COS x Sou Fujimoto // COS has announce its partnership with Sou Fujimoto to create a specially commissioned installation that will showcase in Milan during Salone del Mobile 2016. Located within a former cinema in the centre of Milan, the collaboration marks the fifth year of COS’ involvement at Salone del Mobile, having worked with Nendo and Snarkitecture in recent years.

The highly esteemed Japanese architect, Sou Fujimoto is well known for his innovative designs that push the boundaries of minimalism and negative space, sharing in the COS vision of timeless and modern design. COS previously admired the work of Sou Fujimoto following the design of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013. Inspired by the latest COS collection, the installation will play on space, light and darkness to create a novel immersive experience. Designed to explore interaction and spatial awareness, an infinite forest of light will capture and react to visitors’ movements as they discover the space.

The Restaurant by Caesarstone x Tom Dixon // Four conceptual kitchens inspired by the elements – Earth, Fire, Water and Air – will take over the historical Rotonda della Besana delivering an experimental food concept. Set within the backdrop of a 17th century Cloister encircling a public garden and a deconsecrated church, each of the four sections of the cruciform-shaped complex will introduce a different range of Caesarstone’s designs. Demonstrating the versatility and beauty of the Caesarstone surfaces, combined with Tom Dixon- designed dining halls and products, each kitchen will feature a variety of colours and materials that complement the mood and atmosphere of each specific element. Commissioned by Caesarstone, Italian food design studio Arabeschi di Latte, headed by Francesca Sarti, will curate the overall food concept.

Philippe Nigro for Novamobili // Known for their modular furniture systems, Novamobili has recruited a group of designers – Philippe Nigro, Zanellato/Bortotto and Zaven – for their personal take on the concept of the wall system, capable of morphing as it is shaped by different design approaches. Inspirationals – the name of the project curated by studio Dogtrot and presented during Milan Design Week 2016 – comprises three installations.

Philippe Nigro – an internationally renowned French designer whose distinctive stamp comes from the pairing of experimental research with a pragmatic analysis of the ”savoir faire” of the businesses he works with – plays with the wall system, creating a labyrinth-like path through Novamobili’s Flagship store. Archives is a project that sits somewhere between installation and product.

Marni Ballhaus // Marni will be transforming its space at Viale Umbria 42 into a ballroom which will explore a different area of performing arts, using dance to create a link between the new design collection and the traditions of Colombia, the country that inspired it. An invite to discover Cumbia, an ancient Colombian dance for couples that arose from a blend of diverse rhythms and cultures, Marni has put its own individual slant on it, customising the traditional full circular skirts worn by Cumbia dancers and the knotted scarves the men wear around their neck.

Cumbia’s colourful choreography will form the backdrop for the presentation of Marni’s new home furnishing accessories range, created exclusively for Milan Design Week: chairs, chaise lounes and rocking chairs sit alongside numerous small tables, lamps and vases made of metal, wood and hand-woven PVC cord in brilliant colour combinations. The items on display have all been made in Colombia by a group of women who have gained independence and freedom through work. Marni Ballhaus reaffirms the brand’s commitment to charitable initiatives, as a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the design items will be donated to the Vimala Association, which supports numerous children’s projects.

25 years Grcic for ClassiCon at Spotti // The collaboration between Konstantin Grcic and ClassiCon started in 1991. Grcic had just established his office KGID, and ClassiCon had been founded one year earlier. From the beginning, their common ground was mutual appreciation and open-mindedness with regard to the character of the designs that Grcic soon began to develop. The ClassiCon/Grcic Edition marking the 25th anniversary of the successful collaboration has been given a makeover to Konstantin Grcic’s most striking designs for ClassiCon, transforming them into a monochromatic series in black. Studio Achermann in Zurich was able to enlist the Iranian-Swiss photo artist Shirana Shahbazi to adequately present and capture the black ClassiCon/Grcic Edition. The edition and original photos taken by Shirana Shahbazi will be presented during the Salone di Mobile 2016 in a separate exhibition.

MINDCRAFT16 – In My Mind Craft. Exhibition design and curation by GamFratesi // The Danish Arts Foundation presents MINDCRAFT16, an exhibition showcasing new and original works by some of Denmark’s leading designers and craftspeople. This year, the Danish Arts Foundation asked the design duo GamFratesi to curate and design the exhibition, which will be presented at the Circolo Filologico in central Milan. Last year’s MINDCRAFT was also curated by GamFratesi, and the exhibition received both a Milano Design Award and a German Design Award.

The combination of the words MIND and CRAFT highlights the goal of the exhibition series, which is to showcase the capacity and potential of a field that spans from experimental, innovative and conceptual design to the technical proficiency and material knowledge from crafts. This year, GamFratesi defined a theme that provided an added dimension to MINDCRAFT16. ‘The theme of MINDCRAFT16 is “In My Mind Craft”. Like last year, we have chosen a historical venue for the MINDCRAFT exhibition: the Circolo Filologico in the centre of Milan. This institution studies the origins of texts and literature, and driven by the notion of tracing the origins of a project, an idea, a thought, we looked to historical ideas about the human brain as a source of inspiration for our exhibition concept. The designers and craftspeople selected to take part in MINDCRAFT16 have each interpreted the theme “In My Mind Craft” in their individual works,’ explain the design duo.

Lexus – An Encounter with Anticipation // Located in Tortona from April 12 to 17, the exhibit will feature a unique collaboration between the acclaimed design team Formafantasma and Michelin star-winning chef Yoji Tokuyoshi. Formafantasma will design the exhibit based on the concept of “Transparency”, which anticipates a future that is open and honest, and inspires society to engage in sustainable behaviour and progressive lifestyles. The exhibit will offer an encounter that invites visitors to experience and immerse themselves in a unique world of anticipation. Guests will have the opportunity to discover the essence of Lexus craftsmanship and witness how Lexus technology translates into an aesthetic and emotional experience.

Anticipation is also the theme of the 2016 Lexus Design Award, an international design competition that fosters the growth of ideas that contribute to society and supports up-and-coming creators whose work can contribute to shaping a better future.

“50 MANGA CHAIRS” by Nendo: a collaboration with Friedman Benda Gallery, New York // Manga is a means of expression with a high degree of flatness and abstraction, composed of a series of lines. Nendo’s installation of 50 manga chairs is the result of adapting the strong symbolic nature of manga comics to furniture design. Manga consist of a series of frames on a single sheet of paper that creates a sequence. Similarly, 50 standard chairs are lined up in a grid, each one conjures up a sense of story, and each with a design element from manga. With the abstraction of manga comics in mind, physical aspects such as colour and texture are intentionally avoided as much as possible. Instead, a complete mirror finish is opted for, which generates new spatial layers as the mirror surface reflects the real world, just like manga does.

Belgian Matters – A Matter of Perception: Tradition & Technology // For Milan Design Week 2016, the organisations and institutions that support and promote Belgian design under the collective name Belgium is Design, have joined forces with the international contemporary culture magazine DAMN°. Taking part in the group event ‘A Matter of Perception: Tradition & Technology’ at the Palazzo Litta, the seventh edition of Belgium is Design’s presentation in Milan, Belgian Matters, features the results of pairings between 13 designers and companies, the latter often coming from sectors far removed from that of furniture design. Each project has been commissioned especially for the event and will be seen for the first time during the Salone.

LOCAL DESIGN presents ‘LOCAL MILAN’, proudly supported by Brickworks Building Products // Australian design initiative Local Design will showcase 12 leading Australian designers inside the former church, now theatre ‘Teatro Arsenale’, which will be dramatically stylised with over 5,000 bricks. Curated by LOCAL DESIGN founder & stylist Emma Elizabeth, an industrial designer Tom Fereday, the two will ask you to question Australian design. This will be the largest independent Australian presence to date for Milan Design Week and 5 Vie design district. All the designers and their products were selected upon merit, with each designer displaying a crucial part in the current Australian designer landscape, with their products resolved and ready for international sales and distribution. All products within the main exhibition will be available to buy directly through LOCAL DESIGN during the week.

NO SEX by Alberto Biagetti & Laura Baldassari, curated by Maria Cristina Didero // This year Alberto Biagetti and Laura Baldassari take their dissection of contemporary obsessions one step further – if last year’s BODY BUILDING project was Volume I, then NO SEX is Volume II of their chronicles. In this age where virtual sex is taking over from physical sex and the body is an object of ever more manipulation and excess, Biagetti and Baldassari have created NO SEX, a pink-clinic designed to reestablish the individual’s inner equilibrium regarding sex, in a transcendental and futuristic paradise of liberty and of clean, fresh unprejudiced equality.

New Collection by Dimore Studio for Golran // DIMORESTUDIO has always conveyed the propensity to match different materials with different eras. For the collection for Golran, this disposition is reflected in a new way, namely through the materiality of the carpet’s texture, where a compelling contrast is established between baroque references – such as embroideries, hems, frames and decorative trims, creative re-visitations of Persians and Indian drawings – and monochromatic, essential, precious inserts and the frequent nods to contemporary art. The geometric lines and shapes are reminiscent of the American post-painterly abstractions and minimalism. Metallic inserts and visible thick stitching stand out on the texture, sewing together those different worlds.

Bethan Laura Wood for Bitossi Ceramiche // Aldo Londi, the legendary artistic director of Bitossi, made his most famous collections by engraving, stamping and using relief within the moulds to give detail to the clay surfaces. It is these techniques that inspire Bethan’s new collection for Bitossi, having visited the Historical Archive of Bitossi Ceramiche, which is an endless source of decorative themes and colours.

In this collection, the surface is the protagonist; the incision is the first decorative sign, colour is the second, thus creating a double language on the same surface, which is nearly a three-dimensional process. Bethan creates an expressive pattern rhythm of graphic shapes and flowing lines derived from the stained glass window of the New Basilica of Our Lady of Guadeloupe (Mexico City). This pattern wraps itself around a variation of forms inspired by Bitossi’s 1950s to 1970s archive.

Credenza Collection by Patricia Urquiola & Federico Pepe for Spazio Pontaccio // Spazio Pontaccio introduces Credenza, a capsule collection of furniture that merges the contemporary design of Patricia Urquiola with the graphic skills of Federico Pepe, Le Dictateur. Credenza is a collection of small furniture containers, carpets, screens and low tables, the function of which is not only to contain and furnish, but enter into a relationship with the space and create new tensions, to create a presence. The idea was born from the desire to transform the traditional stained glass windows of churches into an object, resuming the almost forgotten technique of lead glass and returning it to new life on furniture with ultra-modern patterns and graphics. Contained in the collection are 5 carpets, three of which are the result of a collaboration between Patricia Urquiola and Federico Pepe and two designed by Patricia Urquiola, produced entirely by hand by CC-Tapis and complete the furniture collection with patterns, colours and materials that once again convey the desire to give value to ancient production techniques but adding a contemporary touch.

THE SOFT POETRY OF RANDOMNESS: Quadro Celeste collection by Studiopepe for CC-Tapis // Studiopepe were inspired by the archetypal graphics such as the numeric grid of the magic square for their latest collection. The magic square is a grid of imaginary numbers such that the total of each row and each column of both diagonals is always the same number. This number is called the magic constant or magical sum of the square. And in this collection it is the number that gives a name to each carpet. The project is completed with a collection of wall hangings that interpret the carpet as a sculpture object bearing strong symbolic value.

New Collection from e15 // German brand e15 will debut the modular sofa Kerman and celebrate twenty years of its iconic stool Backenzanthm with a special installation with ECAL at the brand’s showroom in Via Tortona. A sculpted silhouette evoking ease and monumentality signifies the Kerman sofa designed by Philipp Mainzer and Farah Ebrahimi. Addressing a variety of requirements in private and public spaces, the modular system is open to individual use, striking a balance between elegant repose and modernist sensibilities. Ideally complementing the sofa and new range of fabrics, kilim Iza by Philipp Mainzer appeals with its simple yet strong graphic pattern in contrasting colours and extends the collection of accessories. Also on show will be lighting series North in a polished brass and stainless steel finish.

Lloyd Shelf by Jean-Marie Massaud for Poltrona Frau // Jean-Marie Massaud has designed Lloyd, a system of storage units and bookcases, with variable geometries. A series of thin vertical wooden rods form light grids that run from top to bottom on invisible horizontal rails. Each grid can be moved as desired creating different sequences each time. A playful game that allows a glimpse of the contents, books and objects, without fully revealing them.

Luis Arrivillaga for Living Divani // Amongst four new releases, Living Divani will presents Ceiba by Guatemala-born designer Luis Arrivillaga – a coat hanger that becomes a graphical presence, a dance of slender structures which close and reopen around a central linchpin, creating different points of view and methods of usage. Made with a block of natural or dyed charcoal ash wood, it pays homage to ancient wood-working techniques which it transforms into a geometry exercise.