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By William Weathersby, Jr.
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Click photos
for a closer look. |
Arresting designs were everywhere
at the Fair. Ezri Tarazi’s New Baghdad table was
part of a showcase of furniture from Israel |
Philippe Starck created gilt
gun lamps for Flos |
Ron Arad’s chairs floated
at Moroso |
A Mini Cooper was clad in a Bisazza-tile tartan. |
Pierced, punched, die-cut, lacerated:
Many products unveiled at last April’s Milan Furniture
Fair displayed a penchant for perforation. Louise Campbell’s
Prince chair for Hay, for example, featured cutouts that evoked
a child’s paper snowflake made in crafts class, but its
black rubber surface put a sinister spin on the whimsy (page
250). Ron Arad’s Ripple chair for Moroso (this page,
bottom right) offered a curvaceous bucket seat with side openings
that created a sculptural profile. Also for Moroso, Konstantin
Grcic’s Osorom ottoman plied white molded plastic into
a latticelike surface (page 246).
Vibrant colors and adventurous shapes
again stood out from the standard Minimalist fare. The Campana
brothers created chair backs inspired by brooms for Edra,
offered in rainbow shades (page 246). The prolific Patricia
Urquiola, with no less than a dozen products and installations
on display for various manufacturers, favored tracery etched
into vibrant-hued Plexiglas for Kartell’s tables (page
246).
Architects also climbed aboard the furniture-design
bandwagon. The new British company Established & Sons
unveiled its line, including a swooping table by Zaha Hadid
(page 246). Ben van Berkel made the rounds with a circular
seating unit at Walter Knoll (page 248). On the following
pages, see more of the highlights from Milan.
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