Archive for May, 2015

Lighting the Sails @ Vivid Sydney 2015

Lighting the Sails @ Vivid Sydney 2015

This year, Vivid Live has commissioned multi-disciplinary design collective Universal Everything to create a new projected artwork for the sails of Sydney Opera House ( Vivid Live’s most public event.)

Founded 11 years ago by creative director Matt Pyke in Sheffield, England, the bold colour-friendly group thread their playful sense of discovery, anthropomorphic creation and digitally-crafted landscapes through each project.

Pyke and his globally-based team continue to play with new technologies to invent new forms of design and movement – all conceived from the same back garden shed where Universal Everything began.

Fashion Designers Turn Furniture Designers @ Salone Milan 2015

Fashion Designers Turn Furniture Designers @ Salone Milan 2015

Once again the big fashion houses positioned themselves in the midst of the Salone Furniture Fair in Milan – Monograms and furnishings – united by design. !

Fashion and furnishings come from two different worlds, but they share the intention to present their own take on comfort and elegance, and they are united by the same common denominator: design.

By collaborating with architects and furniture designers, fashion brands can gain the freedom to explore process and materials through more experimental applications.

Street Fashion Chic @ Salone Milan 2015

Street Fashion Chic @ Salone Milan 2015

Milan is a city of historic buildings and is dominated by the wonderful Gothic Cathedral and along with DaVinci’s Last Supper, fashion is one of Milan’s biggest draws.

For the confirmed shopholic, Milan offers one of the most concentrated shopping experiences in all Europe and is renowned for its’ position as a centre piece of high fashion as well as street style fashion

Taschen Store @ Salone Milan 2015

Taschen Store @ Salone Milan 2015

To co-incide with the Salone 2015 – Taschen opened its first Italian flagship store during Salone, in the historic center of Milan, in an area known for its independent bookstores

The interior design of the 120 sq metre museum like space is true to Taschen’s bold, eclectic spirit.

It fully embodies unique craftsmanship with cutting edge design and display components, all set to showcase extraordinary art and fashion talent from across the world.

Beyond The New Manifesto @ Salone Milan 2015

Beyond The New Manifesto @ Salone Milan 2015

One of the main talking points of this year’s Salone Milan 2015, was Beyond the New, a strongly worded manifesto critiquing the design industry, written by designer Hella Jongerius and theorist Louise Schouwenberg that challenged the state of contemporary design.

Jongerius and Schouwenberg argue forcefully that industrial design has become stagnant, with genuine innovation replaced by too great a reverence for commercialism and the production of new products for newness’ sake.

Beyond the New suggests design has become “an empty shell, devoid of meaning and substance” and deplores “the obsession with the New for the sake of the New”.

Auto (Mobile) Designs @ Salone Milan 2105

Auto (Mobile) Designs @ Salone Milan 2105

There was a time when car makers came to Milan merely to observe. A handful of the more advanced designers would visit the Salone to be inspired by the wider creative community.

However, this has been steadily changing, with an increasing number of car manufacturers partaking in the last few years – with mixed results.

Because of the level of innovation, vision, and prestige surrounding the Milan Furniture Fair, many automakers use this week-long event as a chance to build their brand.

Atelier Clerici @ Salone Milan 2015

Atelier Clerici @ Salone Milan 2015

Situated in one of Milan’s most distinguished palazzi, Palazzo Clerici, brought together designers, companies and institutions experimenting with new forms of living and making.

A diverse array of installations, micro-exhibitions and events organised by some of Europe’s most renowned designers and institutions animated Palazzo Clerici each day for the duration of the Salone.

Aesthetics of Misery @ Salone Milan 2015

Aesthetics of Misery @ Salone Milan 2015

At the baroque Lombard 18th century Palazzo Litta, project curators Andrea Branzi and Michele De Lucchi presented 16 projects of “social environment”, based on the concept of misery, a subject always expressed in arts, cinema and literature but basically alien to the Salone design culture.

“Aesthetics of Misery” was born as a result of a postgraduate experimental workshop at the Politecnico di Milano, overseen by Francesca Balena Arista and Marco De Santi, during which students were asked to take on the theme of misery, almost always excluded from aesthetics design.

Whether the project is a building, a chair or a textile… they are each expressions of the same search for a harmonious balance between usefulness and beauty. ( 1954 )

- Hans Knoll -

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