi Museum
Via Gesù 5

prada-frames.com
formafantasma.com

Rubelli has been at the forefront of Italy's textile landscape with a 130-year history and a contemporary outlook that is both respectful of its past and craft and committed to looking at the future of woven fabrics. The company has now enlisted Milan design studio Formafantasma to oversee its art direction, with designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin entrusted with both the development of its collections as well as communication strategies, showrooms, collaborations and more. 

‘We were looking for youthful energy to shake the company, to spark new flames. We quickly realised that Formafantasma was the right fit because of their unique contemporary outlook,’ says Nicolò Favaretto Rubelli, Rubelli’s CEO.

Kieffer relaunch by Formafantasma and Rubelli

‘The initial challenge undertaken by Formafantasma was the reimagining of Kieffer, the group’s most experimental brand,’ say the designers. ‘This reinterpretation placed a specific focus on raw materials and weaving techniques.’

Acquired by the Rubelli group in 2001, Kieffer is an experimental textile atelier embodying Rubelli's values of adding a contemporary and future outlook on textile heritage. Produced at Rubelli's Como-based looms, Kieffer's textiles are based on combinations of natural materials explored through patterns and textures. 

‘With Kieffer, it’s more about what you can do with a loom, what you can do technically and how you can structure a textile,’ say the designers, who based their first project on the sensorial effects of the materials when placed in domestic environments.

The collection debuting Kieffer’s new era comprises hemp, wool and paper, natural materials that create a contrast with Rubelli’s opulent compositions of shimmering silks and decorative patterns and strengthen Kieffer’s mission as an experimental textile laboratory.  

Dubbed ‘Untitled’, the campaign presenting the range is inspired by the art world and conveys the materials’ purity through images that place the fabrics in abstract compositions in a neutral space. ‘The wrapping draws from a rich contemporary art history, referring to artists ranging from Man Ray to Christo to Manzoni,’ say the designers. ‘The wrapping served its authors to juxtapose internal and external, visible and invisible, to evoke mystery, challenge perceptions, blur the line between common and extraordinary.’

The studio’s contribution to the brand is based on the sustainable approach Formafantasma has made its mission from the beginning of its practice. Going hand in hand with a carefully considered aesthetic treatment, their attitude towards sustainability focuses on the creation of a company culture that serves as a framework to elaborate on their values. 

‘Kieffer sees textile as the preferred interface for the tactile exploration of the domestic environment: fabrics serve life to veil and highlight, to shelter and comfort, and ultimately to always celebrate the senses,’ reads part of the new company manifesto penned by the studio. ‘Kieffer weaves together the archetypical and the simple with the bold and the adventurous, as long as it serves and honours daily life.’

kieffertextiles.com
rubelli.com

Over the past three years, Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Milanese studio Formafantasma have infiltrated Artek, the Finnish company known for its reissues of Alvar Aalto designs as well as contemporary works. The project comes as a result of Cambio, the pair’s 2020 exhibition at London’s Serpentine Gallery exploring the governance of the extraction of timber from forests.

Marianne Goebl, managing director at Artek, describes the collaboration with Formafantasma as ‘a dialogue’, which started as a research project and resulted in a new iteration of Cambio shown at Designmuseo in Helsinki in 2022.

Now, the designers unveil the latest chapter of this creative conversation, a collection developed around ‘Stool 60’, among Alvar Aalto’s most iconic designs originally created in 1933 and still among the company’s most beloved and popular pieces. 

What makes this collection a turning point for Artek is not only that it’s made entirely of wild birch, a type of wood that is local to the company and widely abundant, but it also lets the wood be, allowing its natural chromatic fluctuations, knots and trails to remain visible instead of being edited out. 

The making of Artek’s ‘Stool 60’ by Alvar Aalto

‘Formafantasma proposed an array of concrete and speculative measures for Artek to be a “forest company” as much as a “design company”, taking our intrinsic connection to the Finnish forest to a next level,’ says Goebl, for whom learning more about local forests as a company was a key element of the collaboration.

‘Artek is intrinsically connected to the Finnish forest. More than 80 per cent of Artek furniture, including “Stool 60”, is made from birch trees grown, felled, and seasoned in Central Finland,’ she continues. ‘The birch wood originates mainly from mixed forests within a 250km radius of the sawmill, where it is cut into planks. The timber is then transported to Artek’s factory near Turku, where it is slowly air-dried. After a careful wood selection process, modern production methods are combined with skillful handcrafting to manufacture Artek furniture, still based on Alvar Aalto’s pioneering methods for bending solid wood.‘

A natural result of the company’s refinement of its designs is the elimination of any natural marks from the wood – a market-conforming selection criterion challenged by Formafantasma through the collaboration. ‘We finally developed a new wood selection – we call it “wild birch” – that systematically embraces the honest beauty of the forest,’ adds Goebl. ‘It celebrates the quality of imperfection, in which natural marks are proudly shown, making every product unique. As a result, we actually propose a new aesthetic: an aesthetic of sustainability.’

Artek’s ‘Stool 60 Villi’ by Formafantasma

‘Artek is a fantastic example of a very iconic company that is representative of design, that has something that no other company has, which is the relationship with an ecosystem, with a biome,’ says Farresin. ‘And what we did was basically to make the selection of wood much more inclusive: it's a very small chain change, but it is a fundamental one because it will result in cutting fewer trees, which will have a dramatic impact on the company.’

Parts of the design also tell a wider story: ‘those insect trails, they are because the insects started to colonise trees in Finland as a result of climate change,’ explains Farresin. ‘So, for us, accepting those trees, is also a way of accepting the reality of the forest today.’

‘Stool 60 Villi’ maintains Aalto’s original design while quietly suggesting a revolutionary approach for Artek. In addition to the stool, which bears the natural signs of the wood, Trimarchi and Farresin created a further four designs - dubbed ‘Bark’, ‘Core’, ‘Knot’ and ‘Trail’ – each focusing on a specific feature of the wood. 

Goebl and the designers stress that ‘Stool 60’ is only the starting point of what they hope will expand to their wider catalogue while educating their customer base and developing further, more radical strategies for Artek to become ‘a forest-centric’ company.

The collaboration also takes Artek back to its origins, as Farresin explains. ‘The original pieces by Aalto were imperfect, they had these natural features of trees, we somehow basically reintroduced this. This idea of perfection is not realistic when we talk about products made of natural materials.’

‘Ultimately we want to contribute to a systemic change in the furniture industry,’ concludes Goebl.’We hope that in a few years, wood with natural marks will just be a standard throughout. Ideally, at Artek, we will then again have just one wood selection, which includes all the variety the forest has to offer.’

formafantasma.com
artek.fi

A version of this article appears in the October 2023 Style Issue of Wallpaper*, on sale now available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

The exhibition ‘Garden Futures: Designing with Nature’  – a collaborative project by the Vitra Design Museum, Wüstenrot Foundation, and Nieuwe Instituut – delves into the rich history and potential of modern gardens. The exhibition (on view until 3 October 2023) redefines gardens as avant-garde spaces for social justice, biodiversity, and sustainability. 

‘Garden Futures’: gardens as reflections of identities and visions

The exhibition poses questions about contemporary garden ideals and their role in shaping a liveable future. It showcases diverse examples, from urban farms to community gardens and works by renowned designers like Roberto Burle Marx and Derek Jarman. As soon as you walk inside the museum, on your left, you can see a selection of classic fences, garden tools and lounge chairs up on walls, while walking in the main room you are welcomed by Jurgen Bey’s 1998 Tree-trunk for Droog Design, a bench made of a rough tree trunk with bronze backrests.

Designed by Formafantasma, the exhibition's architecture sets the stage for exploring gardens as reflections of identities and visions. It reveals how gardens combine practicality with profound symbolism, exemplified by the work of artists like Hans Thoma and Alvar Aalto. Gardens are not just personal retreats; they carry social, historical, and cultural influences.

The exhibition uncovers the colonial history intertwined with Western gardens and explores the integration of gardens into urban planning concepts. In the face of major global challenges like the climate crisis and social injustice, gardens become spaces for healing and learning. 

On the upper floor, which is defined by a grass-like moquette, projects like Alexandra Kehayoglou's ‘Meadow’ (2023) – a huge, impressive carpet on which it is impossible to walk – highlight climate change threats, while Thomas Rustemeyer's scroll showcases innovative and traditional practices. 

The exhibition's final section focuses on the future of gardens; ‘Garden Futures’ widens our perception of gardens as dynamic spaces that embody cultural and environmental aspirations. It inspires visitors to envision gardens as catalysts for a sustainable and equitable world. Gardens hold immense potential to shape a better future for all. And they are just good for all of us.

‘Garden Futures: Designing with Nature’ is on view until 3 October 2023

Vitra Design Museum
Charles-Eames-Str. 2
D-79576 Weil am Rhein
Germany

design-museum.de

For a fibre that, somewhat surprisingly, represents only one per cent of the global textile market at this point, wool resides strongly in our cultural and human imagination. 'This is not an exhibition in praise of wool however,' explains Simone Farresin, one half of Italian design duo Formafantasma, as the pair show us around their latest exhibition, Oltre Terra (subtitle: Why Wool Matters), commissioned by Oslo’s National Museum (on view until 1 October 2023). 

'It's rather a way of looking at the relationship that we have with making and producing wool, and most of all, the ethical implications of dealing with living creatures when doing so.' And it is this multi-disciplinary, multi-layered and, one might say, a multi-species approach where 'it’s never only about humans,' that the design studio first adopted so successfully in Cambio (a show dedicated to the timber industry, first hosted at the Serpentine Galleries in 2021), that is being revisited here. Although it is taken one step further, believes Farresin. 'I think there is an attempt here to put into question also exhibition-making and the kind of ideas you can create, even just when pairing materials visually. I think in this sense this exhibition is saying more things.'

Oltre Terra - Why Wool Matters at Oslo National Museum

Just a few of the things 'Oltre Terra' is pairing, and juxtaposing, include historical artefacts (such as the incredible 1700-year-old woollen tunic preserved under a mountain ice patch 200 miles northwest of Oslo and discovered in 2011), photos (of Merino sheep in Australia in the late 19th century, prized for their expansive skin surface and wrinkles and, therefore, extra wool), archive films (showing shepherd dog training sessions in the UK filmed between the 1920s and 1960s) and tools (metal shearing scissors from various periods in Norway). There are also drier exhibits designed to raise questions, such as legal documents showing the EU Product Environmental Footprint proposal to label products according to ecological impact; woollen garments are currently labelled as less sustainable than their synthetic counterparts due to the amount of water needed to wash the wool.

Oltre Terra comes from the etymology of the word transhumance, a combination of the Latin words trans (across) and humus (earth). The historic custom of transhumance, represented here in a film shot by the studio near the Italian/Swiss border, refers to the still-existing movement of livestock from one grazing ground to another according to the seasons and the nutrients or resources available. 

This idea of ‘crossing grounds’ is reflected in the trans-disciplinary and research-led approach of the show, for which the studio collaborated and spoke with shepherds, anthropologists, artists, musicians, designers, evolutionists, designers and farmers, among others, (many of these conversations and ideas are referenced and expanded on in a very lightweight catalogue and dedicated exhibition website). It is no surprise then that the exhibition ranges from the abstract to the practical and concrete; the former amplified by the poetic exhibition captions of philosopher Emanuele Coccia, which have titles like ‘It is impossible to know who seduced whom’ or ‘We never travel alone’; the latter highlighted by a large cream carpet made of wool from 12 different Italian sheep breeds that would usually be discarded due to their ‘coarseness’. Produced by carpet manufacturer cc-Tapis, it represents a potential use of what has been long considered waste material.

Dotted around the darkened space are also life-size reproductions of six different sheep breeds, carved and painted by hand with skill by artist Lorenzo Possenti. There’s Shrek, the Merino sheep from New Zealand who had lived in the wild for several years and gained fame when discovered in 2004, largely due to a fleece so huge and unyielding that he was practically 'suffocated under the stress of his ever-growing coat,' explains Andrea Trimarchi, the other co-founder of Formafantasma. There’s also a Mouflon sheep, one of a few breeds that still sheds its coat naturally every year, and a Dorper sheep, which also moults naturally and is sought after by farmers who are increasingly unable to sell wool due to a lack of local wool washing facilities, economies of scale or regulatory restrictions. They often resort to burning or burying it.

At the heart of the exhibition is a cocooned space showing a film by London-based artist Joanna Piotrowska, which both complements the exhibition and functions as a standalone work of art. Called Tactile Afferents, the term for the nerve receptors in the skin of mammals that respond pleasurably to light touch, it investigates the idea of touch, co-domestication and inter-species intimacy through words and images. We see sheep being touched in various ways, sometimes tenderly, other times far less so. There is a beautifully scripted voiceover too. 'There are wanted and unwanted embraces, those that invite, and those that invade.' In many ways, it feels like a film about consent in the animal kingdom but like the rest of the exhibition its meanings are multiple and layered and Formafantasma are keen not to put words into Piotrowska’s mouth.

The idea for Oltre Terra first came about when Hanne Eide, fashion curator at the National museum, asked the studio to do a show around wool, given its 'central role in Norwegian cultural history.' But the exhibition is intentionally not geographically specific. Nominally it focuses on Italy, Norway and Australia (the latter because it is one of three global merino wool centres, alongside South Africa and New Zealand) but the issues raised are global explains Trimarchi. 'We’re interested in the geopolitics of an industry and how that intersects with animals.'

The exhibition design is also intended as a critique of the diorama, a museum display medium used in natural history museums in the past to represent a scene from nature, but the scene was static and unquestioning, presenting things as settled and hierarchical. Here the diorama is deconstructed and exploded into eight sections complemented by documents, objects and films. 'No one element is more important than another,' remarks Trimarchi. 'And unlike a diorama there’s no glass separating you from the work, you can walk within it and be a part of it.' Accordingly, the exhibition also feels pleasingly open-ended. Colonisation, ecological devastation (often as a result of colonisation) and dysfunctional economics are just some of the globally relevant issues delved into but not opined on. 'We like clarity, but we don’t like simplification,' says Farresin. 'Of course, you cannot pretend you don't have a stance but I think it's important that visitors create their own opinions and interpretations.'

Oltre Terra - Why Wool Matters is on view at Oslo's National Museum until 1 October 2023

Brynjulf Bulls plass 3
0250 Oslo

oltreterra.website

Discover the Wallpaper* guide to Salone del Mobile 2023 and Milan Design Week

Prada and Formafantasma announced Prada Frames 2023, the second edition of their successful collaborative symposium, which they debuted at Fuorisalone 2022. The multidisciplinary series of talks, hosted by Prada and curated by Formafantasma's Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, had a pit stop  in Hong Kong (21 – 22 March) before returning to Milan during Milan Design Week 2023 (17 – 19 April).

Prada Frames 2023: Milan programme announced

Once again addressing the complex relationship between the environment and design, Prada Frames 2023 will follow a theme of ‘Materials in Flux’, based on the work of British anthropologist Tim Ingold, who views materials 'as interconnected, endlessly changing living entities'. The theme also links to Formafantasma's ongoing research into materials that are traditional to the design industry, analysing all aspects of their extraction, processing and use. 

'Under a shared ecological lens and with a transdisciplinary approach, the symposium will investigate the dynamics that govern waste infrastructures and their value systems, aiming to unpack the complex relationship between matter and ecosystems,' reads a note introducing the two events. 

The Hong Kong edition took place at the Herzog & de Meuron-designed M+ in West Kowloon. Curated by the museum, the two-day event was inaugurated with a lecture by architect Jacques Herzog, with further sessions led by Ute Meta Bauer, LAAB Architects, Lisa Reihana, Charles Lim and Formafantasma.

The Milan programme, meanwhile, will take place at Teatro Filodrammatici, an Art Nouveau building in the heart of the city, designed in 1904 by architects Laveni and Avati with distinctive 1960s interiors by Luigi Caccia Dominioni.

The event kicks off on 17 April with two sessions titled 'Conceptualizing' and 'Contextualizing', the former exploring waste as matter and the latter presented as a discussion on the 'relationships between ‘superabundance’, landfills and repurposing practices.'

On 18 April, two talks on 'Designing' and 'Valuating' will respectively involve design schools such as ECAL and Design Academy Eindhoven (where Trimarchi and Farresin lead the Geo Design programme) and look into material cycles. Finally, on 19 April, two sessions on 'Governing' and 'Re-Inhabiting' will look into e-waste geographies as well as wasteland and interspecies alliances.

The programme will include contributions by Tim Ingold, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Elizabeth Povinelli, Beatriz Colomina, Mark Wigley, Sophie Chao, Veena Sahajwalla and Justin McGuirk.  

The project is part of Prada's ongoing mission to foster a reflection on the ethical and aesthetic implications of the design industry, themes that are central to the brand’s practice. Increasingly, Prada has been exploring the potential of of low-impact production paired with original creativity, by using innovative recycled materials among other innovations.

‘Education and culture are essential instruments that help us not only comprehend ourselves and the world we live in, but also urge us to explore the unknown,’ said Miuccia Prada on the occasion of the 2022 Prada Frames. ‘Conversations have always been at the core of Prada’s approach and investigation of the world, so Prada Frames with Formafantasma was a very natural step in this direction.’ 

Admission to Prada Frames is free, subject to registration at prada.com from 6 April.

Prada Frames Milan, 17 – 19 March 2023
Teatro Filodrammatici
Piazza Paolo Ferrari, 6
formafantasma.com

The story of ‘Sub Rosa’ began in 2015, when Polish photographer Joanna Piotrowska travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As she described:

Despite Piotrowska’s traumatic experience in Stepanakert, she continually returned to roses as a subject in her work, and by April 2020, had amassed hundreds of photographs taken in a variety of locations. Eager to bring this body of work to life, she invited the Italian design duo Formafantasma to collaborate on translating her complex experience into objects that explore power dynamics, fragility and violence. The result was ‘Sub Rosa’ (meaning something that operates in secret), which is on view at Arch Athens until 22 December 2022. 

The starting point for the collaborative project was the interrogation room; its ambiguous, characterless, oppressive qualities. ‘My memory of the interrogation room in Nagorno-Karabakh contained an interesting dichotomy – it was a space both unfamiliar and ordinary,’ says Piotrowska.

‘A turning point was when we looked into how interrogation rooms are designed,’ explain Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Formafantasma, who undertook rigorous research on incarceration architecture, investigating and recontextualising the materials commonly used in these settings, notably stainless steel, used as ‘anti-frame’ framing devices for Piotrowska’s comparatively delicate silver gelatine paper prints.

The results are threatening, jarring, and turn the conventional functionality of a frame on its head; the roses feel imprisoned, not liberated. As Piotrowska explains, the interventions ‘somehow obstruct or destroy what it is intended to protect. The moments in which the stainless steel violates the image by piercing or obstructing is a reference to the deprivation of privacy and the act of self-censorship I experienced in Nagorno-Karabakh.’

As the Formafantasma duo emphasise, every element of conceiving ‘Sub Rosa’ was collaborative. ‘Joanna worked fully on the development of the metal components as much as we have been editing with her the photos or deciding what was working and not working spatially,’ they explain. ‘We related to the ideas of “Sub Rosa” because it also addresses how objects and architecture often participate in violence.’

INFORMATION

’Sub Rosa’, until 22 December 2022, ARCH Athens. archathens.org

Founded by the fourth generation of the Matisse family, Maison Matisse celebrates the French artist’s heritage through new design collaborations with contemporary creatives. At Fuorisalone 2022, the brand presents a series of new lighting pieces by Formafantasma through an installation at 5 Vie (Via Santa Marta 21). 

Henri Matisse began working on paper cut-outs in 1941, and continued until his death in 1954, creating compositions using gouache painted paper, cut with scissors and pinned to studio walls to create the artworks, which featured anthropomorphic figures, foliage, and abstract signs. ‘The Fold’ collection by Formafantasma references these cut-outs, through the use of metal and paper shapes cut and assembled in the same way. 

‘In the spirit of Henri Matisse, Maison Matisse celebrates joie de vivre; a heritage of optimism combines with those of perseverance, audacity, simplicity and family to envision heirloom-worthy objects,’ says Jean-Matthieu Matisse, the painter’s great-grandson and founder of the brand. ‘These are pieces that harness artisanal craftsmanship to gather value, history and design to bring joy to both present and future generations to come.’

‘The Fold’ collection interprets this modern art heritage and marks Maison Matisse’s first foray into lighting design. Designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin were inspired by the artist’s process, and like Matisse, they used a ruler and blade to shape the silhouettes of chandeliers, table lamps, candleholders and pendant lights. 

With simple geometric shapes, the designers have created a series of abstract compositions that subtly reference the artist’s creative style, while maintaining Formafantasma’s unique, sophisticated approach. Made of machine-cut and bent steel, spray-painted to a smooth finish in shades from moss green to deep red, pink and blue (each piece is available in the four colours), the lamps feature contrasting white paper shades. 

Says Jean-Matthieu Matisse, ‘Ours is a family that counts the finest designers and craftsmen to create forever pieces that make a house a home and inspire optimism: the Maison Matisse state of mind.’

INFORMATION

maison-matisse.com
formafantasma.com

ADDRESS

Via Santa Marta, 21
Milan

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

For Milan Design Week 2022, Prada has joined forces with Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Formafantasma to stage a symposium at Milan’s National Braidense Library, exploring the complex relationship between design and the natural environment. The initiative introduces ‘a moment of collective reflection’ and aims to debate, share and present innovative thoughts through an educational and informative format. 

Prada Frames: a Milan Design Week symposium

The symposium’s theme focuses on the ecosystem of the forest, the logic that governs the timber industry, and the role design can play in this ecosystem. It stems from Formafantasma’s ongoing research that formed the basis for ‘Cambio’, an exhibition originally shown at London’s Serpentine Gallery in 2020 and further developed by the designers and their teams in Milan and Rotterdam. ‘The symposium, in fact, is also a way to expand our knowledge on the subject,’ the pair explain. ‘In the last year, we have been extensively looking at Finnish forestry in relation to Artek, the furniture company founded by the Aaltos. We will address this as part of one of the sessions.’

The aim of this collaboration with Prada, they add, is to create a platform that ‘can actually produce meaning and ideas instead of only products’, not as a criticism of product-making, but as an opportunity to develop a new design culture that can look beyond that.

‘Education and culture are essential instruments that help us not only comprehend ourselves and the world we live in, but also urge us to explore the unknown,’ says Miuccia Prada. ‘Conversations have always been at the core of Prada’s approach and investigation of the world, so Prada Frames with Formafantasma was a very natural step in this direction.’ 

Over the course of three days, the symposium will host speakers that include scientists, anthropologists, activists and practitioners from the fields of design, architecture and curation whose work looks beyond product design. The line-up includes Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn, Forensic Architecture’s Eyal Weizman and Paulo Tavares, writer Amitav Ghosh, Anna Tsing and scientific platform Feral Atlas, Andrés Jaque of the Office for Political Innovation and dendroclimatologist Valerie Trouet. ‘We wanted it to be multidisciplinary; we strongly believe the only way to actually address ecology is to stop fragmenting knowledge and to look at subjects from a multitude of perspectives,’ say the designers.

Two daily sessions will present a variety of formats such as readings, debates, conversations, and video projections.

‘For a very long time, design has been solely focusing on the needs and desires of users, and so less preoccupied with material sourcing and its development,’ conclude the designers. ‘Considering the ecological crisis, it is more relevant than ever to be much more aware, critical and creatively engaged with the chain of custody of materials. The main opportunity is the development of a much more sophisticated idea of design that goes beyond styling and actually engages more systematically with the challenges of sustainability.’

INFORMATION

Prada Frames, 6 – 8 June 2022
Free event, subject to availability, upon registration at prada.com starting from 28 May 2022

ADDRESS

Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense
Via Brera, 28
20121 Milano

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Clerkenwell’s newest kid on the block, Technique, has just been completed. Located on Goswell Road, the structure, a complex that elegantly unites an old bank, a former distillery and a new-build element, is the work of architecture studio Buckley Gray Yeoman (BGY), for real estate developer General Projects. This, however, is not your average smart office space; some serious sustainable architecture credentials and a selection of design surprises inside, where generosity of space meets avant-garde creativity, ensure there’s plenty to talk about with this new project. 

That the building marks a departure from its peers is immediately apparent. As the visitor steps into the ground-level lobby area, set within the brand new entrance ‘pavilion’, they encounter the fun and dynamism of a bespoke interior – a creative installation for the modern reception space conceived by award-winning design studio Formafantasma under the creative direction of former Wallpaper* editor-in-chief Tony Chambers. Crafted in the studio’s ‘ExCinere’ tiles for Dzek, glazed in volcanic ash collected from the foot of Mount Etna, in brown and golden colour tones, the space includes Flos lighting (also designed by Formafantasma), combining functionality with a playful approach that challenges the norm. 

‘We wanted to offer a new take on the lobby area and create something that goes beyond the usual functional use, something that elevates the space, engages people and makes them take notice,' says Chambers.

Moving further inside, the full design unfolds, a refurbishment with a twist. A carbon analysis at the project's initial stages identified that ‘1,709 tonnes of carbon could be saved by adapting the building fabric’, the developers explain. With the architects on board, the team worked with the existing buildings’ bare bones to carve out volume and light and prepare the interior for flexible occupation. Original concrete framework has been cleaned and left exposed, maximising interior capacity, while adding a raw, utilitarian feel. At the same time, all the new elements – namely the entrance ‘pavilion’ and three floors of office space added on top – feature a pure wooden frame made out of cross-laminated and glulam timber (also left exposed, the soothing timber textures and aromas open to all).

The building’s main structure and general approach are not the project's only eco-credentials. The façade’s new brickwork comprises specially made recycled bricks created by Dutch company StoneCycling; oversized openings throughout flood the interior with natural light; a planted courtyard and roof terrace add a green element for the user; and a deep retrofit of the existing fabric allowed 69 per cent of the building structure to be retained while bringing the workplace in line with BREEAM Excellent certification.

‘Technique has been designed to capture the spirit of today: a flexible, healthy building – an office that employees want to be in – surrounded by experiences that add value to the day. It’s a novel attitude to space within an existing building that has been renewed and updated to establish a new benchmark for sustainable adaptive reuse,’ says BGY director Amr Assaad. 

Meanwhile, BGY’s smart design brings everything together neatly, offering sophistication, as well as dramatic moments. The spectacular first-floor gallery space is a case in point – this triple-height, brightly lit white-box space sits above the entrance area and offers a unique, multifunctional area for the future user.

INFORMATION

technique.london

bgy.co.uk

formafantasma.com

We always welcome a bit of shelf improvement so we’re smitten with the new ‘T Shelf’, the minimalist outcome of a debut collaboration between Swedish furniture brand Hem and research-based design studio Formafantasma. Hem founder Petrus Palmér first approached the studio about a collaboration back in 2017 and, after five years of skilful product development, the brand has now unveiled this quietly sophisticated shelving system.

Using an extruded aluminium composition, traditionally used in industrial manufacturing processes, the ‘T Shelf’ is a highly complex innovation featuring a seemingly simple T profile that allows for long unsupported spans and an elegant yet sturdy construction.  

‘Working with Hem felt like a natural fit, and the team really allowed us to push creative boundaries,’ say Formafantasma’s co-founders Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, who recently returned to Italy after 14 years in the Netherlands, opening a studio within the spaces of the Assab One cultural complex.

‘Hem’s patience with the long process of prototyping and testing resulted in a final product that looks minimal and elegant but is a masterpiece of design and manufacturing.’

Trimarchi and Farresin wanted to create a piece that would be timeless, but that also took into account the responsible use of materials. ‘It’s important to us that our work is not wasteful,’ say the design duo. ‘Extrusion creates minimal waste and aluminium is easily recyclable.’ This led Hem’s research and development team to a new manufacturing partner, Hydro, a company that specialises in high-quality aluminium and is committed to sustainable practice, with the ‘T Shelf’ being made from Hydro Restore, a combination of recycled pre-and-post consumer scrap and primary aluminium.

As an added bonus, this cutting-edge system, which comes in an industrial anodised aluminium finish, comprises six different height and width modules that can be connected, allowing for myriad bespoke shelving solutions.

INFORMATION

hem.com
formafantasma.com
hydro.com

The area north of Milan’s Piazzale Loreto is not on the city’s traditional design circuits. It doesn’t have the cobblestoned charm of Brera and the fashion triangle, there isn’t an abundance of former warehouses turned into cultural destinations, and it’s probably not where you’d want to take a walk on a sunny day. There’s a tinge of dystopia to the area, which is defined by one of the city’s largest traffic arteries, a string of supermarkets, petrol stations, and apartment and office buildings that grow less and less picturesque as you move away from the city centre. But change is afoot: Milan-based architect Andrea Caputo is now working as part of a team to transform the Piazzale with green spaces and pedestrian areas ahead of the 2026 Olympics, a project that will instil new life into neighbouring areas. ‘The neighbourhood was really overlooked until now, but its transformation is evident,’ says Andrea Trimarchi, co-founder of design studio Formafantasma. ‘Restaurant openings, concerts, events in the area’s parks; so many new things are popping up. It’s also a very diverse area, with active local associations and several well-established South American and African communities.’

Trimarchi and partner Simone Farresin are familiar with the area, having moved their studio (and their lives) into Assab One, a couple of kilometres north of Piazzale Loreto. A local institution, the not-for-profit cultural complex is spearheaded by Elena Quarestani, and known for its bright Nathalie Du Pasquier murals, as well as art, design and architecture exhibitions.

It also includes a series of spaces that are slowly being populated by international creatives, from Studio Mumbai’s Milanese outpost to experimental events organisers Terraforma Editions and popular independent publishers Guide Moizzi and Blackie Edizioni. The area feels more relaxed and open-minded than central Milan, notes Farresin. ‘Being here feels in line with our principles.’

From Amsterdam to Milan

Trimarchi and Farresin had lived in the Netherlands for 14 years, having moved their studio to Amsterdam in 2009 after graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven. They had been talking about returning to Italy for years, mostly for cultural and social reasons. ‘We didn’t imagine growing old in Amsterdam,’ admits Trimarchi. ‘We never fully integrated in the Netherlands; and the idea of community we have in Italy doesn’t exist anywhere else in Europe.’ Other reasons, such as the more structured approach to design in Italy, and the fact that many of their clients are based here, contributed to the decision. 

They continue to maintain a second studio in Rotterdam, now led by designer Jeroen van de Gruiter, a fellow Design Academy alumnus who has been with Formafantasma since its early days. It currently operates as a satellite to the Milan HQ, but the idea is to eventually diversify the two locations’ output, in line with the pair’s long-term vision for their practice. ‘As we progress, our studio is increasingly becoming research-based, so that will likely become our focus in Milan, while Rotterdam might be where more of the designing happens. We are still trying to understand what might make sense,’ adds Trimarchi.

Formafantasma’s Milan studio

The Assab One space is remarkably similar to their previous live/work studio in Amsterdam: industrial, with high ceilings, exposed beams, and natural light flowing from large windows on the ground floor. ‘Once we saw it, it was natural for us to say yes,’ says Farresin. Moving in in summer 2021, they started transforming its 300 sq m of disused space into a functional office. To create the furniture, they called upon DiSé, a manufacturing studio based near Catania, Sicily, that specialises in the production of furniture and bespoke installation, and whose values (ethical, aesthetic and qualitative) are very close to Formafantasma’s own. 

The Milan studio demonstrates the duo’s well-established ability to create holistic, aesthetically pleasing and thoughtful designs. Guests are greeted by their ‘Wireline’ chandelier, hung above a large dining table they also designed. On one side is a vast bookcase with some of their past projects on display. This more intimate living area is loosely separated from the larger office by a cupboard upholstered on one side in Vincent Van Duysen’s ‘Moiré’ textile for Sahco, in a sage green that complements the light maple of the furniture.

For the open space, the pair have designed large tables characterised by functional details such as small drawers and a discreet slit in the middle for cables; wall-mounted standing desks; stools in two sizes which are reminiscent of Japanese joinery; and a step stool loosely inspired by Shaker furniture. The pieces’ symmetrical straight lines are softened by rounded corners and angular edges. Everything is impeccably made in maple by DiSé, creating a calming visual consistency despite their distinctive forms. Lamps by Jasper Morrison for Flos are quiet luminal additions, and greenery punctuates the space. ‘We wanted the office to be visually noiseless,’ explains Farresin.

Every piece of furniture will become part of a growing collection, available to order from DiSé and imagined as Formafantasma’s response to the post-COVID workspace. ‘It speaks of the ambivalence between home and office. We wanted to design office furniture, but this office is also a home,’ says Trimarchi.

The studio’s evolution

The Assab One space is a home for the designers and their Italian greyhound Terra, as well as a workspace for their eight-strong team, an international group (a rarity in Milanese studios) whose expertise covers different disciplines, from curation to design and architecture. ‘Our work could be seen as theoretical, but it’s actually extremely imbued in reality,’ says Trimarchi. ‘We aren’t just interested in academic work; we are practitioners, we work with clients to bring radical ideas into a context that is not typically radical – which has been the complicated part, as you have to find the right partners.’ Despite a string of successful collaborations, they admit to inhabiting an awkward space, between a clean approach to design thinking and a clientele who is not always receptive. ‘What we do is sometimes uncomfortable, but also very exciting.’

Projects such as ‘Cambio’, a deep dive into the timber industry first presented in 2020, have helped existing and prospective clients understand Formafantasma’s approach and potential. And even though brands still expect new products when approaching the studio, they now often start working with brands from the ground up, investigating their structures to achieve an impact that goes beyond product design.

Among their projects for 2022 is an exploration of human and animal cohabitation through the topic of wool, to be unveiled at a new exhibition at Oslo’s National Gallery, and an in-depth analysis of Artek’s ecology, begun off the back of ‘Cambio’, which will result in a new iteration of the exhibition at Helsinki’s Design Museum. They have also been tasked with creating the spaces of the Giardini and Arsenale for the upcoming Venice Art Biennale, curated by Cecilia Alemani, and further exhibition designs for Bahrain’s Pearling Path and for the Fondation Cartier’s participation in the Milan Triennale. They are about to unveil a series of interiors for a global fashion retail network, and the design of a farmhouse in Puglia. Their launches at Salone del Mobile 2022 will include an aluminium bookcase for Hem, designs for Cassina and Ginori 1735, and a lamp collection for Maison Matisse.

They aim for their Milanese studio to form part of a hub, a space for discussion and exchange of ideas. ‘Design in Milan is still very traditional,’ admits Trimarchi. ‘There aren’t many places for design debate, like the Triennale, and we hope that Assab One can become a magnet for a new generation of creative thinkers that is not well represented by the city.’

INFORMATION

formafantasma.com
assab-one.org

A version of this article appears in the April 2022 issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands now and available to subscribers

Superflux is a design studio whose work crosses technology, politics, and nature. The London-based practice looks to the future to address the challenges we currently face in modern-day life. They have worked with organisations that include the Red Cross and the UK’s Cabinet Office, and created powerful installations across the globe.

From synthetic biology to ecological interdependence in a post-Anthropocene world, Superflux explores some of the biggest issues humans currently face. The critically acclaimed studio works at the intersection of the climate crisis, politics, and artificial intelligence. It has recently been named as one of 25 creative leaders of the future by Formafantasma, for Wallpaper’s 25th Anniversary Issue ‘5x5’ project.

Founded in 2009 by Royal College of Art graduates Anab Jain and Jon Ardern, the London-based practice ‘constructs narratives, worlds, and tools that provoke viewers to engage with the rapidly changing world’, explains Jain. While studying under the tutelage of Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby at the RCA, the pair were encouraged to consider the implications of emerging technologies on modern society which in turn led them to found Superflux.

Superflux: immersive installations addressing big issues

Currently operating out of Somerset House, Superflux creates installations that make viewers carefully consider the planet. From multispecies dining tables oozing with fungi to forests of dead blackened pine trees, the Anglo-Indian studio takes highly complex subject matters and develops clear and interactive exhibitions. Having exhibited at MoMA New York, the National Museum of China, and the V&A, London, the practice has garnered international recognition, with its most notable project to date being Mitigation of Shock.

Commissioned by Suncorp and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Mitigation of Shock was an attempt to make climate change ‘tangible, relatable and specific’, says Jain. Following extensive research and interviews with experts from Nasa and the UK Met Office, Superflux skilfully constructed a future apartment where ‘people could step inside a family home and experience what the restrictions of this future might feel like’, states Jain. This project was a real turning point for the practice.

However, Invocation for Hope, an installation that turns trees into art (some 400 pine trees), exploring the impact humans have on the planet, and which is currently on show at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (until 3 October 2021), has been Superflux’s biggest installation in terms of scale and ambition so far.

The studio also showed at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021, with an installation that examined the impact of the enforced ‘stop’ created by the pandemic.

The research-led studio is currently working with Omidyar Network to release a film that explores capitalism, data, and the environment. Weaving together a warren of themes, mediums, and technologies Superflux is bringing conversations about pressing issues to the centre stage. Its work is evocative and visceral and challenges viewers to imagine ‘plural futures’. 

INFORMATION
superflux.in/#

A version of this article appears in Wallpaper’s October 2021, 25th Anniversary Issue (W*270), on newsstands now and available to subscribers – 12 digital issues for $12/£12/€12.
Meet more creative leaders of the future nominated by Formafantasma here.

Formafantasma, as its website describes, is ‘a research-based design studio investigating the ecological, historical, political and social forces shaping the discipline of design today’. This mission statement is as ambitious as it gets. But it’s apt for a studio that, for over a decade, has constantly pushed the boundaries of design practice and evolved our understanding of the field. From its ‘Ore Streams’ project (2017-19), which considered the recycling of electronic waste and how design can encourage more responsible use of resources, to the ongoing ‘Cambio’, which explores the governance and ecological impact of the timber industry, Formafantasma’s work has inspired a new generation to see design not just as a styling tool, but also as a transformative force in an era of global uncertainty.

It is fitting that Design Academy Eindhoven would appoint the studio’s founders, Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi, as department heads for its GEO-Design master’s programme. At its launch last year, Wallpaper* guest editor Paola Antonelli (as one half of Design Emergency) interviewed the duo on their plans to encourage students to ‘go beyond the product and the object’. One year on, and following Formafantasma’s selection as Designer of the Year in our 2021 Design Awards, we caught up with them on how the programme has unfolded, and their hopes for today’s emerging creative talents.

GEO-Design: a pioneering programme at Design Academy Eindhoven

Farresin and Trimarchi were tasked with setting the vision for the department, and unsurprisingly, the programme description shares similarities with the stated goals of their design studio. ‘It’s about an attitudinal approach,’ they explain. ‘Tapping into the politics that shape not only the discipline of design, but also the way we produce and distribute things.’ As they see it, the design industry has been focusing on delivering solutions to users, without having a sufficient grasp on wider implications: the infrastructures that it supports, the politics it contributes to, and of course its ecological impact. GEO-Design is about reframing the conversation so designers are taking on the issues arising from ‘design’s complicity across multiple industries, communication networks, and aesthetic cultures’. 

The duo have been responsible for selecting both tutors and students, and creating the programme. The tutor line-up is impressive, including the founders of renowned European design studios, leading design curators, and even an ethnobiologist (Meredith Root-Bernstein, who led a project on conservation in the third trimester). Workshops have featured the Turner Prize-nominated duo Cooking Sections, who focus on the politics of food; artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, who examines our relationships with nature and technology; and ‘scientist of smell’ Sissel Tolaas, who champions smelling as a way to communicate and to navigate the world, on par with seeing and hearing.

Formafantasma’s Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, interviewed by Design Emergency co-founder and Wallpaper* guest editor Paola Antonelli on Instagram Live in July 2020

The guest lecturers represent even more disciplines. Among them are Teresa Castro, a historian who investigates the connection between cinema and animism; Philipp Pattberg, a political scientist who specialises in climate change governance; and Paulo Tavares, an architect and urbanist whose recent research delved into the role of colonial racism in Brasília’s modern landscape. ‘As a department, GEO-Design will grow as an octopus, with a complex central consciousness and individual far-reaching tentacles,’ reads the programme description; the diversity of the curriculum certainly helps reinforce this goal.

This being a master’s programme, there is a certain level of design knowledge expected of incoming students, and so most of the first cohort of 20 come from design, engineering and architecture backgrounds. But Farresin and Trimarchi are keen to point out that there’s also someone who comes from the social sciences, and a chemist. ‘We are open to other people who are interested in design and want to apply, and of course we can support them,’ they say.

Design research: an evolving field

The programme offers a systematic induction into design research. The first trimester focused on how to develop one’s position, the second trimester involved ‘being more active in reflecting, analysing and criticising, and being transformative with design proposals’, while the third trimester was more about collaborating with fellow students. The course load is deliberately heavy in the first year, so students go through plenty of different experiences and can draw on this variety as they decide on the focus of their graduation project in the second year. 

The courses themselves are unusual: a highlight this year was Pedagogies of the Sea, led by design critic and curator Angela Rui and coinciding with her exhibition ‘Aquaria – or the illusion of the boxed sea’ at Lisbon’s MAAT, which examined our relationship with the oceans. ‘It explored how looking at a hyper object such as the ocean can foster the ability of designers to navigate through the ecology of thinking at multiple scales, recognising challenges, inequalities and interdependencies that still happen at sea,’ writes Rui. A sampling of student projects, available on the course’s Instagram feed (@pedagogiesea), includes a collection of postage stamps that interrogate the contradictory priorities of marine conservation policies; a book on Ciona (a genus of sea squirts) as a symbol of resistance to human exploitation of the sea; and an investigation into surimi, the imitation seafood product.

Ciona Are Doing Well, a research project by GEO-Design master’s students Benedetta Pompili and Eleonora Toniolo, looked into Ciona (a genus of sea squirts) as a symbol of resistance to human exploitation of the sea

At the end of the course, students presented their outcomes as part of MAAT’s public programme. Effective communication of ideas was key: ‘They had to engage in how to make their work speak to an audience, and how to present in an exhibition space,’ recall Farresin and Trimarchi. ‘We had students who did small installations, students who did a meditation session, others who did a monologue interspersed with video. Some even did ritual performances where they used multiple mediums to perform their own ideas on stage. It goes to show that GEO-Design is about experimenting with the boundaries of your design education, transcending the design discipline itself and how it was theorised.’ 

This dynamic approach has certainly captured wider attention, and Farresin and Trimarchi say that other institutions have expressed interest in what they are doing at Eindhoven. This being said, they admit that ‘education is an ever-changing organism’, and there is some fine tuning they need to do, particularly so that the programme does not tend too much towards abstraction. ‘There’s a need to ground this in materiality,’ they point out. ‘So for the year ahead, we will have more of a making element. In the first trimester, there will be a ceramics workshop, and it will not be about contextualising ideas. You’re just going to experience ceramics: mould making, creating shapes. Then it’s up to you to link it with whatever else you’re doing.’

Formafantasma on the purpose of design school

There is, of course, the question of what GEO-Design students would do once they have completed the programme. In their conversation with Antonelli last year, Farresin and Trimarchi had expressed the hope that beyond traditional design studios, their graduates would find roles at NGOs, as activists, or in the research and development departments of companies. (‘I’m hoping they will become mayors or presidents, too,’ countered Antonelli). Today, their answer is more open-ended. ‘Next September, when our students present their graduation project, we are asking them to list a series of skills and qualities they want to highlight, so we can mentor them accordingly,’ they say. 

‘But we are not here to professionalise people. The whole idea [of GEO-Design] is also to rethink the purpose of design school, right? And how we educate people for a changing world, and for a discipline that should change, though it’s not necessarily changing.’ Rather than shaping their students into a particular mould, to fill specific roles, Formafantasma want to nurture a flexible mindset. 

Cambio: an ongoing investigation into the timber industry

Within their own practice, Farresin and Trimarchi have ably demonstrated the practical potential of this critical attitude. Following its initial, widely acclaimed presentation at Serpentine Galleries, ‘Cambio’ is now on view at the Centro Pecci at Prato, Italy, and will be travelling to the Museum für Gestaltung in Zürich later in the year; with every iteration its exhibition displays (themselves elegant and enlightening) are complemented by more and more real-world projects.

Among them is an invitation from Finnish furniture manufacturer Artek to study the arboreal forests in Finland. ‘They are already virtuous by nature, but they don’t necessarily have an R&D department that thinks about the future of their company in relation to ecology,’ the duo explain. ‘So they opened up their doors fully to us. We looked at everything that they do and presented our own vision for their ecological development, so they can evolve their approach to forestry.’

Expanding the practice of design

For our 5x5 anniversary project, Formafantasma’s edit of creative leaders of the future run the gamut from emerging talents Johanna Seelemann and Irakli Sabekia (both their former students) to more established design studios such as Superflux and Studio Plastique. Naturally, all of them focus on design research, but their interests are varied, including industrial agriculture, geopolitical conflict, the climate emergency, and sustainable energy. Among them, Buro Belén, best known for investigating the relationship between humans and the sun, stands out for also being tutors in the GEO-Design programme: ‘They have been thinking about material research for years, and doing it with a lot of consistency,’ say Farresin and Trimarchi. The work of some of these creative leaders of the future may often be conceptual, yet to find practical applications. But it is not difficult to imagine these eventually making the same impact as ‘Cambio’, both in terms of industry practice and public perception. 

They add that their experience with younger designers, whether through the GEO-Design programme or their own studio, should give us optimism for the future. ‘The next generation is much less attracted to design because of a possible glamorous side to it. They’re much more aware of the pitfalls of the discipline, and definitely much more engaged. They want what they do to be meaningful, and they are adamant to contribute to the world for the better.’ 

Meet Formafantasma’s five creative leaders of the future:

• Studio Plastique
• Irakli Sabekia
• Buro Belén
• Superflux
• Johanna Seelemann

INFORMATION          

designacademy.nl; cambio.website; formafantasma.com

'Cambio', until 24 October, at Centro Pecci, Prato, Italy, centropecci.it

'Cambio – Tree, Wood, Human', at Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland, museum-gestaltung.ch

A version of this article appears in the October 2021, 25th Anniversary Issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands now and available to subscribers – 12 digital issues for $12/£12/€12.

With its expanding and undefined frontiers, the realm of conceptual design may feel nebulous, but the German practitioner Johanna Seelemann was drawn to the opportunity to approach design in an analytical manner.

‘In a world that’s full of objects, I always had a hard time justifying simply redesigning an existing object typology – what would I add? Especially since most “design solutions” were answering artificially created problems,’ explains the designer, who will be showing her latest work, exploring rustic materials such as loam and straw, at Dutch Invertuals’ exhibition ‘Objects for a New Kind of Society’ during Dutch Design Week (16 – 24 October 2021). 

‘Having started my studies in Germany and always having conceptually approached my projects, I was frustrated not knowing how to situate my ideas within classical product design.’

It was only upon visiting Design Academy Eindhoven in 2014 that Seelemann was exposed to how differently the design discipline could be defined. The search for new possibilities ultimately led her to participate in an exchange programme at Iceland University of the Arts, where she completed her bachelor’s degree, before heading back to Eindhoven to study for a master’s in contextual design. The experience of being in foreign territory was also formative in forging her design path. 

‘The change of scenery from my German cultural context to living and working in Iceland was a key event for me as a designer. [There was a] shift from the apparent abundance of everything to a scarcity in resources, where nearly everything mundane needed to be imported across long distances.

‘The perception of nature was also overwhelming and the viewpoint shifted from aiming to protect nature to protecting yourself from extreme and harsh conditions, [while holding] respect for huge natural forces such as strong winds, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and land that cannot possibly be used. My understanding of locality, available material, and production possibilities completely changed, which changed my way of looking at design.’

Johanna Seelemann: questioning food mileage

It comes as no surprise that since then, Seelemann has focused her research on exposing the hidden systems and networks that exist behind globally traded goods, such as aluminium cans and bananas. One project, Banana Story, created in collaboration with Björn Steinar Blumenstein, charts the complex journey of spotless bananas from Ecuador to Iceland and shows how the ubiquitous fruit is handled by as many as 33 pairs of hands before arriving on supermarket shelves.

Accompanied by a passport and illustrated labels that document the fruit’s mileage and ports of call, the project encourages consumers to rethink the true value of food to discourage food waste.

Seelemann’s inquiries also led her to study and work with Formafantasma, whose founders Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi, department heads of the GEO-Design master’s programme at Design Academy Eindhoven, are impressed by her talent. So much so, the duo have named Seelmann among 25 creative leaders of the future in Wallpaper’s 25th Anniversary Issue ‘5x5’ project.

‘I enjoy questioning the seemingly most mundane objects and materials surrounding me and their relation to the place I’m in, exploring their origin, history, contemporary contexts, and journey,’ says Seelemann of her work. ‘This investigation often offers fascinations with one idea, which are based on concepts such as substitution, aesthetic evolution, adaptation, transformation, resilience, or nature-centered technologies,’ she states.

‘As much as I am exploring a theme and might want to point out certain issues, the core aim of my project usually remains an optimistic suggestion, a proposition, a counter-proposal, or an alternative possible scenario to the one I’ve explored.’

INFORMATION
johannaseelemann.com

‘Objects for a New Kind of Society’ is hosted by Dutch Invertuals during Dutch Design Week 2021, 16 – 24 October, ddw.nl

A version of this article appears in Wallpaper’s October 2021, 25th Anniversary Issue (W*270), on newsstands now and available to subscribers – 12 digital issues for $12/£12/€12.
Meet more creative leaders of the future nominated by Formafantasma here.

‘Artistic work has a great power to open up complex subjects and make them approachable. It allows us to put down our shields and let the world affect and transform us,’ states Irakli Sabekia. The Georgian designer and researcher has gathered growing recognition for his projects that cross art, design, and philosophy, while using experiences as a vehicle to spark powerful conversations.

Sabekia takes on weighty themes including frictions between humans and systems, and social and spatial justice. ‘I think of my projects as artistic interruptions in the functioning of systems, aiming to create possibilities for reflection and re-evaluation of the existing structures,’ he says. 

A graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, Sabekia began his career as a graphic designer in Tbilisi, Georgia before moving to Amsterdam to work independently. ‘This step came naturally as it was the most straightforward path to developing my own way of working and exploring ideas,’ he explains. ‘My research and outcomes are my tools to attack reality and imagine worlds. Connecting with people through ideas and suggestions is at the core of my practice.’

Irakli Sabekia and Formafantasma

At Eindhoven, Sabekia caught the eye of Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi, founders of Formafantasma and department heads for the academy’s GEO-Design master’s programme. The pair have named him among 25 creative leaders of the future in Wallpaper’s 25th Anniversary Issue ‘5x5’ project.

One of his most notable projects to date is Voicing Borders. ‘In it, I had to address a complicated but also very personal topic of the ongoing occupation of large parts of Georgia by Russia. While working on my approach, having to face the hopelessness of the confrontation with this overwhelming force, core ideas of my practice were formed.’ This resulted in the construction of a radio transmitter that transformed the attached razor-wire fence into an antenna that broadcasted the names and coordinates of Georgian villages brutally destroyed by Russian forces.

Another powerful piece is Spring, an installation exhibited in Eindhoven in 2017. Comprising 50 oak seedlings growing on ash produced by burning books, it symbolizes new ideas ‘unburdened with the weight of bygone ideologies’. 

Over the last year, Sabekia has been working on a new project titled Archive of Spatial Knowledge, which explores memories of spaces that have been erased. He will be exhibiting at Eindhoven’s Van Abbemuseum in October 2021, as part of the Design Academy’s GEO-Design platform, curated by Martina Muzi and Joseph Grima.

INFORMATION

iraklisabekia.com

‘GEO-Design: Budget Airlines’ design-research exhibition is at Van Abbemuseum, 9 October – 14 November 2021, vanabbemuseum.nl

A version of this article appears in Wallpaper’s October 2021, 25th Anniversary Issue (W*270), on newsstands now and available to subscribers – 12 digital issues for $12/£12/€12.
Meet more creative leaders of the future nominated by Formafantasma here.

Natuzzi presents the latest chapter in its ongoing creative renaissance as it unveils new furniture collections by international designers at Salone del Mobile 2021. Founded in Italy’s Puglia in 1959, the brand’s creative direction is now in the hands of second-generation Pasquale Natuzzi Junior (known as PJ), whose high-profile collaborations have firmly established Natuzzi as a design-led company.

PJ Natuzzi’s direction has already seen the brand collaborate with Fabio Novembre and Marcel Wanders Studio, a move that, he notes, gave Natuzzi ‘a boost of creative contamination that intrigued the design community’. An example of his approach’s success is the 2020 collaboration with Nika Zupanc, a designer whom PJ introduced into the company and whose piece became a Natuzzi best-seller. ‘That felt like a victory, the emblem of what I see as creative contamination,’ says PJ.

When he joined the company, the ‘perceived Natuzzi look’ was masculine, mature and commercial. ‘To evolve the brand, it was crucial to introduce different DNAs into the company, fuse them with our creative blood to create a winning blend.’

The circle of harmony: Natuzzi's new furniture collections

The latest iteration of these collaborations is the ‘Circle of Harmony’ concept, inviting an eclectic group of designers to create new furniture collections with Natuzzi. It’s a concept, PJ says, that makes his creative vision official. For 2021, collaborators include Formafantasma, Sabine Marcelis, Marco Piva, Massimo Iosa Ghini, Patrick Norguet, Lorenza Bozzoli, Marcel Wanders Studio and Elena Salmistraro. Different approaches, generations and styles merge into a collection that explores Natuzzi’s DNA in an imaginative way. PJ loves to gather designers around a table and see their creative thinking come together over a glass of wine. 

Working with Sabine Marcelis and Formafantasma was particularly interesting for Natuzzi: two design studios who had never before approached a sofa project. ‘It was a matter of combining their respective strong creative visions with Natuzzi’s,’ says PJ.

Formafantasma created the ‘Apulo’ collection, a sofa imagined for remote working whose rigorous forms were inspired by the vernacular architecture of the southern Italian countryside and merged well with Natuzzi’s comfort-focused approach. Meanwhile, Sabine Marcelis’ monolithic ‘Block’ sofa on wheels merges material, colour and forms unexpectedly, distilled into the Natuzzi language and resulting in an extremely balanced design.   

For PJ, the collection as a whole represents a kaleidoscope of the Mediterranean lifestyle, something that has been at the core of his direction for the brand and an integral part of its DNA from the start. ‘Mediterranean means inclusivity and cultural diversity, so the idea of blending different design experiences and ideas, and mixing them with our sense of hospitality, is a very Mediterranean approach.’

INFORMATION

natuzzi.com

WINNER

Formafantasma

Formafantasma’s Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin embody what design means today. Since founding their studio in 2009, the Amsterdam-based duo have brought together exquisite forms, unusual materials (among them plant-based polymers, volcanic ash and electronic waste), analytical thinking, and a conviction that design is a redemptive and revolutionary force, one that points us towards more responsible citizenship and a better world. As their longtime collaborator, gallerist Libby Sellers tells us, 'they balance value-laden advocacy with extreme elegance and wit'.

Their Cambio project, presented as an exhibition at London’s Serpentine Galleries in 2020, became one of the year’s most impactful cultural events. It explores the global impact of the timber industry through research, installation and film; its exhibits ranging from a video essay that considers humans from the point of view of trees, with voiceover written by philosopher and botanist Emanuele Coccia, to a totem pole of Ikea stools, recreated in different kinds of wood and arranged in order of environmental footprint, all emphasising design’s political and ecological responsibilities. ‘It’s an invitation to start to think about what we do on the planet as a shared experience,’ they say. 

Beyond its urgent message, Cambio also stood out for its unique exhibition design, involving custom furniture pieces – tables, stools, bookshelves and desks – from the wood of a single pine tree in Italy’s Val di Fiemme, which had fallen in 2018 in a storm caused by climate change. It was the culmination of Formafantasma’s many years of experimentation with temporary installations, including a retrospective on architect Pier Luigi Nervi for Rome’s MAXXI Museum in 2019, and a Caravaggio and Bernini exhibition at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum last spring (more recently, they designed the 125th anniversary exhibition of the Venice Biennale). In each instance, they develop a long-term view of their project’s timeframe, considering the origins and afterlife of their materials and how to involve the local community – a game-changing approach that others would be wise to follow.

It is fitting that Trimarchi and Farresin are heading up the new GEO-Design master’s programme at Design Academy Eindhoven, where they graduated in 2009. The programme investigates the social, economic, territorial and geopolitical forces that shape the practice of design, with the aim of educating the next generation to look beyond products and transform broader ecosystems. As Design Emergency’s Paola Antonelli wrote in our October 2020 issue, ‘Formafantasma hopes to populate the world with designers who have committed to using their métier to dismantle systems of oppression and exploitation of humans and other species and natural resources. In other words, to be engaged activists.’ It’s a proposition that meets the moment, and is sure to shape the industry in years to come.

formafantasma.com; @formafantasma

SHORTLIST

These are the designers who have inspired us over the past year: innovators and educators, able to adapt to our rapidly changing world. They are outspoken about the role of design in contemporary society, and how it can improve every aspect of our lives.

Yinka Ilori 

As the pandemic took over the world in Spring 2020, a series of colourfully hopeful messages – including ‘Better days are coming I promise’ and ‘As long as we have each other we'll be ok’ – hit every corner of social media. Created by the British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori, they were commissioned by the NHS and displayed at different London locations to help foster a sense of optimism during a challenging time. Throughout the year, Ilori has applied his bright signature palette to a skate park near Lille, France; a series of windows for London’s Selfridges; and a cross-shaped chair-bench in collaboration with Kvadrat Febrik. He is also in the process of launching his own homeware and accessories brand. This summer, Ilori spoke out about his experience in the design industry, becoming an important voice within the global debate surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. ‘I know so many POC who studied with me, and who decided they were not going to pursue what they studied because they felt the industry wasn’t diverse enough and they wouldn’t be accepted,’ he said. ‘There are only a few good people in the design industry who believe that diversity is still a huge problem today, while the others continue to pretend there isn’t a problem.’

yinkailori.com; @yinka_ilori

David/Nicolas

David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem have been successfully merging Middle Eastern and European influences since the launch of their studio in 2011. Based between Beirut and Milan, the pair have developed a ‘retro-futuristic’ aesthetic, with inspirations ranging from architectural history to astronomy, and to the music of Daft Punk. Having been the subject of solo shows at Carpenters Workshop Gallery's Paris and New York locations in 2018-2019, the studio continues its meteoric rise with new projects this year including ‘Verso’, a new furniture concept for Maison Pierre Frey designed as an homage to French designer René Prou; a beautifully textured low table for Italian furniture maker Gallotti e Radice; marble surfaces for Delsavio 1910; rugs for CC Tapis; as well as furniture and installations for private clients. All feature the duo’s signature geometric patterns, line work and refined aesthetic. In August, the explosions at Beirut’s port severely damaged their Pharaon Street studio, but the designers have been outspoken about their desire to stay in the city and support its rebuild through the design community through personal and collective projects.

davidandnicolas.com; @davidandnicolas

Vincent Van Duysen

Of all the designers on our radar, Vincent Van Duysen is among those that have best adapted to what we now call the new normal, working on digital and virtual platforms to bring his work to life. He has taken this concept to the next level through his collaboration with Molteni&C: serving as the company’s creative director, he has worked closely with the team on projects that include an immersive virtual showroom experience and a newly-launched e-commerce site, as well as his usually sleek furniture and kitchen designs. He has also created new pieces for the Italian lighting brand Flos, such as the ‘Oblique’ desk lights, perfect for the home office and, thanks to their cordless portability, particularly suitable for a versatile environment. In addition to furniture and product, his studio has continued working on private commissions, for residential and retail projects from Bangkok to the Portuguese coast to, perhaps most notably, the suburbs of Los Angeles (for clients Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, in collaboration with Axel Vervoordt).

vincentvanduysen.com; @vincentvanduysen

Ilse Crawford

Ilse Crawford’s humanist approach to design came particularly handy this year, when the world was craving connection, intimacy and nurturing. Each fostering comfort and a sense of domestic peace, her recent projects include a lamp for Wästberg; the redesign of Aino and Alvar Aalto’s iconic Savoy in collaboration with Artek; and a series of textiles for Nanimarquina that were carefully conceived to respect both the environment and the people producing them (the range comprises wall hangings and a hammock, Crawford’s own favourite design object). ‘We are at a time when healing and bringing society together to alleviate hardship is critical,’ she said in a recent interview with Alice Rawsthorn, as part of the Design Emergency Instagram Live series. To the point, one of her most recent interior design projects was the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, created for a London-based children’s mental health charity and featuring simple and durable materials and subtle colours, showing how design can be a tool of reassurance and dignity.

studioilse.com; @studioilse_

Italian-born, Amsterdam-based designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, aka Formafantasma, have a unique ability to be exquisitely elegant ‘form givers’ (1950s Italian masters like Franco Albini and Carlo Scarpa come to mind) while at the same time surreptitiously pouncing at the jugular of unethical networks and practices that are deeply entangled with design and production – exposing them so they can hopefully be dismantled.

Paola Antonelli questioned the duo on the role of the investigative design they have helped establish; on the exhibition ‘Cambio’ at Serpentine Galleries, devoted to the timber industry; and on the new master’s degree on GEO-Design that they will run at Design Academy Eindhoven, which will be ‘a platform to explore the social, economic, territorial, and geopolitical forces shaping design today’.

By teaching students and inspiring practitioners beyond the confines of the design world, Formafantasma hopes to populate the world with designers who have committed to using their métier to dismantle systems of oppression and exploitation of humans and other species and natural resources. In other words, to be engaged activists.

Paola Antonelli: What is GEO-Design?

Simone Farresin: Joseph Grima, the director of Design Academy Eindhoven, introduced the concept of GEO-Design first as an exhibition curated by Martina Muzi, where alumni of Design Academy have a chance to explore the concept on a thematic basis. The 2018 ‘GEO-Design: Alibaba’ exhibition was the first, and last year Martina curated ‘GEO-Design: Junk’. Now it is also a department, and Joseph asked us to be the heads. We have a similar perspective on what needs to be done in design education. In the future, maybe GEO-Design will also become a publication, and more. There are different ways of interpreting the term. We feel that design has been focusing on the needs of users for a long time, and sometimes there is a disregard for the infrastructure upon which design operates. Whenever we produce an object or a service, inevitably we support an economy, a way of sourcing materials or transforming, distributing them. We believe that if as designers we investigate this way of producing things, we can become more knowledgeable and develop a holistic perspective that can allow us to become much more critical, possibly inventive, in ways that go beyond the product and the object and also infiltrate the way the object is produced, recycled or distributed.

PA: What kind of students have you accepted into the programme?

SF: We welcome a variety of different practitioners, even beyond the fields that generally apply to design. We would be very happy to welcome people from economic studies or from the sciences, because we definitely believe in an interdisciplinary approach. We believe it is extremely important to not compartmentalise knowledge, but rather to create bridges between different fields of knowledge. In your work, you always collaborate and try to build bridges, often in order to consider the sociopolitical implications of design.

PA: Can you please describe a typical collaboration, for instance related to your latest exhibition, ‘Cambio’, at London’s Serpentine Galleries?

SF: ‘Cambio’ is an exhibition looking into the timber industry and in order to investigate it, we created a network of relationships with a variety of different practitioners – scientists, specifically wood evolutionists and wood anatomists; people with more humanistic backgrounds, like philosopher Emanuele Coccia; NGO members and activists; anthropologists; and institutions with wood-based collections, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and Kew Gardens, which also lent to the show. With ‘Cambio’, we’re focusing not just on the timber industry in general, but rather on understanding its governance, and all these different practitioners helped us shed light on the complex infrastructure of the extraction of timber from forests.

AT: The exhibition is actually the starting point of a much broader investigation that will also land in GEO-Design. The first trimester will be focused on the timber industry and on ‘Cambio’, and we will bring in all the people we have connected to in the year and a half of developing the exhibition. They will be part of the teaching, the mentorship, or they will be a guest in the programme.

PA: Design investigations are worthy of an investment of time and money beyond a presence at a design week or an expo. And this is where the GEO-Design platform also comes into play. How is the teaching of design and architecture changing around the world?

SF: One of the things that we want to put into question in design education is that it is often focusing on the individual and on the author, the idea of the designer who has a signature and imposes that onto the world. But we think something we can learn from the scientific method is that when a piece of research starts and you publish the results, others can appropriate it, and of course credit where the research comes from, but also contribute to it. We are also thinking about the construction of a GEO-Design platform, which can be just internal to the department, but also possibly publish the work of the students for the outside world.

AT: Our way of thinking to structure the course is that the first part will be collective, and students will be able to ‘steal’ each other’s research. People could then collaborate within the department, as a group, or as a duo, or three people together. The course should be like an octopus, with one head and multiple tentacles that can explore.

PA: What is the ultimate goal of the GEO-Design initiative?

SF: The ecological component is at the root of the department, the prefix ‘geo’ is extremely important. It’s a way to say that design can no longer be considered in a vacuum, that the planet in this moment, in the Anthropocene, is calling us to take action and actually create a safe life not only for ourselves, but also for other species. Our aim is to educate a generation of designers who have a holistic perspective, who can think beyond the product, who are able to critically look at the world we live in and take ecology on a serious level.

AT: And then bring it back to their own sphere. As we mentioned, we are trying to gather a group of people that are not product designers, and later, they can challenge their own discipline. It’s what we are trying to do also with our own work. We are trying really hard. Hopefully in the future, we will show the result of it – that we don’t want to only preach about certain things, but we want to put things into practice. That’s something that we want also our students to do.

PA: What will the students do when they come out of the school?

SF: We hope, of course, that students that graduate from the department will be able to work traditionally in a design studio, but there are multiple other places where their design can have an impact. We can imagine them working, for instance, for NGOs, or as activists, and also in research and development departments of companies.

AT: In this moment, practically all the companies in the world have a sustainability department. We are trying to educate those kinds of people that can challenge companies to think outside the box.

PA: I’m hoping they will become mayors or presidents, too. 

SF: Absolutely, because the attempt, actually, is to use design as a way of bridging knowledge. Something that was evident, for instance, when we did the extensive investigation of electronic waste is how much knowledge is fragmented and compartmentalised. There is a lack of conversation between all the different parts. Design can play a role because at the end of the day, if we are the ones shaping the world, we should also be the ones in touch with all these different practitioners, and possibly creating links and conversations which are actually, in this moment, sadly, not happening.

PA: That also means educating the rest of the world on a new way to use design. Is that a challenge?

SF: Honestly, we still struggle with that. We would expect that investigations like ‘Cambio’ or ‘Ore Streams’ [Formafantasma’s investigation into the recycling of electronic waste, commissioned by NGV Australia and Antonelli, in her role as curator of the XXII Triennale di Milano] could be seen by a company that would ask us to look at what they do, and see if we can expand it outside of the design of the product and think from a more holistic perspective.

AT: But then it boils down to the fact that they are not even able to understand how to pay us, especially because traditional design, product design, is based on a royalty system. If we provide another kind of service within a company, how do they pay us? And they are not able to find a way of intervening within that context.

PA: I’ve called your brand of design ‘investigative design’; I appreciate very much the interviews that you conduct in your research projects.

SF: The interview is our favourite way of doing research, specifically when you engage with scientists, because scientists cannot express opinions in their scientific papers, but when you interview them, they can be much more elastic and associative in their way of speaking.

AT: What we did in ‘Ore Stream’ or in ‘Cambio’ usually started with one or two people, and then you discover this enormous network of people that are all connected.

PA: Not only do you do the research, but also, you present it in the most elegant way possible. It seems that ‘objects’ are not your primary goal, even though they are often sublime. What is the actual product of your design process?

SF: Our practice is, of course, evolving and changing. In projects such as ‘Ore Streams’ and ‘Cambio’, the product is the research. In the case of ‘Ore Streams’, the product was also a series of very pragmatic strategies. Everybody was seduced by the objects we designed. But to make sure people would not get carried away by their elegance and forget the ‘learning’ part of the project, we made an animated video with suggestions of practical solutions that could be put into practice in this moment, to make electronic products more repairable and recyclable. We’re not at that stage with ‘Cambio’ per se. But this is, for instance, one of the possible outcomes of our investigations, to work not only on the level of the product, but also on a strategic level.

PA: What is the most important step for designers to take in these next few months, in your mind, while we wait for a vaccine?

SF: We are completely obsessed with the ecological emergency. Any way to tackle that at multiple levels. Designers can go from what is needed tomorrow, or today – like improving recycling – to visionary solutions. They could talk, for instance, about how the economy is structured, come up with new models.

AT: Which are much needed! The Covid emergency really shows us how the economy we are living in is completely wrong and fragile.

SF: It also demonstrated that the way that the urban environment is designed is wrong. I think there’s plenty that can be done on an urban level. And of course, we are extremely preoccupied with how materials are sourced. There’s a lot that needs to be investigated to make us designers much more aware of our material choices.

PA: You’ve been trying to get people to understand, to empathise and almost be resin, be lava stone, be trees. What is your next frontier?

SF: In the GEO-Design course, but also in our practice, we are looking into design for non-humans. Not robots, but other living creatures on the planet, because – and this is also another problem of design – we put the human at the centre, but we need to enlarge the centre to include other species. How can we, as designers, think about the needs of other species? We cannot really become trees, we cannot really become dogs or other animals, but we can empathise with those other species and use the tools that we have to try to understand.

AT: At Design Academy we will include talks and workshops with the conservationist Meredith Root-Bernstein and the artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, on how to design for other species. Probably that will become the beginning of one of our investigations.

INFORMATION

A version of this story appeared in the October 2020 issue of Wallpaper*, guest edited by Design Emergency. A free PDF download of the issue is available here.

formafantasma.com
geodesign.online
orestreams.com

In a year of significant cultural calendar shifts, the Venice Biennale presents The Disquieted Muses: When La Biennale di Venezia Meets History – a peculiar exhibition chronicling its history through visual archive materials from different disciplines. Designed by Formafantasma, the exhibition takes over the Central Pavilion of the Giardini, and is curated by the six artistic directors of the different disciplines in collaboration with contemporary art researcher and curator Cecilia Alemani.

125 year of Venice Biennale

We decided to create a show—the first in Biennale history, for the 125th anniversary of its foundation—based on audiovisual materials, photographs, installations and documents: marking our return to activity, it forges a dialogue between the six arts of La Biennale,’ said Roberto Cicutto, President of La Biennale di Venezia.

The curators have delved into the archives of La Biennale as well as several Italian and international archives to document how the Venetian biennials have overlapped with the history of the 20th century. The exhibition features rare footage, interviews, and artworks from the fields of art, architecture, music, dance, cinema and theatre.

Exhibition design by Formafantasma 

The Amsterdam-based studio’s exhibition design is based on the possibility of demounting, repairing and eventually recomposing the structures in different arrangements for future archival exhibitions. It is not the first time the Italian designers have looked at ways to reuse and repurpose exhibition displays, as the studio’s current focus explores new ways of approaching this ephemeral branch of design in ways that are both sustainable and innovative. 
 
The displays are based on a modular system of raw plywood frames and tables that allows for multiple compositions. The displays are punctuated with textiles in a chromatic palette including yellow, red and mint green, and oversized black and white photographs the pair have selected from the archives. 

The different rooms of the exhibition reference key moments in history, from the Fascist era to radical protests of 1968. The spaces also touch upon Postmodernism and the first Architecture Biennale (with works by Paolo Portoghesi and Aldo Rossi) and the 1990s, highlighting contemporary artists such as Marina Abramovic, Richard Hamilton and Kabakov.
 
Formafantasma’s display system offers a three-dimensional feel to the flat nature of the archival materials, with modules and large-scale photographs becoming mini-architectural devises that divide the space. The designers also left their mark on the exhibition entrance, with an opening intervention featuring six historical photos (from 1897 to this day), documenting how the pavilion’s façade has been modified over the years to be based on the styles and politics of the different eras.
 
History meets creative disciplines in this momentous exhibition, which Ciccuto says ‘bolsters La Biennale’s role as a hub of research in the contemporary arts, a fundamental driving force for investigating the present and future, and a strategic tool for development, even in terms of economic growth.’

INFORMATION

‘The Disquieted Muses, When La Biennale di Venezia Meets History’ is on view until 8 December

labiennale.org

‘For me Pride means self-acceptance without exception and being part of a community that accepts who you are,' says Lee Broom, one of the 12 designers featured in Harry’s latest campaign. That sentiment – of celebrating individuality within the wider context of community – is at the heart of the grooming and skincare brand's latest initiative, which once again sees it pairing with illustrator José Roda.

Roda’s exuberant illustrations of celebrated designers within the LGBTQ community will be showcased in a digital gallery space launching 1 June and adorn a special edition Harry’s shaving kit, available on Harry's website. 100% of the U.S. profits from this kit will go to The Trevor Project, a non-profit focused on suicide prevention efforts among LQBTQ youth. While in the U.K, £10 of every set sold will go to Albert Kennedy Trust, a U.K. national LGBTQ youth homelessness charity.

In the words of VP of Design at Harry’s, Scott Newlin, ‘This project is a culmination of so many things that are fundamental to us at Harry’s -supporting the LGBTQ community and working with talented, creative designers. Design with Pride truly is a celebration of the individuals that sit between these worlds, and inspire us all.’

Below, we showcase a selection of the designers featured and their thoughts on what Pride means to them.

Carlos Huber

Describe a moment when being both an artist/designer and a part of this community has helped you through a difficult time / helped you find a way forward.

‘Believing in yourself as an artist means you believe in what makes you different. I think embracing a creative way to live your life makes it easier for us to accept and embrace the things that make us stand out. During a difficult period, this sense of worth gives me a sense of peace with myself; that my journey shouldn't be compared or measured against anyone else.'

Cas Holman

Was there a moment (or specific toy) from your childhood that inspired you to pursue a path in toy design?

‘I was 28 when I first realised that toys were my calling – as a feminist and a queer I’d always been critical of mainstream toys (even/especially when I was a kid) but as I started to explore the toys we give children and I realised how harmful they could be.

Toys should be tools to help us figure out who we are, through imagining our own stories, pretending, creating… I see many toys that tell children who they are or who they should be – tired gender tropes, plastic ‘toy’ versions of things rather than actual tools they are quite capable of using. By and large, the toy industry is condescending to children, and it’s hurting all of us.'

Formafantasma

Describe a moment when being both an artist/designer and a part of this community has helped you through a difficult time / helped you find a way forward.

‘Probably the realisation of being gay and the social stigma that comes with it was a difficult moment. At the same time we quickly moved on because we also always loved queerness in the sense of strangeness, of anything that is different than normal.

We always perceived diversity as something thrilling and the ultimate and most interesting feature of all living creatures on planet earth. The love for the unexpected and the queer is also what ultimately made us love ourselves for who we are. This might sound a bit cliche, but it is how we feel about it.'

Lee Broom

What is your motto (or words you live by)?

‘Do your own thing. Vivienne Westwood said it to me when I was 18 and was working for her in the 1990s. I was about to leave my apprenticeship with her to study fashion at Central Saint Martins. It has always stuck with me since.'

Matthias Hollwich

What advice do you have for young people in the LGBTQ community who want to pursue a creative path?
Look for long term goals and different paths towards them. Growth and change are very exciting when we initiate them. Look for people in the community who support you and your vision. The LGBTQ network is very powerful and it rewarding to tap into the network - but also remember ... it is all about taking and giving - return the favor to your peers.

We all have a personal catalogue of scents that can, for whatever reason, momentarily transport us back to another time and place. Andy Warhol famously curated his own ‘permanent smell collection’, changing his perfume every three months so that with one sniff he could instantly return back to a specific time. It was, he said, ‘a neat way to reminisce’.

During these anxious times, we asked some of the most innovative creatives working today to share their own ‘neat’ ways of conjuring up comfort through smell. For designer Sabine Marcelis, the beloved scent of mimosa is recreated in a Diptyque candle used for home fragrance. Acclaimed architect and Harvard professor Farshid Moussavi uses a Buly 1803 body milk to evoke the memory of her childhood home in Iran now that she can’t travel back.

While Alice Rawsthorn, author of Design as an Attitude, and Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of design studio Formafantasma use products from one of the world’s oldest pharmacies as an antidote for lockdown induced malaise. Below, peak into their homes and let their olfactory reminisces bring you on own sensory journey.

Sabine Marcelis – Mimosa candle by Diptyque

‘My absolute favourite smell in the whole world is hands-down Mimosa flower. Whenever it's in season I try to buy fresh bunches of the flowers for in the house. Spending so much time at home recently but the flowers not being in season, my boyfriend got me a scented candle with a Mimosa smell. I light it when taking a bath and it reminds me of amazing times spent in the South of France – particularly big lunches and dinners with friends at the Villa Noailles where they have a lot of it growing wild and it adorns the communal tables in big bunches.’

Farshid Moussavi – Lait virginal orange blossom body milk by Buly 1803

‘When I was a child, our garden was filled with orange trees and every mid-March to mid- April they would be in full bloom and fill our front garden with the scent of orange blossom. My mother would make orange blossom jam or tea with it and we children would make necklaces with the blossoms. So the scent of orange blossom has stayed with me as the scent of home and of renewal of nature relating to spring. I was therefore delighted a few years ago when I discovered Buly’s orange blossom body cream which I use daily. It has been especially comforting this March and April when we have been in lock down and I have not been able to visit my parents.’

Alice Rawsthorn – Scented terracotta pomegranate by Santa Maria Novella

‘A few months ago I was given a Santa Maria Novella pomegranate terracotta diffuser as a thank you gift. As I travel (or travelled) so much, I decided to wait until I’d spend a lengthy period of time at home to make the most of it. Cue lockdown, and the delicious, subtly fruity scent of pomegranate.’ 

Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin – Aqua di Colonia by Santa Maria Novella

‘Apart form being a quite spicy and particular fragrance (it smells of wood and oriental notes) we love La Marescialla for its historical roots. The formula dates back to the 1800s and was created for a French Countess who used it to perfume her gloves. In Tomasi di Lampedusa’s literary masterpiece Il Gattopardo, Angelica wore this perfume at the ball in Salina, where 'the fragrance of the bouquet à la Maréchale arose from Angelica’s neckline…'.

Wood permeates our everyday lives in a variety of different guises. It is all around us, not only in its obvious original state as the furniture we sit on and in the buildings we inhabit, but also in less obvious forms made possible through chemical processes which enable it to be used as an ingredient in things like paint, cosmetics and LCD screens. To understand the impact that our voracious consumption of this material has on our planet, we need to go back along the supply chain to the source, which is exactly where Italian designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Amsterdam-based Studio Formafantasma take us in an exhibition at London's Serpentine Gallery.

The exhibition, entitled Cambio, has just reopened and focuses on the governance of the extraction of timber from forests. The survey connects science, conservation, engineering and policy making and calls into question the role that design can play in shaping a better and more sustainable future.

Cambio

This title references the membrane that runs around the trunk of trees, which produces bark on the outside and wood on the inside. In a nod to this cambium layer, the exhibition's layout follows a concentric structure with two rooms at its centre. Here visitors will find interviews with specialists and a series of films made by Formafantasma. These include a monologue written and delivered by philosopher and author Emanuele Coccia. Spoken from the perspective of a tree, the monologue addresses the entire human race.

‘It presents a reversal of the power structures on the planet where you start to question who is in control,’ explains Formafantasma's Simone Farresin. ‘It's not just a provocation - it's an invitation to start to think about what we do on the planet as a shared experience. As designers we can no longer think that our role is only to fulfil human desires and needs.’

The origin and lifetime of wood

In the outer spaces of the gallery, an intense forest scent designed by Sissel Tolaas fills the air and brings the exhibits to life. As visitors enter, they are confronted with the trunk of a huge oak tree from Garnstone Forest in Herefordshire which has been cut into planks and air dried ready for use. The majestic display captures the tree in the transition phase from living being to object while also bringing a sense of scale to the showcase.

Nearby, a series of wooden objects and contemporary products collected from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are displayed. Each one has been forensically tested to reveal the origin of the wood within it, and the startling results are presented on the wall. The findings reveal how protected and even endangered tree species are being used for cheap applications, such as ping pong paddles or charcoal for barbecues.

‘It's an invitation to start to think about what we do on the planet as a shared experience’

In another display the designers chart the correlation between the amount of CO2 contained in an object and the amount of time the object would need to be used for to offset its carbon. For instance, a stool made from a fast-growing tree should last for 60 years, while a stool made from an oak tree would need a lifespan of more than 120 years.

‘We conceived the show as the beginning of the project rather than an end,’ explains Farresin. ‘We wanted to put the research at the forefront.’

Material research

Despite the focus being firmly on thought processes, the studio has designed a series of furniture pieces specifically to display the research materials. A series of simple tables, stools, desks, chairs and bookshelves are made from pine wood harvested from Val di Fiemme – a forest in northern Italy that was destroyed in 2018 by a storm caused by climate change. Over 13 million spruce trees were felled by the powerful winds.

‘The entire exhibition uses the wood from one tree,’ explains Farresin. ‘Pine is a very soft wood so we wanted to embrace that. We applied a varnish that is ordinarily used in the manufacture of musical instruments so that the surface becomes more durable. It's a transparent varnish with a little light grey that gives the pine a slightly "foggy” appearance.’

Formafantasma are no strangers to in-depth material research projects that examine design's political and ecological responsibilities. Previous investigations have included a two-year research project into e-waste, a collection of furniture made from lava, and objects made from discarded leather, cereal and natural polymers. At the same time, they have completed commercial projects for companies such as Turkish glassware brand Nude and Italian lighting manufacturers, Flos.

Going forward, the duo want to separate the two arms of their business more fully. The investigative, independent and research-based projects will become a focus, and where possible, they will filter this knowledge through to more commercial projects.

‘It's about finding the right partners and making it work economically,’ says Farresin. ‘We want to separate the two but every once in a while have them cross over so that there is a moment in which the two halves communicate and feed each other.’

‘As designers we can no longer think that our role is only to fulfill human desires and needs.’

Design at Serpentine Galleries

Cambio is the third exhibition of design in the gallery's history. It marks a shift in its programming to offer a platform to those practices who embrace radical approaches to design. The aim is to shine a light on designers' thought processes and approaches rather than showcase the finished objects and products. This chimes perfectly with Formafantasma's ethos, and Trimarchi and Farresin reveal that this is the first time they have been invited to curate an exhibition without the expectation that it will result in a collection or object.

‘Spaces like this one allow design to live beyond the finished product,’ praises Farresin. ‘In this case we can begin a conversation about the consequences of design at large, and I think that it's a conversation that is very much needed.’

INFORMATION

‘Formafantasma: Cambio’ is on view until 17 May at Serpentine Sackler Gallery

serpentinegalleries.org

‘This is a collaboration between Mount Etna and us,’ says Simone Farresin, one half of Amsterdam-based design duo Formafantasma. He’s in Sassuolo, Italy, with the other half Andrea Trimarchi, to wrap up a three-year project to transform ash from the Sicilian volcano into tiles for Dzek, the architectural materials company founded by Brent Dzekciorius in London in 2013.

‘We always think that, as designers, we have to decide things, but the world also decides things for us,’ says Farresin. In this case, the ferrous colours and final tile format were determined by Mount Etna. Volcanic ash is the grainy aftermath of molten magma that has erupted from under the planet’s crust. Thrust through the volcano’s crater into the atmosphere, the airborne lava cools into jagged particles of rock, minerals and obsidian glass that fall to earth. Whereas basalt and pumice, the rocky masses formed by igneous rivers of terrestrial lava, have been mined for centuries as building blocks, volcanic ash proved too non-uniform a material, but Formafantasma and Dzek saw a chance to expand the vocabulary of the volcano.

Chemical tests revealed that blowing glass from the volcanic ash would require introducing additives, contrary to their concept of a purely volcanic obsidian, so they experimented instead with glass bricks, which proved too brittle, and then clay bricks coated in glass, installing a wall of them in Columbus, Indiana, and producing, in the process, a lot of broken bricks and cut hands. Finally, they created non-reactive porcelain tiles with a glaze of melted volcanic ash on top, the version they’ll present in Milan this year. ‘We’re not the kind of designers that send drawings and that’s it. We’re deep into the process of developing the work,’ says Trimarchi. ‘The failures lead you to places your ego never would have taken you,’ adds Farresin. ‘And Brent understood that if something is more process-based, you have to have the patience for it.’

At the factory, amid the plastic buckets of pigment and trays of unfired biscuit, sits a botched batch of the Dzek tiles rolled out of the kiln, which have exploded into pieces because of a moisture imbalance. But to one side are the first successful tiles, the ‘ExCinere’ (Latin for ‘from the ashes’), the gleaming burnished slats fluctuating from caramel to deep sienna, the surfaces flecked with unmelted ash particles.

For their Milan installation, the tiles will be produced in quantities to cover a section of walls, ceiling and floor, along with columns, cubes, tables and other architectural forms. The high percentage of the ash’s iron content creates a range of browns ‘that make them very 1970s in a way,’ says Farresin. ‘But then sometimes process takes you to unexpected places. We’d been considering pastels and almost artificial colours, but these tones are more like life, and they bring back a quality that’s disappearing in architecture, which is the non-uniformity of colour.’

‘In the post-war buildings of Milan, you can still find rich glazes like this; not like today’s digitally printed tiles,’ says Trimarchi, noting that glazed tiles are the original self-cleaning technology, washed of pollution with each rainfall. The Dzek tiles, made for interior and exterior use, ‘take back the understanding of surface in architecture which, since the 1990s has been very flat, very uniform, very sanitised,’ says Farresin, running a hand over the granular face of a tile. ‘Like traditional ceramics, this is more reactive, more mercurial, but we think that’s the beauty.’

As originally featured in the May 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*242)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Dzek website and the Formafantasma website

The research-driven approach of design duo Studio Formafantasma might typically result in beautiful, poetic objects ranging from lighting and vessels to furniture, but the studio has been recently applying its efforts towards tackling a very contemporary problem: the recycling of electronic waste.

‘At the moment, electronic waste is the fastest stream of waste growing globally. Only 30 per cent is being correctly recycled while the remaining 70 per cent is being exported to developing countries or simply ends up in the landfill,’ says studio co-founder Simone Farresin during his presentation ‘I, You and IT’ during Brainstorm Design this week. ‘The obvious question here is why?’

While it may seem like stating the obvious, the recycling of electronic products is actually highly complex. Not only is this an issue being made worse by the increasing number of circuit boards being present in even more electronic products, the fact that most copper and metal elements are covered in black rubber for safety also means that they are harder to detect by the visual detectors in recycling systems that function by identifying and isolating various components by colour.

Studio Formafantasma has drilled down into the problem by conducting extensive research and investigations with experts in Europe, India and Kenya – analysing different levels of the recycling chain. Their design-lead process included speaking with legislators, activists using GPS to track where electronic waste is shipped off to, recyclers, non-governmental agencies establishing responsible recycling workshops and also manufacturers.

‘Design can be used to mediate conversation,’ Farresin emphasises. ‘One of the problems we had while speaking to recyclers was the need to gain the information from them to actually design. What we did was dismantle electronic products which we placed, almost as a taxonomy, into different elements so that we could speak with them about the problematics in recycling very specifically.’

One of Studio Formafantasma’s solutions includes the implementation of a colour-coding system that identifies recyclable metal elements, and also aids the separation of hazardous components. When an electronic device is opened, there is currently no universal design language to indicate what is harmful or not.

Another iAnother idea calls for the introduction of a labelling system that would be enforced by legislature. This labelling system would require manufacturers to outline the shelf life of each product, rather than concealing its obsolescence, thus allowing consumers to make an informed decision on purchasing. Yet another suggestion is the creation of a digital passport for different types of plastics in the form of a QR code that will enable recyclers to know the composition of the type of plastic they are recycling. ‘A lot of recyclers struggle to understand exactly what they are recycling because plastics are being engineered daily,’ Farresin explains.

Studio Formafantasma’s measures may seem simplistic, but they offer tangible, conceivable solutions to a mounting problem of a mammoth scale. ‘We needed to be very pragmatic,’ Farresin concludes about their strategies. ‘Rather than to completely rethink the system of recycling, we chose to operate within it.’dea calls for the introduction of a labelling system that would be enforced by legislature. This labelling system would require manufacturers to outline the shelf life of each product, rather than concealing its obsolescence, thus allowing consumers to make an informed decision on purchasing. Yet another suggestion is the creation of a digital passport for different types of plastics in the form of a QR code that will enable recyclers to know the composition of the type of plastic they are recycling. ‘A lot of recyclers struggle to understand exactly what they are recycling because plastics are being engineered daily,’ Farresin explains.

Studio Formafantasma’s measures may seem simplistic, but they offer tangible, conceivable solutions to a mounting problem of a mammoth scale. ‘We needed to be very pragmatic,’ Farresin concludes about their strategies. ‘Rather than to completely rethink the system of recycling, we chose to operate within it.’

All year round, we journey through design weeks, fairs and galleries scouring for the most refined, innovative and spectacular designs from across the globe. From sublime exhibition sets and nifty product launches to compelling collaborations and sophisticated new brands, we bring you our guide of the best in design for 2018...

Bec Brittain installation at Want Les Essentiels

For over a decade, the Canadian label Want Les Essentiels has defined what travelling in style can be. To coincide with the appointment of a new creative director Christine Charlebois at the helm, the label will host a series of designer showcases at its West Village boutique in Manhattan, devoted to the furniture, lighting, sculpture and visual arts worlds. Its inaugural presentation kicks off with a custom-designed lighting installation from the designer Bec Brittain. The installation riffs on Brittain’s Shy Beam design; ‘Climbing Beams’ that connect the wall to the ceiling, while ‘Flags’, which pair the brass tube lighting with sheets of smoked and coloured glass, appear to creep up the walls. Writer: Pei-Ru Keh

Want Les Essentiels, 301 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10014, USA

Warby Parker hand mirrors collection

The handheld mirror has always been a component of the Warby Parker experience. In all of the eyewear label’s stores, portable mirrors that resemble ping pong paddles have long been kept at the ready for customers’ use. In fact, the mirrors have become such a presence that Warby Parker approached eight designers from New York and Los Angeles to reimagine the staple accessory. Ranging from Brendan Ravenhill’s elegantly angled brass and aluminium piece (pictured) to Egg Collective’s playful, kinetic sculptures and Chen Chen and Kai Williams’ archaeological dripped cement versions, each of the eight lighthearted renditions are being displayed in Warby Parker’s Greene Street (New York) and Abbot Kinney (Los Angeles) stores for the next two weeks. They will are also up for sale during this time on Paddle 8, with all proceeds benefitting Free Arts – an organisation that empowers undeserved youth through arts and mentoring programs that help develop their skills, confidence and creativity. Writer: Pei-Ru Keh

Zero Space at Musashino Art University, by Igarashi Design Studio

Igarashi Design Studio has revealed the Zero Space at Musashino Art University in Tokyo. A moment of calm amidst the busyness of university life, the space is dedicated to both independent and group study, and geared to accommodate its students’ dynamic working habits. The core design motif is inspired by a river: soft, rounded pebble benches direct the flow of visitors meandering through the space. Highly flexible, the benches can be freely rearranged and stacked at will to help stimulate ticking minds at work. Meanwhile, the internal lighting (designed in collaboration with Yuko Yamashita) is carefully controlled to get the best out of the space. During the day, natural light is sourced from a pair of sprawling 35 m tall windows. At night, hidden overhead lighting bounces off the wooden floor giving the zero-shaped panel at the room’s heart a gentle glow. Photography: Nacasa & Partners Inc. Writer: Luke Halls

Musashino Art University, 1 Chome-736 Ogawacho, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-0032, Japan

‘Lane’ and ‘Primavera’ tiles, by Barber & Osgerby, for Mutina

Design duo Barber & Osgerby are no stranger to tile design. Once more teaming up with Italian brand Mutina, the London-based studio have revealed a pair of new releases at Cersaie ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings fair in Bologna: ‘Lane’ and ‘Primavera’. The former is inspired by an abstract exploration of colour, informed by a detailed study of London’s architecture and neighbourhoods, and is available in 12 variants of white, black, grey, aubergine and terracotta. Meanwhile, ‘Primavera’ visually emulates the natural environment through randomly enclosed coloured ceramic inserts that highlight the imperfections of nature. ‘Primavera’ comes in white, grey, blue, green and black hues, and 22 per cent of each tile is made from recycled raw materials, highlighting the duo’s reverence for nature. Writer: Luke Halls

(Montblanc M) RED, by Montblanc and Marc Newson

Montblanc has rekindled its design love affair with Marc Newson on (Montblanc M) RED, a new writing instrument raising funds in the fight against AIDS. Available as a ballpoint, fountain pen and roller ball pen, it combines precious red resin with Newson’s smooth, geometric aesthetic, evoking classic Montblanc fluidity and seamlessness. ‘For over 110 years, Montblanc has built a heritage of creating fine writing instruments that have a special meanings to its owners,’ explains Montblanc CEO Nicolas Baretzki. ‘Through our partnership with (RED) we continue this long tradition, creating a special lifetime companion that makes a real impact by supporting the goal towards an HIV-free society.’ (Montblanc M) RED is also accompanied by a selection of new accessories, including a red Italian calfskin sketch book; a bracelet in woven red leather, with a decorated stainless steel closing; and a pair of stainless steel cufflinks. For every piece from the collection purchased, €5 goes to the Global Fund to support HIV/AIDS programmes. Writer: Luke Halls

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden museum shop, by Studio Chmara.Rosinke

Dresden’s cultural institution Staatliche Kunstsammlungen has recently had its museum shop overhauled by Studio Chmara.Rosinke. Going against the grain of the typical museum shop layout, the listed 16th-century corner tower has been updated to reduce visitor congestion. Monochrome fixtures and furnishings match the circular floorplan, and are suitably shaped to streamline visitor flow, orbiting around a central hanging black chandelier. In addition, the Vienna-based studio looked to present the shop as ‘an alternative to the normal cash desk’, formatting the room more as an information hub. Visitors can now discover more about each featured exhibition prior to entry, and learn more about the institution’s various historic museums and buildings. Photography: courtesy Studio Chmara.Rosinke. Writer: Luke Halls

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Residenzschloss, Taschenberg 2, 01067 Dresden, Germany

Edelman's Dubai office, by Pallavi Dean Interiors

Emirates-based design firm Pallavi Dean Interiors has delivered the glossy new Dubai office for global communications firm Edelman. Building on the success of its Abu Dhabi outpost, the design was elevated to sky-high premiums with its 1000 sq m kaleidoscopic interior, comprising a network of ‘cultural villages’. From Civic Square, the main reception area, to a lunch hub called Urban Park to a Go Bananas creative lounge, the vibrant interiors strike the balance between playful and sophisticated, appealing to seasoned experts and modern millennials alike. While each ‘village’ features a variety of bold colour palettes and workstations complete with pieces by Lignet Roset and La Palma (among others), national talents are also celebrated. Emirati designer Khalid Shafar produced a custom-made wall installation for the reception, using the Iqal worn by local men, while artist Zeinab Al Hashemi displays satellite images of Dubai’s dazzling desert playground. By creating a connection to the firm’s Abu Dhabi space, but still retaining its own identity, Edelman’s Dubai den takes office design to daring new heights. 

Photography: Pankaj Anand. Writer: Jessica-Christin Hametner

Tomorrow’s Tigers at Sotheby’s

Auction house Sotheby’s is set to open an exhibition of bespoke rug designs by 11 renowned artists including Anish Kapoor, Maya Lin and Reena Saini Kallat who have been appointed by WWF for its Tomorrow’s Tigers fundraising project. Taking cues from the Tibetan tiger rug, each artist has been commissioned to realise a design that rug specialists Christopher Farr will bring to life via unique weaving and hand dying techniques. The initiative has been curated by Artwise and the artist rugs will go on view alongside rare 19th century woven antique tiger versions in January 2019. The limited edition rugs will start at £10,000 and funds raised go towards WWF’s aim to double the number of endangered tigers in the wild by 2022, the next Chinese year of the tiger. Pictured, detail of Rose Wylie’s design. © Christopher Farr 

11-17 January 2019, Sotheby’s London, 34-35 New Bond Street, London W1S 2RT UK

Carl Hansen & Son, Osaka

Danish design stalwarts Carl Hansen & Son open up its second Japan flagship, this time in Osaka’s hip Minami-Horie district. Classics by the likes of Arne Jacobsen, Poul Kjærholm and Hans J. Wegner stand alongside contemporary designs by Tadao Ando and Naja Utzon in an industrial-style space that is doused in concrete and subtle tones of wood. The aesthetic provides a different experience to its Tokyo sister, but still offers the Danish design package is sought after by the Japanese market. ‘Japan and Denmark share a design tradition that values minimalism, functionalism, and outstanding craftsmanship,’ says Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Son. ‘We look forward to showcasing our exceptional furniture and welcoming all design enthusiasts.’

1-15-22, Minami-Horie, Nishi-Ku, Osaka City, 550-0015 Osaka-fu, Japan

Mater Earth Gallery

Set on the outskirts of Clerkenwell and its flurry of design showrooms is Danish brand Mater‘s Earth Gallery. Opened inside a residential building, the naturally lit space houses the Copenhagen-based design brand’s collection that takes a step in a sustainable and ethical direction. At the front of the showroom, a materials lab-style set up demonstrates the brand’s use of recycling, presenting the raw material of aluminium and natural cane against the end product. The showroom also includes the newest collection from international talents including Mexican designer José de la O’s LED pendant, in addition to staples in the collection like the Double Bottle vase by Eva Harlou, designer of the concept store itself, and its Copenhagen version too.

Mater‘s Earth Gallery 36A Myddelton St, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 1UA

Alysi boutique by Studiopepe

oused within a building from the 1600s in Brera, Milan is a new boutique for Italian fashion brand Alysi, designed by Studiopepe. The contemporary interior uses a muted palette and an architectural arch motif to shape a feminine salon space, something that the design duo are experts in following their private members’ club installation at Salone del Mobile this year. Almost an installation itself, the boutique is divided into three sections, connected by an archway tunnel joining the shopping areas, together with a mixture of copper, plaster and marble. At the end of the boutique, a dressing room appears as a futuristic silver lounge with linear textures in the curtain, ceiling and mirrors, providing a holistic shopping environment.

Alysi, Via Ponte Vetero 6, Milano

Danish Design Centre at BLOX

Multi-disciplinary practice Spacon & X have realised a dynamic interior space for the Danish Design Centre’s new home at BLOX, Copenhagen’s latest design and architecture hub. The bright space, designed with sustainability and flexibility in mind, focuses on open source design as a key part of its architectural blueprint. Design classics like PH lamps and Fredericia Furniture pieces are paired with custom-made items crafted from materials including plexiglass and recycled plastic, which fulfil the changing needs, behaviour and circumstances of the creative office. The bold interior creates an ideal environment for the fast-paced digital working world. Writer: Jessica-Christin Hametner. Photography:  Julie Due

BLOX, Bryghuspladsen 8, 1473 København K

Voting inventions

With his Objects for Voters project, Frieder Bohaumilitzky has created a still life of the democratic process. Inspired by last September’s ultimately indecisive federal election, Bohaumilitzky decided to redesign the required voting items for the elections of the German parliament. ‘Political communication has changed, but the procedure of voting itself is still remarkably undesigned,’ he says. The ballot box, polling booth and supervisor’s table are all reinvented with style and seriousness, as sober, neutral objects with a friendly curve and a colour scheme that’s studiously neutral. ‘I used only black, white and the natural colour of wood,’ the designer notes. The bent wood is also meant to evoke the interiors and facilities in German public buildings. Bohaumilitzky combined his design studies with a course in political science, and the objects for Voters take a welcome cross-disciplinary approach.  Available from Objects for Voters. Photography: Niklas Taleb. Writer: Jonathan Bell

Utah and Taro by East Fork

Timeless, usable dinnerware is the calling card of East Fork, a ceramics company based in Asheville, North Carolina. Founded by Alex and Connie Matisse (Henri Matisse is Alex’s great-grandfather), East Fork has been using artisanal pottery methods to make functional objects for daily use since 2009. Coinciding with the move from using a wood kiln to gas firing, the studio has added two new glazes to its existing palette of neutral tones – a peach-toned terracotta called Utah, and an earthy lilac called Taro. Conceived by creative director Connie and then brought to life by the team’s glaze chemist, these new matte glazes have been specifically developed and tested rigorously as they are rarely seen in traditional stoneware. Available in all of East Fork’s weighty, sculptural designs, the new hues are perfect for mixing and matching.

Writer: Pei-Ru Keh

Designer Stefano Giovannoni launched his online furniture brand Qeeboo back in 2015 with a collection of colourful plastic furniture. He is now reissuing the designs with a chrome finish created using nanotechnology. In a first for furniture and design objects, atomised particles are removed from a piece of brass, aluminium or copper in a high-vacuum atmosphere, and coated on the plastic product. One of the designs being treated with this technique is Studio Job’s ‘Flash’ lamp, which gives corporeal form to the rays of a torch. For the studio’s Job Smeets, the torch has a personal significance, as well as a practical one. ‘I once had my power turned off because I forgot to pay the bill, so here I am lighting the whole place with “Flash”. It’s the saviour of the universe.’

The Qeeboo shop is open 17 – 22 April, at Fiera Porta Sud, Palazzo Visconti and Hotel NHow, Milan, at Salone del Mobile. Photography: Rebecca Scheinberg. Interiors: Maria Sobrino. Writer: Rosa Bertoli

As originally featured in the May 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*230)

The secrets of St James’s

Architectural practice Squire & Partners are offering up a bird’s eye view of St James’s with an interactive map display as part of the market’s new exhibition. Traveling around the key locations, the map produces a narrative of the historic area revealing cultural secrets like where did John meet Yoko? Or where did Jimi Hendrix play his first UK gig? The experience has been elevated with a theme tune too, a curated soundtrack of Frederic Chopin’s Nocturne In E Flat Major, Op.9 No.2.

St James’s Market, SW1Y 4AH, Regent St, London

Gum flagship Milan

Italian architect Antonio Barbieri was commissioned to create a new look for Milan’s Gum flagship store. Barbieri created a multicoloured space designed to bring to life the bright leathers of the Florentine accessories brand; painting walls and ceilings an unassuming neutral tone, he added layers of glass and mirror in jewel hues, creating an impactful effect of lights, shadows and reflections. Since 1999, the architect has worked with fashion brands such as Gucci, Emilio Pucci and Max Mara, and designed independent boutiques all over Italy and abroad. This latest project lets the architect’s more playful side, mixing colour and material to create ‘a space where light goes through and bounces’.

Gum Milan, Corso Garibaldi, 34, Milan. Writer: Rosa Bertoli

A/D/O Water Futures Research Program

With the world’s water crisis feeling increasingly real these days, curator and water conservationist Jane Withers has launched a new multi-pronged research program together with A/D/O, the Brooklyn-based research centre dedicated to pushing the boundaries and future of design. During the kick off event last week, which featured a water tasting designed by Arabeschi di Latte, Withers and A/D/O unveiled the year-long program that will focus on three themes: harvesting the sky, pollution and purification and drinking local. Each theme will also be accompanied by a dedicated installation, exhibition and series of events and workshops. What’s more, the program has also issued a call for entries for new design ideas to tackle the harmful drinking water culture today. With competition categories ranging from future objects and materials to future information design, the open call will culminate in a final exhibition in early 2019. Pictured: unglazed clay cups from India are used for drinking water and tea and, once discarded, dissolve back into the earth. Writer: Pei-Ru Keh

849 Alexander Girard pen

Three iconic creative forces come together for a playful collaboration. The Swiss mastery of Maison Caran d’Ache meets Alexander Girard’s graphic prints and Vitra’s creative ingenuity for a charming new pen design. The 849 Alexander Girard is a decorative piece with the Double Triangle and Check Stripes patterns taking up the body of the sleek 849 hexagonal model, that is a part of Vitra’s spring accessories collection.

Writer: Sujata Burman

New brand Bassines

Following the success of his luxury kitchen brand, La Cornue, French visionary Xavier Dupuy launches a venture that takes him into new territory: bathrooms design. In an attempt to revive the art of metalwork, and in particular French copperware, he has released a range of contemporary sinks. Titled Bassines, Dupuy creates the brand with long-time partner, designer Laurent Besseas with sleek modern basins in stainless steel, gold, copper and black.

Available from Bassines. Writer: Sujata Burman

Globe-Trotter x Paul Smith

Globe-Trotter’s 20” classic navy trolley case is getting a Paul Smith makeover. The luxury travel brand has tapped the British fashion designer for a limited edition collection which sees Smith add a splash of colour to the carry-on with his ‘Artist Stripe’ pattern on the handle and corners of the trolley. Available in a range of hues, the playful pieces merge art and fashion to make a unique travel companion. The range will be presented at the Paul Smith boutique in Milan during Salone del Mobile (18 – 22 April 2018).

20” Trolley Case (Paul Smith) [Signed by Paul Smith], £1,700, available from Globe-Trotter. Writer: Sujata Burman

Cannes Précieux

Back in 1928, Jean Puiforcat set the bar for dinner opulence with the Cannes pattern in flatware. The iconic design was inspired by the architectural façade of Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, and served many of the elite at sophisticated dinner soirées. The French brand is now giving the range an elegant resurgence by adding a hint of onyx, lapis-lazuli, jade and jasper to the handle of the sterling silver pieces. Cannes’s semi precious addition takes the designs up a notch from cutlery to haute couture table jewels.

Cannes Précieux is available by special order from Puiforcat. Writer: Sujata Burman

‘Poli-Piel’ by Jorge Penadés

Jorge Penadés has been giving leather scraps the luxury treatment since his acclaimed graduation project ‘Structural Skin’ (2014). The Spanish designer compresses and glues dyed leather offcuts into long profiles with a grain like marble or wood. ‘Poli-Piel’, a solo show at Madrid gallery Machado-Muñoz, shows him taking his invention in a bold direction. Leather is the common element across eight distinctive pieces of furniture and lighting; buckles and leather straps combine his own material with planes of glass, aluminium and mirror in daring compositions. Marking Penadés' first solo exhibition, ‘Poli-Piel’ also showcases a new technique he has found for coaxing the natural material into structural form. Two conical table lamps have bases of stacked coils, each layer made of rolled and glued leather. The show’s title plays on the Spanish word for ‘Leatherette’ as well as describing many ways to use leather. Until 10 March

Machado-Muñoz, Calle José Marañón, 4, 28010 Madrid, Spain. Writer: Riya Patel

This X That pop-up

Design consultancy This X That fuses architecture and design at its new pop-up store at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary. The LA-based company invited a selection of emerging architecture practices to contribute limited-edition pieces for the home and garden, including Architecture Office, Besler & Sons, New Affiliates and Welcomecompanions. Our favourite piece has been designed by Jimenez Lai, founder of Bureau Spectacular, who contributed the neon Scribble lamp. Lai translated his passion for architecture into a cartoon-ish design. The lamp supports itself by its own flowing curvature, and can be installed on the floor, tabletop, or on the ceiling. Until 19 March.

Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Writer Luke Halls. Photography:  Injinash Unshin

Kartell pop-up

In a fitting union of Italian prowess, the eye-catching collaboration between Kartell and entrepreneur Lapo Elkann has arrived on American shores via a pop-up space at Barneys New York. Using the innovative wrap technology that fuels his automotive customisation brand, Garage Italia, Elkann has covered a selection of Kartell icons in a series of vibrant patterns and graphics, inspired by both fashion and classic cars. Forty of Kartell’s timeless pieces, including Philippe Starck’s 'Ghost' chair and Antonio Citterio’s 'Glossy' table have been enveloped in energetic racing stripes, shiny chrome and sartorially-inspired plaids. Originally unveiled during Milan Design Week in 2016, the collection is on view and available for purchase at Barneys’ Madison Avenue location until the end of March.

Barneys New York, Madison, 660 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10065. Writer: Pei-ru Keh. Photography: Rick Barroso

Sister City hotel concept

Ace Hotel broke the hospitality mould when it unleashed its irreverent, carefully curated ethos on the world almost two decades ago. This week, its creative arm Atelier Ace announced a new arrival, Sister City, which will be revealed in New York City this autumn. Located off Bowery, one of Manhattan’s most historic thoroughfares, and accessed through a garden on Freeman’s Alley, the new hotel concept promises to use empathy and an aesthetic union of both function and beauty to cater to the modern traveller’s needs. Armed with a rooftop bar, a ground floor restaurant and 200 rooms, this highly anticipated launch is sure to overturn the applecart.

Writer: Pei-Ru Keh

'Apollo' by Achille Salvagni

Achille Salvagni is inspired by 1960s science fiction set designs for the Spring transformation of his showroom. He turned to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey when building his own space capsule right inside the Mayfair atelier. The Roman designer uses some of his classics alongside new product to realise the retro-futuristic set; white washed panelled walls and ceilings are accompanied by portholes to metaphorically look out into the galaxy. The product lends itself to the fantasy too; new circular wall sconces sit in twos and threes to look particularly celestial while chairs and stools appear as extraterrestrial friends. ‘As commercial space tourism takes shape, I created my own interpretation of a space capsule.’ says Salvagni, ‘I wanted to imagine a futuristic yet opulent interior with highly crafted pieces, design a personal response to the imminent exploration of this unchartered territory, another marvel soon to be revealed.’

15 March - 7 September; 12 Grafton St, Mayfair, London W1S 4ER. Photography: Paolo Petrignani. Courtesy of Achille Salvagni Atelier. Writer: Sujata Burman

Wonmin Park at Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery

Wonmin Park’s restrained, yet elegant aesthetic is a long-time favourite of ours, and we were particularly excited when he unveiled his latest venture ‘Plain Cuts’ – an experimental collection of aluminium tables at PAD in London last year. The Paris-based designer is now making his US debut this week at Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery in New York. In addition to showcasing ‘Plain Cuts’, Park’s contemplative pieces are joined by new, unseen additions to his signature ‘Haze’ series of resin works (pictured). Until 14 April.

Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery, 693 5th Avenue, New York, NY 1002. Writer: Pei-Ru Keh

Epic React Flyknit

High design meets lightweight technology in the newest Nike running shoe – Nike Epic React Flyknit. Its minimalist focus reflects its functions, using a lightweight cushioning foam with maximum energy return. ‘That unique React Foam pattern was created after thousands of iterations, which were made possible because we’ve used computational design,’ says Nike’s senior director for global running footwear, Bret Schoolmeester. ‘The final design makes the midsole softer in areas where runners exert higher pressure and more stable near the edges and sidewall where runners need increased stability’. And it’s a treat for the eyes too – the rippling pattern together with the stokes of blue and neon pink at the rear of the model (available in a white version too) adds a certain playful energy, while maintaining its three goals – flexibility, breathability and support.

The Nike Epic React Flyknit will be available 22 February from Nike. Writer: Sujata Burman

Norm Architects

Design brand Ariake launched last year with a unique concept of connecting two Japanese furniture manufacturers – Legnatec and Hirata Chair – with an international roster of design talent (Anderssen & Voll and Gabriel Tan to name a few). Next up is Norm Architects, who have launched a chair and sofa that are set to show at Stockholm Furniture Fair next month. For Ariake, the Danish firm joined forces with Brazil-based architect Marcio Kogan (StudioMK27) to realise the ‘Braid’ armchair (pictured). The cultural merging is evident from its design – the modernist structure is inspired by Danish cabinetmakers’ furniture, while the intricate details, like the bamboo construction and tatami mats, echo Eastern influences.

Writer: Sujata Burman

Studio Furthermore at Aram Gallery

East London-based Studio Furthermore was inspired by the rocks, earth and mineral ores of Iceland for its ‘Replica’ series. The ceramics and aluminium alloy collection – currently on show at London’s Aram Gallery – is reminiscent of foamy lava rocks, created through scientific experimentation whereby a copy of the original product is the end-product we see. The range of standing lights, mirrors, pots and tables is coupled with examples of the studio’s tests and a film that takes individuals through the process at the Drury Lane space.

‘Replica’ is on view until 20 January. The Aram Gallery, 110 Drury Lane, WC2B 5SG. Photography: Amandine Alessandra. Writer: Sujata Burman

Primitives

These striking podiums form part of a set of nine. The collection, entitled ‘Primitives’, was designed by Sicilian studio Moncada Rangel and draws inspiration from the abstract shapes of Brancusi. Their simple geometric forms and bold colours create a unique stage upon which even the simplest objects become showstoppers. Each was handmade by graduates of the Made programme at the Academy of Fine Arts in Syracuse. Using plywood and papier-mâché, the students, led by Moncada Rangel, crafted sculptural pieces in keeping with the studio’s aesthetic. This collection certainly turns the tables by upgrading the pedestal from supporting role to star of the show.

Pictured: four pieces from the ‘Primitives’ collection, which was recently acquired by a Sicilian cosmetics brand and is currently being shown in a small gallery and retail space on the island of Ortygia. Illustrator: Julien Savioz. Writer: Mary Cleary

Woody-Zoody

Design duo Formafantasma have created the newest member of the Woody-Zoody family of wooden animals. ‘Toro’ (the Italian word for bull) is a playful wenge wood and brass figurine of a bull, a minimalist interpretation of the animal which features the signature elegance of the pair’s work. ‘We both share a passion for toys, we collect vernacular wooden toys from all over the world,’ say Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi. ‘Children can imagine animals from any shape, and our object for Woody-Zoody starts with an abstract form which becomes a bull with two small brass tubes.’ ‘Toro’ is part of a growing collection of wooden animals, joining the likes of Giacomo Moor’s ‘Toucan’ and Giulio Iacchetti’s ‘Whale’.

Writer: Rosa Bertoli

Rising Talents Awards at Maison et Objet

Each year, Maison & Objet invites six legendary creatives to nominate an upcoming designer for the Paris design fair’s Rising Talents series. This January’s selection includes Federica Biasi, chosen by Andrea Branzi; Guglielmo Poletti, chosen by Rossana Orlandi; and Antonio Facco, chosen by Giulio Cappellini. Says Cappellini, ‘Facco’s projects are largely inspired by his observations of the younger generations.’ With a keen interest in industrial and artisanal techniques, Facco’s portfolio includes works for Cappellini, Antolini and Bolon. In Paris, Facco is presenting a new light for Swedish brand Oblure. ‘Mondo’ (pictured with Facco) features a sphere partially obscured by two shades that can be rotated to create different pattern compositions, transforming its aesthetic while controlling the intensity of the light.

Maison & Objet runs from 19-23 January. Photography: Felicity McCabe. Writer: Rosa Bertoli

Recognising the dissolution of boundaries between artistic and commercial design practices, the inaugural Triennial at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) surveys the work of over 100 participants from 32 countries. Beyond its tactile, interactive and technologically impressive veneer lies an epically immersive exhibition. ‘We wanted to evoke a journey of discovery and encourage participation from our audiences with a range of awe-inspiring and confronting pieces,’ asserts NGV director Tony Ellwood.

Registering a world where resources are depleting and old power structures and borders are falling, it also acknowledges emerging alternatives. Featuring tapestry, sculpture, fashion design, painting and drawing in addition to virtual realities, architecture, animation, performance and film, the Triennial examines the consequences of globalisation on a cultural, scientific, political and psychological basis. ‘The artists, designers and innovators are at the forefront of their practices ... working with a range of cutting edge technologies including robotics and 3D scanning and printing,’ adds Ellwood.  

Twenty large-scale works have been commissioned including Ron Mueck’s most ambitious to date: Mass, a modern-day memento mori. An enormous human skull peers beyond the 18th and 19th-century European collection rooms as a glaring reminder of our mortality in an age of material and narcissistic pursuit. Another chamber is stacked with oversized resin-cast skulls recalling iconic images documenting the human atrocities conducted within extremist regimes, whilst serving as a looming reminder of those currently living within them.

Many pieces focus on the movement of people, with several critiquing the refugee crisis. Richard Mosse’s video work, Incoming, uses a telescopic thermal black and white imaging camera developed for military use to document journeys by refugees. The blurred yet intimate imagery creates an uncomfortable friction, giving clarity to their urgent stories.

A crowd-pleaser is Japanese collective teamLab’s immersive digital installation. Aquatic whirlpools and ripples register underfoot in response to people’s presence and movement, reflecting a borderless world where communities must unite to navigate a better future for natural ecosystems. Alexandra Kehayoglou’s Santa Cruz River symbolises the pitfalls of foreign investment in financially struggling countries. Merging traditional rug-making techniques with detailed site analysis and drone footage, her textural 100 sq m carpet is inspired by Argentina’s last free-flowing river currently under threat by Chinese investors eager to convert it into hydroelectricity dams.

Italian design duo Studio Formafantasma provide productive solutions to tackle e-waste with products crafted from recycled hi-tech electronics. ‘Ore Streams’ reinterprets the modernist office with hybrid equipment. Accompanying interviews with manufacturers, Interpol, recyclers, academics and engineers argue that a global economy must develop a universal system of recycling.

Celebrating communities in harmony with the land is Victoria Amazonica, an enormous dome featuring intricate embroidery illustrating stories of nature’s rejuvenation via rain and rivers. Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana collaborated with the indigenous Australian community arts enterprise Yarrenyty Arltere Artists to illustrate the potential of harmonious cross-cultural relationships.

One of the most interactive commissioned works is Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession, staged inside a fully furnished apartment. Visitors are given a red flower sticker to place where they like inside. Over the duration of the exhibition the walls and objects will be obliterated, revealing an infinity field of red florets. Its universal message, like so many pieces in the Triennial, is that our actions impact our immediate surroundings more profoundly than most of us acknowledge.

INFORMATION 

The NGV Triennial runs until 15 April. For more information, visit the National Gallery of Victoria website

ADDRESS

National Gallery of Victoria
180 St Kilda Road
Melbourne VIC 3006

Formafantasma has always paid special attention to nature and its cycles, with the studio’s work often touching upon natural phenomena and materials. But for their latest project, the duo looked in the opposite direction, exploring waste systems as a means of creating furniture and objects in which the studio’s poetic visual language conceals deeper issues.

Opening this week at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria, the ‘Ore Streams’ project was developed over two years of research and comprises different media including physical objects, video documentary and animation. The body of work addresses production and consumption, and the shift from mining precious metals to them being readily available overground in the form of discarded technology.

‘Our human greed for metals has grown to such an extent that, by 2080, the biggest metal reserves will not be underground. Instead, they will be above the surface as lingots stored in private buildings or otherwise circulated within products such as building materials, appliances, furniture and an ever-growing market of consumer electronic products,’ they explain.

Designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin spent months interviewing recycling experts including e-waste recyclers, academic researchers, electronics producers and NGOs working in developing countries. The result is a series of videos documenting these conversations, as well as the process for recycling electronics, and an animation by the pair that explores alternative recycling strategies.

The core of the exhibition is a collection of objects and CNC-milled aluminium furniture for an imaginary workspace: part pastel-coloured metalminimalism, part otherwordly composition. The objects take on a deeper meaning as familiar details are discovered: mobile phones piled on top of each other, a microwave aerating grid, a keyboard and computer towers, all repurposed to become integral parts of the furniture. Finishing touches throughout the collection feature gold scavenged from electronic waste.

The decision to design a collection of pieces for the office was more than cosmetic: the office environment, explain the designers, ‘is where modern design principles are most visible’. The search for efficiency, ideal standards and a universal style are represented by pieces such as the filing cabinet and the modular cubicle, two examples of quintessential workspace staples that the designers have put their unmistakable mark on.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of NASA-released images of craters on Mars, hinting at the alien origin of some of these materials, which reached Earth as meteorites several millennia ago.

‘Ore Streams’ is an important body of work for Formafantasma, opening up a wider conversation with the creative world. With this multidisciplinary series, Trimarchi and Farresin address a complex issue, suggesting that design can become a force for global change. 

INFORMATION
Ore Streams is on view at NGV Triennal until 15 April 2018. For more informaion, visit the Formafantasma website

ADDRESS

NGV
180 St Kilda Rd
Melbourne
VIC 3006
Australia

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS