An Italian affair

Ultreia, a self-sustaining factory, by Jorge Manes.

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Mariel Brown and Karen Rosenkranz, of design and innovation company, Seymourpowell, speak to CID about their key trends from this year’s event.

This year marked the 50th anniversary of the popular Milan Furniture Fair where visitors were keen to explore the broader relationship between cutting-edge design and cultural trends.

According to Mariel Brown and Karen Rosenkranz, of design and innovation company, Seymourpowell, highlights of the event included Raw, a take on last year’s trend where designers combine contemporary forms with traditional manufacturing techniques, and Eastern Influence, a trend that has been gaining strength over the last few years where there is a melding of cultures as designers look to the East for inspiration.

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“The global recession, concerns over fuel shortages, highly documented natural disasters, and political unrest all contributed to a feeling of unease, the desire to be self-sufficient and to live ‘off the grid’,” said Brown.

In Milan, the design response to this trend was seen through the creation of products encouraging independence.

“One of our favourite design expressions of this trend was Jorge Mañes’ project Ultreia, which explores an alternative and more flexible process of manufacturing,” said Rosenkranz.

“He created a portable self-sustainable factory on wheels comprising of a rotational moulding machine, a tent and a solar panel. To show off Ultreia’s capabilities, Mañes cycled his factory around the 700km El Camino ancient pilgrim route in Spain. On his two-week trip he created a series of products that were informed by the locations, materials and people he met along the way.”

Ultreia celebrates the sociable nature of this trend and reflects the need to work together with like-minded people who make a success of the concept of ‘off the grid’ living.

The Survivalist trend is intrinsically eco-friendly in nature and as such, Seymourpowell saw examples of designers exploring new uses for waste products.

From Mieke Meijer and Vij5’s KrantHout, which is wood created from old newspapers to Gionata Gatto and Mike Thompson’s Trap Light, which converts waste energy back into visible light.

The emphasis is on creating less of a drain on the world’s resources and re-thinking the way we make life’s necessities.

Brown added Studio Formafantasma has taken the thought of using sustainable materials to the extreme end with its project Botanica.

“Imagine a post-fossil age where fossil energy sources have been completely exhausted. Botanica is based on the principles and science of botany and takes inspiration from the 18th and 19th centuries, a time when scientists first began experimenting with plant secretions to create new material sources with plasticity,” she said.

“The studio explores plant derived materials including Rosin, Dammar, Copal, Natural Rubber, Shellac and even Bois Durci, a 19th century material composed of wood dust and animal blood.

To underline the origins of these new resins, Formafantasma created plant like forms, whilst colour palettes of natural amber and honey-like tones were chosen to evoke early bakelite objects.”

With Botanic, Studio Formafantasma has created a strikingly ingenious project that is both archaic and contemporary. Whilst this new aesthetic may not appeal to every taste, it has a strong impact in the long term.

To many, the Survivalist trend implies a rustic design language, however, renowned Anglo-Indian design duo Doshi Levien showed this trend can look sophisticated when it presented its project Impossible Wood.

“Impossible Wood uses a new material (a synthetic fibre) that is an eco-compatible compound, which can replace the usual plastics while maintaining characteristics of pliability and strength. The elegant chair is testament to the fact that Survivalist living ideals needn’t be niche,” said Rosenkranz.