From Milan to Seoul and back

Somewhat ahead of the Milan Furniture Fair previews, in late February we were given confirmation of the fact that Italian design and the appeal of its great masters still constitute an added value for our creative and economic system. And the confirmation came, unexpectedly, with an image of Alessandro Mendini and his grandson smiling behind an LED table lamp called Amuleto made by Ramun, a new enterprise with a stylised Eye of Horus as its logo. A glance at their website (www.atelierramun.com) leaves us in no doubt that this is not just a design venture, but something far more comprehensive. The project is directed by Atelier Mendini (and assisted by the designer Young Hee Cha), which handled the firm’s graphics, image, communication and, as we shall be seeing, a lot more besides. In fact the owner of the newborn Ramun appointed Mendini to manage the entire project for the conception and development of this new brand. “Our aim is to combine the technological innovation of Ramun with the Mendini style,” states the official press release.

So this is the story of an osmosis between brand and designer or, in other words, of unmitigated faith in the skills and charisma of one person. Alessandro has earned that faith. It was this factor, together with the deep respect in Italian design, that led to this all-embracing art directing appointment. Despite Ramun’s as yet small scale, the job has involved Mendini even more deeply than in his past experiences with Swatch and Alessi. “At Swatch I worked on a colossal project,” he says. “Alessi was a smaller, but very intricate affair. Within both those situations, however, many things escaped my control, whereas with Ramun we even define the tiniest details. This latest, much smaller project started with a lamp and slowly expanded, and I was able to work on it from start to finish.”

As one might easily imagine, technology is the company’s forte. In the case of Amuleto, Ramun’s lamp-symbol, the product is impeccably articulated. The fruit of 18 months’ research, its engineering allows the light to be set and focused in any direction even at the touch of a child’s finger (a mini version for baby users is also in the pipeline). The leds are distributed in the crown of the highest of the three rings that make up the lamp—an aesthetic choice that is also functional, because in this way fewer shadows are cast. The quality of the light, too, is particularly high and was subjected to ocular tests by university hospitals that checked its non-emission of ultraviolet and infrared rays, its diffused and emitted light, to arrive at an optimal design for the eye. “They have state-of-theart technology that we Europeans admire, but they always put it in second place, after the design,” continues Mendini. “In fact it’s the Mendini Milano logo that occupies the place of honour on the Amuleto’s base, while Ramun’s logo is on the diffuser, almost out of sight.”

The same blend of design and technology also appears in the second design, due to be presented in Milan at the Galleria Antonia Jannone: a transparent bell with an alert bleep and light. It is designed to catch the waiter’s attention in a restaurant, although in fact this is actually done by means of an electronic device that connects the bell to a special wristwatch won by the table attendants. This highly developed object can also be used by patients in hospitals or at home, or to connect children with their parents’ bedroom. The third object ready for the Milan Furniture Fair once again focuses on Italian creativity, this time that of the Venini master glassmakers commissioned to work on the production of the Opaline lamp, in very small numbers. The Seoul showroom, designed by Atelier Mendini and inaugurated last November, was Ramun’s springboard. It will be followed in April by China to coincide with the launch of the Italian contacts and the presentation of a book about Mendini, in which the designer is also the main character in a strip cartoon. And so the Maestro cult is pursued even in the semi-serious guise of a comic.