Milan 2013: Beyond Rho

It's always a cheap thrill to see a first timers reaction to the Fair. They knew it was going to be big, but THIS big??? Then they realise they've barely scratched the surface. There's a lot more to see and do (and a lot more walking) in the city.

The consensus this year is that the city was a little subdued, and we'd have to agree. There didn't seem to be that persistent urge to keep going, going because you were going to miss something. This was partly to do with the fact there were less installations and satellite shows but also because they seem slightly more organised in geographical clusters than ever before. Brera, Tortona and the increasingly commercial Lambrate areas seemed to contain the vast majority of the action, saving on shoe leather.

In Brera, designjunction presented EDIT in the impressive Pelota space. A collection that could (mostly) be summed up as "Brits Abroad" it proved designjunction is a serious player and not just in the London design scene. A shot across the bow for their LDF rivals, and a taster of what's to come at The Sorting Office in September, EDIT was a relaxed atmosphere with a diverse group of exhibitors.

Around the corner, Dilmos gallery presented Glassworks by Nendo. Thoughtful and as minimal as you would expect from the prolific design studio, the exhibition presented Nendo products for brands such as Glas Italia, Baccarat and Lasvit alongside custom glass vessels.      

Woomin Park presented the Memphis-referencing Haze Series in the basement at Spazio Rossana Orlandi, while outside in the courtyard Bergaform from Sweden presented their new direction with products by Claesson Koivisto Rune, Nendo, Luca Nichetto and Relay favourite Jonas Wagell.

MOST conceived and anchored by Tom Dixon returned to the museum of Science and Technology for the second time. Brands including Lensvelt, Resident from New Zealand ans Sander Mulder spread out across this sprawling campus and found their own niches amongst the steam trains and ships. A hugely impressive space, it stole the show with Lensvelt with Studio Job the only exhibitor to stage a presentation capable of competing with the space. 

Job Office by Lensvelt and Studio Job at MOST. Image taken from Lensvelt with thanks

Finally to Lambrate, which was conceived a few short years ago as a mix of experimental young designers, design schools and young brands and now suddenly there are also more established companies hoping the cool would rub off on them. Rumours that young designers are already being priced out of the area are worrying. Where is left for them to go? 

Studio WM from Rotterdam presented Reflecting In Colour, a series of lights and tables with soft subtle colour gradients. In the same location, Lex Pott presented new versions of his renowned True Colours copper work and Earnest Studio presented All Of A Piece, a collaboration with Dana Cannam Design - an interchangeable table top collection in walnut, marble and granite (all of these materials were in abundance in Milan this year).

Earnest Studio

Lex Pott

Japanese manufacturer Karimoku New Standard collaborated with Italian "food designer collective" Arabeschi di Latte to present Kitchen Library, an experimental kitchen mixing an artisanal approach with technology and a research library.

COS collaborated with Bonsoir Paris to create a concept store which was more about the space than the product (but you could still buy the product if something caught your eye)

And finally, to the stunning Villa Necchi and Belvedere, an exhibition organised by Fabrica. 10 designers were dispatched to 10 "of the most stunning locations in Italy" and each produced an object using materials found in that area. Below is the space divider by Charlotte Juillard which reproduces the windows of the San Fruttuoso Abbey in Liguria from three distinct phases in it's history. 

And, that's all folks for our Milan 2013 roundup. See you same time, same place next year!

Mitab's MiStand at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2013

Mitab presented a new stand concept at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2 weeks ago (how time flies). A variation on their successful "Stand On Your Own" concept, MiStand sees the responsibility passed to a young architect or designer to present their perception of the brand. This year, Jonas Wagell was selected and he responded in his characteristically colourful way. Primary colours sprang out from a soft grey background, catching your eye and attention.

New on the stand for 2013 was the Mute sofa by Joel Karlsson. A long time collaborator with Mitab (his products include Tweed, Shadow and Anywhere) Mute is a companion piece to the Stereo sofa. Featuring the same distinctive Button detail, Mute is a high back sofa for modern working. A private hub without the expense or restraints of partition walls! Mute is available as a 1, 2 or 3 seater with frame colour and upholstery of your choice.

Also on the stand was the Boet stool by Note Design Studio we launched at designjunction in September. What visitors to the stand didn't see was the new prototype Boet Bench - you had to visit Note's own Open show to see that. Fresh off the production line, just in time for the show opening, Boet Bench will be available later in the year. 

Boet Bench at Note Open 2013

Raster, the acoustic panel by Asshoff & Brogård, which launched last year, was shown in the new Leaf pattern. Raster can also be ordered with custom pattern and/or any colour you like.

For a complete tour of the stand, which included products like Risto, Cumulus and Highway Lounge, check out (and like) our Facebook album. 

#YoungSweden at designjunction

London Design Festival came, saw, conquered and has already left the building. The 10th anniversary of the LDF also marked the 2nd outing for designjunction.

Moving to a new venue, the former Royal Mail sorting office on New Oxford Street, designjunction has mushroomed from its initial incarnation in 2011. Visitors and exhibitors alike were staggered both by the scale of the building and just how quickly designjunction has grown. Featuring top quality pop up shops, flash factories, temporary bars and restaurants as well as a high standard of trade exhibitors, we presented Young Sweden and were delighted to be involved.

Focusing on young designers like Jonas Wagell, Form Us With Love and Joel Karlsson working with older, established brands like Mitab, Ӧrsjӧ and Trӓullit, Young Sweden was an opportunity to showcase the design talent coming from Sweden. It also served to highlight the bonds between some of our differing brands.

Note Design Studio are a design collective we've mentioned before. Back in February, a prototype of their Boet stool featured in the Work in Progress show curated by Jonas Wagell. Now, it is being produced by Mitab and we took great pride in launching it at designjunction. Available in 2 heights, the contrast between the rounded cork seat and the smooth metal frame drew many admiring glances. This is the first collaboration between Note and Mitab, but probably won't be the last. In February they will design the Greenhouse area of the Stockholm Furniture Fair and they just may have another product launching with one of our brands, but sssssh....it's top secret for now.

We also showed the Trӓullit Dekor acoustic hexagons by Form Us With Love for the first time in the UK. In just over 4 hours and using 300+ hexagons, our lovely intern Liz created a real showstopper. People gravitated towards the installation and couldn't help but touch it.

Daniel Svahn's Quiet Riot screens were also a UK first, and complimented Jonas Wagell's Montmartre Bar series.

While Jonas Bohlin may not be the youngest designer featured on the stand, we feel his Kvist is a young design, and as he has had a prominent role in educating the next generation of designers, he is more than deserving of his place. 
 

The rough copper of Kvist, the warm cork of Boet and the woodwool of Trӓullit made for a very tactile stand and visitors couldn't resist running their hands over them.

Stockholm 2012: Exploring the City

As always there was so much to see and do outside of the Fair, as part of the umbrella Stockholm Design Week, there was little time to worry about the cold. You just had to get on with it.

Squeezing through hoarding, stepping over cables and skirting around cement mixers is not the usual way into an exhibition, but that as exactly how you gained entry to Work In Progress, a group show organised by Axel Bjurstrӧm and Jonas Wagell in the building site that will soon become MOOD Stockholm. Designers, some high profile and others on the way up, presented prototypes and finished products with sketches and stories explaining the thought process behind them. Folkform presented some details behind their exquisite Suburban Skyline series of lighting in brass. Matti Klenell exhibited his Lempi everyday glasses for iittala and Note Design Studio showed their barstool Boet, which they designed and produced for the Johan & Nyström coffee shop in Helsinki, for which they designed the interiors. 

Note Design Studio are arguably the designers to have raised their profile most this Design Week. Interior and product designers, the 5 designers behind Note mounted a show entitled Marginal Notes #2. Sketches and ideas scribbled in the margins of their notebooks over the past year were re-examined and brought to life as a way to communicate what makes them tick. Simple shapes, bright colours and punched metal sheets were the order of the day. The wire benches reminiscent of logs on sawbucks were particularly memorable.

Marginal Notes #2 has received a lot of interest in the blogosphere and the word is spreading. If you would like to know a bit more, then check out this interview with Susanna Wåhlin, one fifth of Note, on Wallpaper Style File. (If you listen very carefully you will also hear the correct pronunciation of Ӧrsjӧ!)

In the same area there was a blink and you miss it open studio/exhibition called DOWN. In an underground garage Fredrik Färg and Simon Klenell presented work alongside their studio-mates for one afternoon only. Precision timing was called for, but we just made it!

Form us With Love presented their Form Us With Friends show for the third time, this time on the island of Skeppsholmen, in association with the Architecture museum. New collaborations with 5 companies saw innovative ways to use reconstituted quartz with the Silo vases for Consetino and flat pack furniture for new company One Nordic. 

  

As mentioned in a previous post, "posh flat pack" was a mini trend throughout the week, and the Bento chair can snap together in 4 easy steps, without the need for tools or head-scratching. Obviously inspired by the work of Aalto, Bento chair and table are the first products for One Nordic, which will only be available online. 

Finally, one of the last things we saw before heading for the airport was also one of our favourites. New works by Mats Theselius were shown at the Sebastian Schild gallery, including a series of wood and copper lighting and a new chair produced by Kӓllemo. The chair comes with an interesting history. After visiting the church of Sankt Petri i Klippan designed by Sigurd Lewerentz, Mats noticed the copper roof had been replaced, so called Kӓllemo with an idea. Using the copper sheets from the roof, Mats created "Hommage á Sigurd Lewerentz", a signed and limited edition. 123 pieces are available, because that's how many copper sheets were used on the original roof.

The 2012 Mitab Collection is here

2012 is our first full year representing Mitab and it is a delight to kick things off with such a strong collection. Six new products from 5 designers, all with that Mitab edge, shows their commitment to supporting young talent.

Jonas Wagell continues his collaboration with Mitab with a brand new sofa system and new forms for the Montmartre series.

Cumulus is a new sofa for lobbies and restaurants that combines the practical requirements of a contract environment with the more generous and inviting appearance of a domestic sofa. Wagell's distinctive and playful aesthetics (literally) take the edge off the strictures of public area seating. Single, two seater and corner units can be combined in a variety of formats and an extensive selection of fabrics to ensure your Cumulus is as unique as the cloud that gave it it's name. Cirrus pillows optional!   

Jonas also find time to add some new pieces to the Montmartre family. Montmartre Bar keeps the familiar splayed leg and rounded foot of the original table but extends it to a barstool. The turned wooden seat and the beautifully considered footrest make Montmartre Bar extremely comfortable. The corresponding table comes with coat and bag hooks for peace of mind and added comfort.  

You can also have a low stool at 46h cms which would work perfectly with the original Montmartre table.

Joel Karlsson has worked with Mitab for several years now and is fond of archetypes. Simple, unfussy silhouettes that do exactly what it says on the tin. Shadow storage units are a first for Mitab. The Shadow table is perfect for meeting rooms, so it makes sense the storage should come from the same family. In two sizes and available in any colour you like, Shadow will fit seamlessly into any meeting room.

In 2009 Daniel Svahn designed the Mitab stand for the Stockholm Fair via the Stand On Your Own program and in 2012 he was back with his first product designed for Mitab. Quiet Riot clearly references a barricade, a brutal yet effective and functional piece of design. Available in 2 formats, portrait and landscape, with 4 fabric panels per side, Quiet Riot acts as both a room divider and notice board.

Office 4 Ideas, aka o4i are a multidisciplinary design studio based in Stockholm. Risto is their first collaboration with Mitab. The objective for the project was to create a slimline, refined and ultimately comfortable stacking chair for meeting and restaurant environments. There are no visible fixings, allowing for incredibly efficient stacking. A mesh back with upholstered seat and optional removable upholstery are all contained within a small footprint making Risto perfect for modern business. 

Raster is new concept in acoustic panelling. Designed by Asshoff & Brogård and inspired by modern architecture, Raster is a flexible panel in rock wool and recycled aluminium. The perforations in the aluminium are made with CNC and over time standard patterns will be added to the range.

Mitab stand, photo courtesy of Architonic

Mitab will join Ӧrsjӧ and Mitab at Clerkenwell Design Week in May. Don't forget to register for your chance to see the new products in the flesh. 

Ӧrsjӧ collection 2012

The Stockholm Furniture and Northern Light Fairs have just finished and the immediate vox pop response to the new Ӧrsjӧ collection has been amazing. New products from new designers and new family members to compliment popular pieces made for an interesting display, with something for everyone.

Jonas Wagell is definitely a name to watch. With products for Mitab, Muuto, his own collection for Hello Industry and now Ӧrsjӧ, he is one of the fastest rising names in the Scandinavian design scene.

Wagell often takes the extremes of nature or industry as his inspiration. In the case of Studio he chose the latter, turning a photographer's studio light into a consumer product. Over-sized shades and reflectors are combined with more refined details like the solid steel handle and the polished reflectors. His first light for Ӧrsjӧ, Studio was presented both as a table light and a floor light. 

Jenny Bӓck has added a stunning new pendant to the ever popular Lean family, so now all bases are covered - ceiling, wall, table and floor. In keeping with the retro lines of Lean, the double shade pendant adds a new material; thin steel suspension cables tied together with delicate brass clasps. The familiar blend of materials (textile cable, brass, powder-coated steel) is still visible, just in a new form. Graceful in white, yet bold and graphic in black Lean continues to display Ӧrsjӧ's knack of creating lighting with real character.

Baklava by Claesson Koivisto Rune, originally designed for Nobis Hotel, is now available in pendant and wall versions, and both versions are available in two sizes. Talking points when used individually, when used in clusters Baklava is truly stunning.

Crane by Benjamin Hubert was presented in a new gloss yellow finish. Perforated metal, bright colours and gloss were all trends at the show and Crane encapsulated all 3 in one super slim task light. Functional, but never boring.

The new products will reach stores later in the Spring and will all be on display at Clerkenwell Design Week in May. Watch this space for further details.......

Ӧrsjӧ at the Northern Light Fair

Mitab at the Stockholm Furniture Fair

Mitab and Ӧrsjӧ at Tramshed 2011

Mitab and Ӧrsjӧ joined forces last week for the London Design Festival 2011, coming together to exhibit at Tramshed. Here are a selection of photos. More photos from Tramshed can be seen in our Facebook album HERE.