Milan Design City: the things we liked the most

Marsotto, ultracentenary brand dedicated to the transformation of marble and natural stones, has a new house in the heart of Brera, designed by Studio Nendo. Right from the window, marble is the only protagonist: moulded and shaped in a light and even ironic way. “A part of the façade has been shaped like a soft sculpture carved into the wall, improvising a seat, in the hope that the neighbours can sit down for a pleasant break,” explains Oki Sato. If the exterior is a treasure chest that reveals nothing but intrigues and invites people to enter, inside, a “total white” space, the Marsotto, Marsotto Edizioni, and Marsotto Art collections are displayed in a scenographic way on small stages. The objects of Marsotto Lab are instead arranged on a marble bookcase. Photo Hiroki Tagma

What comes out of the window of the Lea Ceramiche showroom and looks like a large, multi-faceted meteorite that has just landed on Earth is actually the mise en scene designed by Ferruccio Laviani to communicate tangibly the peculiarities of Anthology, the latest collection of the Modenese company that, using the most advanced technologies, manages to mix the aesthetics of stone and marble. "I liked to underline the minerality of the material and, at the same time, give the idea of completely new material," explains the designer. Those who pass in front of the showcase will not even have to enter to appreciate this ceramic material's tactility: sometimes in relief and sometimes smooth, playing with light shades of grey. 

With the addition of four elements, Plissé becomes a real family of small household appliances. In addition to the electric kettle, presented last year, Michele De Lucchi designed a blender, immersion blender, toaster, and juicer. With an almost sculptural presence, the series's elements are all united by a very precise aesthetic research that recalls the imagination of the fifties, like the vertically pleated fabric of which it bears the name. 

New set up for Dimoregallery founded by Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran in 2014 on the second floor of a 19th-century Milanese building, where mid-century pieces, both Italian and international, continue to coexist with contemporary objects. Also new is the collaboration with the five contemporary designers and artists of the [fil] NOIR collection: Israeli designer Hagit Pincovici; ornamentalist Pierre Marie; designers Stefania Loschi and Isabella Garbagnati of Ocra Studio; designer Ilaria Bianchi; and lighting artist David Scognamiglio. Photo Silvia Rivoltella

Its name, Litos, stone, is a tribute to the Natural Park of Porto Selvaggio, one of the most uncontaminated places in Salento, with low cliffs and crystal clear waters, where Sebastian Herkner was on holiday last year. From the idea of informal furniture with organic shapes, the sofa for Cappellini was born. “I didn't want a geometric, square sofa,” explains the German designer at the first collaboration with the brand. The aim was to design a modular piece of furniture, but at the same time, rounded and free in its composition. “The lockdown made us reflect on the quality and durability of a piece of furniture,” continues Herkner, “Litos is designed to last for several generations; it can grow and change as the family grows. You can work on it or sit on the backrest and drink a glass of wine. The basic idea? A piece for a holiday inside the house.”

The personality and essence of a table like Sesto are all in the double trestle base under the top, which, for this very reason, should only be in transparent glass. "Sesto represents the archetype of the table," explains Piero Lissoni, who designed it for Lema. It is a simple architecture that hides a sophisticated detail: the leg's construction, where the T-shaped element is the support of the top that fits into the easel. Also refined is the combination of the legs and the top materials, which in addition to extra-clear glass, can also be in wood, clay (the latter is a material finish exclusive to the company), and porcelain stoneware.

Both of Knoll’s new collections bear the signature of Lissoni, whose intervention is in the sign of continuity, in terms of materials and style. He tells the genesis of these novelties in a consummate actor-like manner in a well-constructed video that conveys his design philosophy. Alongside the Matic modular sofa system – seats with differentiated depths and a wave-shaped armrest to be moved for more informal seating – there is the KN06 armchair, with its fibreglass shell made using a special moulding technology that resembles a half shell and rests on four light, slender legs. The seat and backrest are in moulded flexible polyurethane, to be upholstered in fabric or leather.

The collaboration of the Swiss architects with Artemide continues with this modern and scenic chandelier. Three calendered steel tubes with decreasing diameters are joined by four vertical uprights in a large geometric structure with traditional E27 light bulbs. As is often the case, it was designed for a private home, on the coast of Tenerife. It was made by local workers in different variations. "Its light is pleasant, quite intense but nevertheless intimate and casts a shadow that looks like a drawing on the wall.”

Richard Yasmine's multi-purpose furniture collection is virtually displayed within 5vie DNA, given the impossibility for the designer - originally from Beirut - to physically participate to the exhibition. The collection is about Beirut itself, a calm and lucid reflection on opposites: the glory of a city and its destruction, life and death, black and white. "After Ago is an ode to an arch, a tribute to a city, an elegy of lost souls, altogether converted to emotional fantasy objects, transmitting functionality however remaining timeless and sculptural," Yasmine explains.

Fucina presents an aluminum stool designed by Keiji Takeuchi, available in six colors ranging from bright metallic blue to opaque dark green. Latteria, the name of the product, tells a story of virtuous patronage, where a company puts its workshops at their maximum potential and enlists its best technicians to find the optimal way to give shape to the designer's vision. "The stool seems simple, but hides a very complex process," explains Giogrgio di Berardino, founder of Fucina. Simplicity, as we know, is a hard task and in the case of Latteria we are talking about a milling process with CNC technology that is closer to a sculpture. Read more here. Photo Miro Zagnoli

Elena Salmistraro's installation for the Cedit showroom in Foro Bonaparte uses ceramic slabs from the new Chimera collection designed by her for the Emilian brand. A four-legged creature with the front features of a lion, the rear ones of a dragon and the head of a goat grafted onto a central trunk, in Greek mythology the chimera is a monstrous figure associated with the idea of combining parts of incongruous origin. In a similar way, this series has been developed by grafting images amplified through the use of a ceramic technique with carved or relief decoration.

A new design by Patricia Urquiola presented by Moroso in the showroom in via Pontaccio, Ruff is a lounge chair impact that experiments with binary geometry to combine their seat parts and backrests creating a masterful effect. The shape is resolved by the wide armrests lying on the sides of the seat section and wrap around it firmly.

Consistent with the desire to offer the public a complete range of furniture, Boffi/De Padova has proposed with the 2020 collection a series of objects with essential aesthetics and high quality craftsmanship. Among these, the Tsuki floor and table lamp designed by Naoto Fukasawa. Tsuki in Japanese means moon and it is from the perfect shape of a half sphere that the lamp comes to life. Made of solid Calacatta marble, the lamp has a slightly translucent surface that is crossed by light. Photo Tommaso Sartori.

Completed by the architecture firm Park Associati, Prima Café is a new space wanted by Prima Assicurazioni, the insurance company founded by Alberto Genovese in 2015. Filippo Pagliani and Michele Rossi of Park Associati have developed a space that can be transformed in different moments of the day. The walls, conceived as three-dimensional surfaces, reflect natural light creating a dynamic atmosphere, while the lighting project, realized by iGuzzini, characterizes the space with a cascade of about 600 transparent and reflective tubes. Photo Andrea Martiradonna  

The Senato Hotel hosts the installation Sunrise by Cristina Celestino, which sees the new chairs from the Frisée collection displayed on orange platforms that seem to float on the water in the hotel's central courtyard, in silk grey and concrete grey. Billiani's art director for just over a year and a half, Celestino wanted, with the Frisée chair, to combine the company's excellence in woodworking and emphasize the cabinet-making processes of the backrest and feet, while at the same time introducing softer shapes that emphasize the lightness of wood. Photo Chiara Cadeddu. 

The screen is a functional piece of furniture that was created to separate the rooms. The one presented by Cassina within the 2020 collection at the same time strongly connote the environment in which it is inserted in an artistic sense. Made from an original design by Giacomo Balla in 1917, the Balla screen is available in two color versions: with an orange background in yellow and green, which reflects the colors of Balla's sketch, and with a white background in blue and green, a completely different range of colors. In the photo (De Pasquale + Maffini), the 875 armchairs by Ico Parisi – Cassina I Maestri Collection.