Once again Moooi set up their Milan installation in the huge space inside via Savona 56 in Tortona Distrct of Milan
Here the new Moooi collections were presented against integral backdrops re-creating evocative atmospheres of extinct animals.
Moooi’s co-founder and creative director Marcel Wanders
At the entrance to the area is the Mega Chandelier, a custom-made lighting composition of a unique selection of lamps from the Moooi products collection – an explosion of beauty and creativity in the classic form of a chandelier.
For Salone 2018, Moooi presented three exhibitions under one roof
1 ) ‘ The Museum of Extinct Animals ’
The star of the 2018 Moooi exhibition was the Museum of Extinct Animals, which paid tribute to those animals who never made it to the 21st Century
‘The Museum of Extinct Animals’ featured textures, shapes and patterns to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance diversity holds in nature.
Novelties and product extensions were presented alongside new fabrics, leathers, wall covering and carpets, bringing the essence of some mysterious creatures back to life!
“ We searched museums around the world and found the most incredible drawings of bygone animals, documented by explorers on their travels. So much of what has lived is lost and can only live in our memories and imagination.
We want to share our excitement, wonder and love, and try humbly, against our better judgement, to hold on to what is lost and celebrate it coming back alive again ” ……………… Marcel Wanders
You could learn more about the unfortunate stories of 10 extinct animal species by synchronising your phone with the audio-guide app
The Extinct Animal Wallcovering collection broadens Moooi’s design horizons, by adding a new vertical dimension, which elevates its 360° world of creative luxury.
An extraordinary wall covering collection was inspired by 10 newly discovered drawings of extinct animals made by explorers from the past.
These sketches ooze with the unprecedented beauty of exotic, untamed creatures.
The 2018 edition’s theme is ‘Museum of Extinct Animals’ and features a series of imaginary animals that might have once existed in a time far gone.
Rive Roshan was asked to create a world to be inhabited by these rare creatures.
Moooi commissioned Roshan to design a bespoke repeating wallpaper pattern of 2 meters by 1.5 meters – a lush and complex pattern was designed to unify the different animals in one design and to create a centrepiece in the Milan exhibition
The collection featured 10 wall coverings inspired by the fur, plumage or skin of extinct animals, which the designers found while researching old museum illustrations of bygone creatures.
The Extinct Animals wall coverings are made from a wide range of materials, including suede, metal foil, paper weave, raw jute and moiré textile.
Each piece is named after an extinct animal, including the dwarf rhino, armoured boar, dodo, umbrella squid, caligraphy bird, flying coral fish, blushing sloth, aristo quagga, blooming seadragon and bearded leopard.
Patterns are based on the colour-palette and texture of the animals, as depicted in the drawings.
The first wallpaper in the series is the Aristo Quagga, named after a creature that resembles a zebra. Inspired by its “delicate features and royal appearance”, the pattern is gridded in a brown colour with faint black markings.
The Armoured Boar is printed on gauze and Japanese paper to mimic the allegedly shiny coat of the bygone creature and has yellow and blue accents.
Meanwhile, the Dodo Pavone bases its pattern on the soft plumage of a dodo-like bird and features a three-dimensional motif of grey, blue, beige and white.
A print inspired by the Blushing Sloth also features in the collection and has a grey-brown flock finish to resemble the animal’s fur, while the Caligraphy Bird wallcovering is a blue colour with calligraphy swirls.
The Blooming Seadragon, for example, a sort of very colorful seahorse, has become an inspiration for stools, rugs, chandeliers, tables and wallpaper.
In close collaboration with design brand Arte International, the animals’ features and textures are poured into a collection of luxurious wall coverings, made of the most exquisite materials, such as three- dimensional soft suede, real metal foil, paper weave, raw jute, moiré textile etc.
Each pattern is inspired by the characteristics of one animal.
Striking combinations of colours, features and patterns of its fur, plumage or skin bring it vividly back to life on our walls.
Moooi Carpets offers a rich and refined carpet collection in different materials with an extensive assembly of unique, iconic and breathtaking designs.
The Extinct Animal collection is a new family within the Signature collection.
Each carpet is inspired by one of the extinct animals.
The colours, structure and patterns of their fur, plumage or skin comes vividly back to life. Legends and stories that surround these creatures from the past also find a place at the heart of every carpet.
Obon tables by Simone Bonanni
Liberty Lounger by Atelier Van Lieshout
2) ‘ Moooi Through the Eyes of ….…’
‘Moooi Through the Eyes of…’, an installation by interior designer Megan Grehl and Concrete Architectural Associates, who created two very different interiors, each reflecting their designers’ own unique philosophy and aesthetics.
Meshmatics Chandelier by Rick Tegelaar
New York studio Megan Grehl, investigated the new dialogue between people and common areas
megan grehl at moooi
b) Dutch collective Concrete, Architectural Associates is a multidisciplinary company composed by 49 professionals who gave a completely personal touch to Moooi products.
Concrete was invited by Moooi to design a functional space under the assignment “Moooi Through the Eyes of…“.
Concrete decided to move en-masse to Milan and create a temporary office.At Moooi Milan, Concrete actually goes to work in this specially designed office.
Concrete brought their team, their projects, sketch paper and inspiration to the fair.
Changing scenery is good for our brains: the more you travel, the more inspiration you get. Everywhere we go, each and every city helps to generate new concepts, new ideas, new ways of looking.
Concrete provides solutions, no grand theories or abstract ideas, just things that work.
So we created our actual functioning office in Milan during the furniture fair with the entire selection of Moooi products at our disposal, including some custom-pieces and a few of our all-time favorites: the Dear Ingo, the Prop lights and the Delft Blue Plate carpet.
Something Like This Sofa by Maarten Baas
marcel wanders and sofa designer maarten baas
3) A Life Extraordinary
A Life Extraordinary is an exhibition of new designs and product extensions experienced alongside Moooi’s previously released products
Starting from the aesthetic characteristics of the individual animals, Moooi reconstructed single settings of furniture and accessories for each of the ten extinct creatures, visible in the paintings of the central corridor.
Every single carpet, wallcovering and fabric possesses unique characteristics like every animal species in our wonderful world.
Their exotic appearance, striking features, cuteness and all their essence are absorbed into Moooi’s new design language.
Iconic Eyes by Bernhard Dessecker
New products released included –
40 Winks’ by IDEO and Marcel Wanders
Liberty Lounger by Atelier Van Lieshout
Something Like This Sofa by Maarten Baas
Obon tables by Simone Bonanni
Mega Chandelier by Moooi Works
Chalice Metallic Grey by Edward van Vlietand
Coppélia Suspended Black by Arihiro Miyake
New Wallcoverings by Arte
Extinct Animal Fabrics by the Moooi team.
40 Winks by IDEO & Marcel Wanders
About Megan Grehl
Megan Grehl is an international design collective founded in 2014 that specializes both in architectural and interior design, with experience ranging from boutique commercial spaces to bespoke residences.
Our projects are designed through a holistic approach, with both our architecture and interior design teams working closely together. We strive to find the perfect marriage between interior and exterior through the discovery of a unified language for each project. Our practice is grounded in sculptural gestures, unexpected proportions, and layered textures that seduce the mind, body, and soul.
Collectively, our seven-person studio is proficient in English, Mandarin, French, Spanish, German and Korean. We pride ourselves in working closely with our clients and meeting their deliverables, with having completed projects in Shanghai, New York, Los Angeles, and Paris, we are eager to bring our skills and talent to other locations, domestic and abroad.
Megan Grehl recently completed a gut renovation in the highly esteemed Apthorp Building in the Upper West Side in New York City, and is currently working on projects in San Francisco, Washington D.C., New York, and Milan.
About Concrete Architectural Associates
Since 1997 Concrete Architectural Associates has developed concepts in architecture, interior design, urban development and brand development.
Working with a team of 50+ multidisciplinary creatives for corporations and institutions. Concrete loves provoking, confusing, philosophising, scale models, haute cuisine, burgers, and (most of all) shattering dogmas.
Provides results. No grand theories or abstract ideas. Just things that work. Wants the best answers, not the easiest solutions.
Concrete likes to let the work do the talking.
Next to URBY, Projects include citizenM hotels worldwide, W Hotels in London and Verbier, Zoku Lofts, Mongkok Skypark, Castell D’emporda, Supperclub worldwide, Rituals stores worldwide and currently working on W Hotel in Mumbai, Virgin Cruises, W Hotel in Osaka, Andaz Munchen and more.
About Moooi
For more than ten years Moooi has inspired and seduced the world with sparkling and innovative designs.
The venture founded in 2001 by Marcel Wanders and Casper Vissers is named after their native Dutch word for beautiful – the third ‘o’ in the brand name stands for an extra value in terms of beauty & uniqueness.
From 1 September 2015 onwards Robin Bevers assumed the position of Moooi CEO, taking over this role from Moooi co-founder Casper Vissers.
Since 2013 the company’ art direction is in the hands of Marcel Wanders and Desirée de Jong. Two creative souls that lead the company’s creative potential.
Wanders and Vissers maintain an influence in all inclusions to the brand, being both responsible for the overall design selection.
In addition to Marcel Wanders’ designs, the Moooi portfolio contains a range of work from other nationally and internationally recognized designers.
The collection’ style is exclusive, daring, playful, exquisite and based on the belief that design is a question of love.
Timeless objects of beauty which posses the uniqueness and character of antiques combined with the freshness of modern times.
This fusion brings the brand to focus on the production of iconic objects.
With this unique and iconic mix of lighting, furniture and accessories, which outlast everyday interiors, Moooi creates interior environments decorated with an inspiring variety of patterns and colours to embrace any kind of space and make people of different ages, cultures and personalities fall in love with their homes.
This unexpected home vision brings to life a whole world of new ideas and inspiring complete Moooi settings to brighten up daily life with a touch of magic.
They represent places where visions converge and where everyone can stop and feel comfortable within the perfect eclectic mix of culture & experiences that makes a home environment more beautiful and unique.
![Minotti [pt 3/4] @ Salone Milan 2017](https://www.dedeceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/minotti3-1-440x449.jpg)