On Friday, we shared some of our favorite product highlights at Milan Design Week designed by fellow architects, both up-and-coming and established. Today, we continue our Milan recap with 11 more of our top picks not by architects, from tile and veneer to tables and even a rocking horse.
ALPI
Swedish design group Front played with an optical illusion–inducing pattern for two new wood veneers: Drapery Wood sports vertical bands of equal-sized squares in two colors that are misaligned horizontally, tricking the eye into seeing depth and movement; meanwhile, Grid Wood also fakes dimension via an antique pattern with an isometric-projection quality. Composed of four wood types, this veneer highlights inlay and marquetry techniques, as well.
Front for ALPI
Cappellini
Design studio Nendo’s stamp could be found all over Milan during design week (more on Nendo tomorrow), and one such instance was in Cappellini’s exhibition at Bastioni di Porta Nuova 9. The Italian manufacturer presented Tangle Table, which, in typical Nendo fashion, displays a touch of humor: The side table sports a single spiral-curl leg that twists around the straight leg of another table. The whimsical design evokes locked hands or arms (or maybe even a little under-the-table footsy) but is also a unique way of allowing the tables to pivot and nest within each other. The metal table — available in anthracite, grey moss, white or terra cotta — comes in three heights and with a top in natural ash, laminate or glass tiles.
Nendo for Cappellini
Nendo for Cappelini
Carl Hansen & Søn
The Danish company rebooted Hans Wegner’s CH22 lounge chair but also launched a coordinating side chair that was never put into production. CH26, also a Wegner design, features the same organic contours, substantial backrest and beautifully exposed joinery, but in a standard seat height and more upright angle.
Carl Hansen & Søn (also shown at top)
Diesel Living With Iris Ceramica
When fashion brand Diesel began its collaborations with various leading Italian manufacturers, it focused on furniture, lighting and objects. But now, Diesel Living is foraying into finishes, too. Milan saw the launch of a new ceramic and porcelain tile collection produced by Iris Ceramica that perfectly complements Diesel’s portfolio of urban and industrial furnishings.
Diesel Living With Iris Ceramica
Among the five styles offered in this tile series is Concrete, which mimics cracks, imperfections and shade variations that can occur in the namesake material and is suitable for both floors and walls. Another stunning highlight, Industrial Glass recreates textures and other properties of glass typically used for windows of industrial buildings yet looks right at home as a wall cladding material in a residential setting.
Emeco
There came a time when the Emeco Navy Chair became a ubiquitous piece that infiltrated every trendy industrial-chic restaurant, but it had always been paired with, say, reclaimed wood tables or the like. At this year’s Milan Design Week, the company has finally introduced the chair’s counterpart. The Run collection, designed by Sam Hecht and Kim Colin of Industrial Facility, consists of bar- and regular-height tables that, like the chairs, are composed of non-corrosive recycled aluminum making them suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.
Emeco
Aesthetically, the pieces are accessible and welcoming, reminiscent of picnic or park tables with slatted tops and angled legs. The aluminum legs come in natural or black-powder coat finish while the slatted tops come in anodized aluminum or three types of responsibly harvested wood. Also part of the collection are shelving units and benches.
Emeco
Herman Miller
In his first collection for Herman Miller, designer Michael Anastassiades pared down the stool to a basic form yet managed to make it elegant and architectural all the same. Disk-shaped tops (slightly concave for sitter comfort) and bases are executed in walnut or white oak, as is one of two support rods. The other support is a brass tube that, on the counter- and bar-height models, sports a second, shorter brass bar for perching feet. Coordinating tables are also available.
Michael Anastassiades for Herman Miller
Kartell
The brand known for its colorful plastic furniture and accessories presented two standouts this year. The aforementioned Nendo, for starters, offers an architectural and minimalist spin on the classic children’s rocking horse. H-Horse takes inspiration and form from the sturdy H-beams used in building and bridge structures but is rendered in clear plastic.
Nendo for Kartell
Also a showstopper, Alberto and Francesco Meda’s Aledin LED rethinks the mechanical desk-lamp archetype by using aluminum rods as conductors and cladding the base and articulating arm in Kartell’s signature polycarbonate. Two head designs are available: a simple disk shape or a decorative prismatic shade, both also in polycarbonate.
Alberto and Francesco Meda for Kartell
Alberto and Francesco Meda for Kartell
Makro
Of interest particularly to those involved with aging-in-place and universal design, LIFE, shower “for all,” packs plenty of function into an aesthetically minimalist product. Designed by Giulio Gianturco, the system features a solid-surface shower tray that sits flush with the floor and integrates a shower stool with lateral handles; the stool can be locked in place or unlocked for easy rotation. A technical wall contains all the basic shower fixtures but also a body dryer that reduces the need for toweling. The shower enclosure is transparent crystal.
Makro
Makro
Mutina
Celebrated designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby looked to and experimented with simple geometric forms for Puzzle. The resulting eight patterned tiles can be combined with solid-color units in infinite permutations to create a dynamic, one-off composition on the floor or wall. Puzzle comes in eight chromatic palettes.
Barber and Osgerby for Mutina
USM
USM is best known for its Haller modular shelving, which has been used in countless ways in homes and contract settings all around the world. But for Milan Design Week, it showcased storage units of a smaller scale. Inos boxes, designed in collaboration with Swiss studio atelier oï, are anthracite or light-gray polyester-fleece containers with modular interior compartments that help organize everything from LEGO blocks and pencils to towels and socks.
USM
Further playing off of the Haller system’s modularity, Inos boxes are available in four different sizes that can be combined perfectly as a cohesive set and come with lids that enable them to be stacked.