Milan Design Week is an annual festival that returned to Milan this April, with as a main event, The Salone del Mobile, which runs from April 18 to 23, 2023, at the Fiera Milano exhibition venue. Over 370,000 people attended the furniture fair this year, while thousands of design studios presented furniture, lighting, appliances, kitchen, bathroom, outdoor and workstation products. To highlight furniture and object design and the broader context of Milanese architecture and culture, many architectural offices collaborated with various businesses to make architect-designed items and construct architectural installations.
Reputable architects participated in the week-long event as they do every year, using products, furniture, and installations to share their expertise, address some of the most pressing issues facing the field, and demonstrate how their work can benefit the environment and society. Many firmly established architecture studios, from Foster + Partners, Mario Cucinella, and Hassell, designed various products. Furthermore, architects such as The New Raw, Snøhetta, and Studio Etienne Bastormagi have designed products focusing on efficient and sustainable systems that can inform future decision-making.
Read on to discover 8 products designed by architects for Milan Design Week, with a description from the architects.
Seating Design
Knotty by The New Raw
“Knotty” — a collection of playful benches with a bold and tactile texture. Inspired by knitting techniques, the project treats plastic waste as a continuous thread of material that folds, twists, and loops to create an intriguing tactile surface that resembles textiles and invites users to touch it. The sculpted material texture, consisting of thick and seemingly soft knots, creates a tactile, permeable, and load-bearing surface for outdoor and indoor furniture or other architectural applications. “Knitted patterns” that increase functionality by allowing water drainage and avoiding internal structures can be upscaled and become ornaments and building units that embody a new digitally crafted materiality.
Social by Snohetta for Varier
Social is designed for the Norwegian ergonomic-focused furniture manufacturer Varier and is a dining chair informed by movement and interaction. The role and purpose of our homes have drastically changed during the last few years, and the kitchen and dining tables have become places where every aspect of life happens. Social adapts to this ever-changing context by facilitating movements for more natural interactions in work, play, creation, and social settings.
Tecla Chair by Mario Cucinella for Sawaya + Moroni
The structure’s single unitary shell, reminiscent of an upturned architectural cupola, houses the upholstered part of the seat and backrest, to which two further cushions are added by way of ensuring correct ergonomic support. The 3D printing technology already tested for the inhabitable space is now employed to create the furniture version of “Tecla” using recycled plastic. All processing and finishing stages are environmentally sound. “Tecla” represents a new generation of chair design, not only through the innovative technologies and sustainably sourced materials used in its production but in the way it evokes the idea of a self-contained “carved-out” space. It is an inherently architectural approach to furniture design.
SETA Stacking Chair by Foster + Partners for Mattiazzi
Made from sustainably sourced ash timber, the lightweight chair is solid and enduring. SETA, a stackable and armless timber chair, brings together an honesty of materiality with a deep understanding of CNC technology to create a unique piece of furniture Each surface is machined and curved to define its form. SETA offers solutions for various settings, from office and commercial to domestic uses. Well-being in the workplace has come into sharper focus as the desire for warmer, more tactile furniture.
System Design
MA Bathroom System by Foster + Partners for Falper
The MA range is defined by the pure volumetric geometry of various primary elements - basins, baths, storage cabinets, or mirrors - interconnected by fine stainless-steel stems. By deconstructing its constituent elements and distilling the essence of a bathroom down to the minimum, MA creates a flexible architectural framework onto which different elements can be added and reconfigured to suit a range of living spaces. Water is transported through an adaptable system of brushed steel stems, which can also serve as a stand for an illuminated mirror or a place to hang clothes or a towel. The timber storage elements have an efficient and tightly defined form. Drawers can be mounted on the front or sides, and the internal configuration can be flexibly planned according to personal preference. Other complementary elements, including a choice of mirrors and platforms, complete the range.
XYZ Office System by Foster + Partners for UNIFOR
Named after its distinctive x-shaped timber or aluminum post that forms the primary structure, the X shelving units can reconfigure any workspace, producing open partitions that allow clear lines of sight. The timber shelves bring warmth and tactility to any space, while the aluminum version has a clean, contemporary aesthetic. The Y Table is a lightweight, reconfigurable system that uses minimum material while offering maximum support. Its Y-shaped steel legs can be easily reconfigured to accommodate different seating arrangements and removed entirely for transportation or storage.
Lighting Design
(660.3 Degrees, Cast Poems) by Studio Etienne Bastormagi
Cast Poems is an exploration, a tactile journey between a material – aluminum- and all its potential. It is a reference to the melting point, which becomes the starting point of the conceptual approach of the collection. The objects presented include several lamps and a mirror, entirely made of metal. These large, folded metal sheets offer multiple proposals and a technical challenge to defy gravity and maintain the desired weightlessness. Stainless steel is used as structural elements – rods and cables – supporting aluminum casting made from CNC router molds.
ALE.01 by Hassell for Artemide
The ALE.01 pendant light exemplifies sustainability throughout its life cycle, both recyclable and made from recycled materials. The shell is made of a biocomposite material containing 30% natural wood fibers, mixed with a base of recycled polymers. The design salvages and reuses FSC-certified wood waste from the production of bottle stoppers for the spirits industry, reducing waste and use of natural resources while offering an environmentally conscious material replacement for plastic.
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's coverage of Milan Design Week 2023.
