POP 006/ Sunday, 31 May 2009

Today’s Pop is Laura. She likes magazines nearly as much as furniture. If ever she should go missing it would be because the shelving that groans under the weight of her collection of periodicals finally gave way, spilling a mountain of paper on top of her. She worries about this happening often. But still can’t stop buying more magazines.

 

 

 

Okay, as promised, here is my (entirely subjective) top ten products from the Milan Furniture Fair. These are the things I’ll be undoubtedly writing about again over the next few months, made by the designers I’ll be most probably harassing in the name of journalism. In the interests of keeping the list fresh and entertaining I’ve left out some of the bigger hits of the fair simply because you’ll be seeing them everywhere anyway and instead I have tried to include some of the new, exciting and less likely.

 

 

1. The ‘Truly Dutch’ collection by

Scholten & Baijings .
This group of crafty-cum-surreal furniture and accessories was so good the adrenalin started pumping. I’ve been a backbench fan of Scholten & Baijings for a while now but this work will undoubtedly bring them to the attention of others. The idea behind the collection was to rework elements of traditional Dutch craft into contemporary pieces. Not a new idea by any means but this was beautifully executed and nowhere near the pastiche we’ve gotten used to seeing.

 

 

2. ‘Paper Cloud’ by

Tokujin Yoshioka for Moroso.
He can do no wrong in my eyes. Yoshioka’s ability to produce truly poetic designs again and again is astounding. There are few contemporary designers who produce such a coherent and clear body of work as he and this simple seat almost looks as though it has been plucked from a design icon’s back catalogue rather than newly launched – it’s that fitting. Also note the use of paper, this year’s big material trend.

 

 

3. Light by

Nathalie Dewez .
Dewez is part of a collective of Brussels based designers (who exhibit under the name A1) who put on one of the fair’s best young talent shows. Dewez’s pendant light is elegant with an industrial, pop art edge. But I also liked Sylvain Willenz’s ‘Candy’ collection and, in fact, most of the work on show here.

 

 

4.

Moustache .
This new French manufacturing company launched with a great collection of covetable design pieces; Inga Sempe ’s ‘Armoire Souple’ and ‘Vapeur’ light (both constructed from pleated paper) in particular.

 

 

5. ‘Table Bench Chair’ by Sam Hecht for

Established & Sons .
Part Japanese minimal, part shaker with a whiff of Thonet and a dose of the carpenters bench. This seat series was well proportioned, made full use of a beautiful wood and was just clever enough without being overly conceptual.

 

 

6. ‘Houdini’ by

Stefan Diez for

15

E15 .
This was the year of the quiet chair. There were endless interpretations of the simple multi-functional wooden chair. You’ll hear about those designed by Jasper Morrison and Konstantin Grcic somewhere else I expect. But one of my favourites of the bunch was this beautiful, discreet, but ever-so-slightly graphic take on the trend by Stefan Diez.

 

 

7. ‘Le Cours des Choses’ by Charlotte Talbot,

ECAL
The graduate shows were strong and ECAL’s was the best. The shift of significance from conceptual to industrial design will be propelled further if schools like ECAL keep producing great students like this years alumini. Charlotte Talbot’s series of wooden furniture was excellent – the contrast between the oddity of the small concrete bases and the elemental wooden structures was just right.

 

 

8. ‘Himmeli Chandelier’ by

Paul Loebach .
There is something about Loebach’s work I really like and therefore I think this new talent is one to watch. I was struck by how this bold, solid light family (which reminds me of highwaymen and inns of old) just seemed too ‘big’ a design for Loebach’s tiny stand. I think a bigger platform awaits him.

 

 

9. ‘Revolving Chandelier’ by

Bertjan Pot .
Wonderfully weird, the Revolving Chandelier will not be to everyone’s tastes. But Pot is a designer who dances to his own tune and I enjoy most of what he does because of it. Here, the excess energy emitted from halogen (heat), makes the chandelier rotate. It’s a limited edition, not least because halogen bulbs will soon be extinct – a matter Pot has painstakingly taken the time to point to here.

 

 

10. ‘Extrusion’ tables by

Konstantin Grcic by Bd Barcelona .
Architectural, masculine, heavyweight in every sense, these tables were a real tour de force for Grcic who is fast becoming the designer to beat. Indulgently industrial and wildly attractive because of it, this collection could not have been any stronger.

 

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