Can products nurture the people and place that produced them? Ten signature designers taking part in the Design for a Living World exhibition show how it might be done.
The design world is a bit like Cher, the Alicia Silverstone character, in Clueless. Wrapped up for too long in baubles and bright pretty things, it has come to find a social conscience.
An early sign of mood change came two years ago when the Cooper-Hewitt in New York mounted "Design for the Other 90%," an exhibit of products that serve the needs of people living in developing countries, such as the Lifestraw water purifier, shown above.
Tomorrow the museum opens "Design for a Living World," which could be seen as a sequel to the earlier show. Shrewdly timed to coincide with this week's lead-up to Icff, the country's premier design event, "Design for a Living World" addresses a topic that has...
The design world is a bit like Cher, the Alicia Silverstone character, in Clueless. Wrapped up for too long in baubles and bright pretty things, it has come to find a social conscience.
An early sign of mood change came two years ago when the Cooper-Hewitt in New York mounted "Design for the Other 90%," an exhibit of products that serve the needs of people living in developing countries, such as the Lifestraw water purifier, shown above.
Tomorrow the museum opens "Design for a Living World," which could be seen as a sequel to the earlier show. Shrewdly timed to coincide with this week's lead-up to Icff, the country's premier design event, "Design for a Living World" addresses a topic that has...
- 5/13/2009
- by Michael Cannell
- Fast Company
In this slideshow we present the best images from our 2009 Milan Furniture Fair coverage, whether from news or photos taken by Fast Company's Milan Photo Brigade.
Mauricio Ribotti, head of Design Partners--who headed up this year's Zona Tortona expansion--at the Nhow Hotel. - Jill Singer
At Moooi's Superstudio space, there were girls dressed as French maids keeping the white floor spotless. - Jill Singer
Czech glass artist Borek Sipek presents his intricate glass Arcimboldo table at Spazio Krizia. - Janet Eastman
Light artist Ingo Maurer at his display mocking excessive light bulb regulations: "How to protect yourself from stupid rules. Use a Euro condom." He has a condom covering a light bulb. - Janet Eastman
Teresa Sapey's Luce dal Lino project strings 100 lanterns above Via Monte Napoleone - Tim McKeough
Tokujin Yoshioka on his Paper Cloud sofa for Moroso. - Janet Eastman
Murray Moss isn't exhibiting this year, but scouting...
Mauricio Ribotti, head of Design Partners--who headed up this year's Zona Tortona expansion--at the Nhow Hotel. - Jill Singer
At Moooi's Superstudio space, there were girls dressed as French maids keeping the white floor spotless. - Jill Singer
Czech glass artist Borek Sipek presents his intricate glass Arcimboldo table at Spazio Krizia. - Janet Eastman
Light artist Ingo Maurer at his display mocking excessive light bulb regulations: "How to protect yourself from stupid rules. Use a Euro condom." He has a condom covering a light bulb. - Janet Eastman
Teresa Sapey's Luce dal Lino project strings 100 lanterns above Via Monte Napoleone - Tim McKeough
Tokujin Yoshioka on his Paper Cloud sofa for Moroso. - Janet Eastman
Murray Moss isn't exhibiting this year, but scouting...
- 4/28/2009
- Fast Company
One thing you'll notice at the Milan Furniture Fair is how totally international the designs appear---and I don't necessarily mean that as a compliment. The designs, and the designers could have come from anywhere. Modernist architects used to dream of an "International Style," and that ethos now permeates product design. But one outstanding exception is Moroso, which more than any other design house has put ethnically inspired design centerstage, in a niche dominated by works that all look vaguely related. Here's a sampling of what they presented this year:
Philippe Bestenheider is Swiss, but he presented a series of chairs inspired by traditional African prints. The stubby legs bring to mind Senufo Stools from Ivory Coast:
Tord Boontje is synonymous with the frilly, flowery trend. But he too picked up the African theme, in his Shadowy Armchair:
Stephen Burks--a young African-American New Yorker who has frequently referenced Africa in his designs--also presented African-inspired stools,...
Philippe Bestenheider is Swiss, but he presented a series of chairs inspired by traditional African prints. The stubby legs bring to mind Senufo Stools from Ivory Coast:
Tord Boontje is synonymous with the frilly, flowery trend. But he too picked up the African theme, in his Shadowy Armchair:
Stephen Burks--a young African-American New Yorker who has frequently referenced Africa in his designs--also presented African-inspired stools,...
- 4/24/2009
- by Cliff Kuang
- Fast Company
At this year’s furniture fair, the stitched and artisanal rally against mass production.
When the Milan Furniture Fair opens next week in the preposterously grand fairgrounds on the city outskirts, 200,000 designers, editors and buyers with iPhones at the ready will prowl in buddy-system teams among half a dozen exhibition halls crammed with polycarbonate chairs, laser cut tables and other mass-produced furniture. Northern Italy prides itself on its furniture industry, and selling it is what this fair is largely about. But in the absence of a driving design movement, visitors will see a conspicuous increase in stitching, embroidery and other hand-crafted items as designers react against mass-market globalism and tune into a new appreciation for homespun virtues. Tiring of stylistic tricks with a glossy sheen, the design community is gravitating to simpler qualities with a personal touch, like the traditionally woven poufs (above) by Donna Wilson.
The trend has been quietly building for some time,...
When the Milan Furniture Fair opens next week in the preposterously grand fairgrounds on the city outskirts, 200,000 designers, editors and buyers with iPhones at the ready will prowl in buddy-system teams among half a dozen exhibition halls crammed with polycarbonate chairs, laser cut tables and other mass-produced furniture. Northern Italy prides itself on its furniture industry, and selling it is what this fair is largely about. But in the absence of a driving design movement, visitors will see a conspicuous increase in stitching, embroidery and other hand-crafted items as designers react against mass-market globalism and tune into a new appreciation for homespun virtues. Tiring of stylistic tricks with a glossy sheen, the design community is gravitating to simpler qualities with a personal touch, like the traditionally woven poufs (above) by Donna Wilson.
The trend has been quietly building for some time,...
- 4/15/2009
- by Michael Cannell
- Fast Company
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