The story you tell yourself about your world, your life, so often becomes your reality. It’s the same at the Milan furniture fair. It is impossible to see the number of things that are on display during the citywide plus fairgrounds event – or to go to all of the parties. So, each fairgoer’s experience is necessarily different, though there is a lot of overlap.
On Dezeen last week, Marcus Fairs claimed that “The star of Milan this year was Instagram” and this was certainly the first year that I used Instagram as the main tool with which to share in real time the show, and check what my friends and fellow journalists were seeing and doing. The fact that it feeds directly to twitter and facebook is also handy.
Seeing what others are doing inevitably also leads to the sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) which pervaded my time in Milan. (Apparently I’m not the only one – former Domus editor Joseph Grima based a whole experimental magazine on the idea this year called FOMO.) As I rushed from meeting to meeting, or precinct to precinct, I had the distinct sensation that there was something better, more exciting, happening elsewhere.
I needn’t have worried. This year, unlike previous years, there was no grand gesture – no huge installation, or architectural insertion or giant street sculpture – that was a must see. In previous years there would always be one thing that was the talk of Milan: Paola Navone’s cobalt blue installation for Barovier & Toso (which I put on the cover of my first issue of Artichoke magazine as editor), or Erwin Olaf’s photography with design installation for Moooi last year. That’s not to say that there wasn’t plenty to be inspired by this year. Innovative materials, conceptual design and beauty were in abundance. Emerging and lesser-known design took centre stage at Ventura Lambrate, much of it outstanding. The existing beauty of palaces, gardens and courtyards created beautiful settings for installations, parties and products, for example, Caesarstone at Palazzo Clerici and a number of exhibitors at Spazio Rossana Orlandi.
For me this year, it was the year of people. In the end, I interviewed 10 designers, curators and brand owners, as well as at least four more who I spoke with informally. Coupled with many catch ups with design journalist friends, and discussions with new contacts – architects, PR people, more journalists, designers – I had so many inspiring conversations that this is what formed my Milan story of 2014. I was left with an overwhelming feeling that the fair is not just made up of precincts, objects and installations, but that it is fuelled by passionate minds – not all of whom are designers, but all of whom have a shared love of design.
So, speaking with Patricia Moroso – about how she has built her brand, and the shared experience she has had with Patricia Urquiola in interpreting and bringing the brand to life, which inevitably led to a discussion of gender in a male-dominated industry – is a vitally important discussion about how design is shaped, and is just as important as any discussion with a designer.
Another highlight was Jay Osgerby of Barber Osgerby who was incredibly inspiring to interview – discussing movement in design for Vitra, and how he and Ed Barber have chased design in so many fields from furniture to architecture, designing coins, curating exhibitions, working on strategy. He admitted much of what drives them is about the “thrill of the chase”, as well as about being thoughtful about what the client really needs, in addition to their own design direction.
Other interviews this year include:
- Dutch trends futurist Li Edelkoort who spoke about how society and design interact including her new exhibition “Fetishism in Fashion”;
- French designer Ora Ito who spoke mainly about his mobile phone covers which use Kvadrat fabrics and are designed for detail – and have won IF and red dot awards;
- Benjamin Hubert who spoke mainly about his new products as well as his approach to design “with a conscience”;
- German designer Sebastian Herkner who spoke mainly about Banjooli, furniture made using traditional weaving techniques and fishing wire;
- Lorenza Luti of Kartell who spoke about the brand’s move from plastics to metal this year, how Kartell relates to fashion, how they use technology, how they link into celebrities like Lenny Kravitz;
- Knud Erik Hansen, owner of Carl Hansen and Son who had wonderful tales to tell about the Tadao Ando chair, working with Hans Wegner’s designs and a new collaboration with Paul Smith;
- Sam Hecht and Kim Colin from Industrial Facility who talked about their Herman Miller workstation concept Locale; and
- Australian curator Sarah King and three of the designers of The Other Hemisphere about Australian/NZ products including some inspired by bushfires as regenerative rather than destructive.
It is exciting to speak to so many inspirational people about what they love to do, to find out how they get their ideas, and about their own personal narratives that have resulted in products, exhibitions and more.
I will be posting more coverage of Milan, including profiles of some of the designers above, over the coming weeks.