Salone del Mobile.Milano 2017 – Overview
The Salone del Mobile is essentially all about the product: pieces presented here for the
first time, or presented again for the second or third time (or perhaps even more),
because they are still bestsellers or have, in any case, earned their place in the catalogues
of exhibiting firms because they have become representative of home living trends. What
these pieces have in common is innovation, research and quality; a collateral of the event
itself. It is at the Salone that trends are born, new talents are recognised and, equally,
that positions and strategies are consolidated.
No particular colour or designer stands out at this 56th edition (the era of the one-season
colour or individual seems to be over), rather increasingly flexible, exacting almost
bespoke products that respond to clients’ specific needs. The desire for personalisation is
driving people’s choices more and more, even in the home furnishing field.
The watchword for 2017 is CONTEMPORARY ELEGANCE – which fluctuates between
minimalism and functionality, between artisan skills, digital know how and technological
innovation – which is essentially sought after for its power to conjure up “beautiful”
emotions and to overcome the barriers of stylistic subdivision. Palpable luxury, not
strident, enriched with details that become structural, particular finishes and warm, soft
materials. The word luxury thus crops up very frequently at this 2017 edition, a synonym
for precious and theatrical, well-measured exclusivity: the quality of elegance.
The latter is harnessed in the service of leisure in the Jane collection (a small armchair, a
small sofa and a bench) designed by Emmanuel Gallina for Poliform: the contained
dimensions foster the idea of comfort and intimacy, the play of slim lines lends dynamism
while the metal and wood finishes confer a classical identity as well as a contemporary
one. Carlo Colombo’s Amal double bed for Flou is softened by the detail of the “metallic
clips” in three different finishes – polished gold, burnished matte and polished black
nickel – that hold back the covering – in fabric, leather or faux leather – at the sides of the
headboard. Andrea Bonini’s elegant Madison Collection for Turri is very Sixties
Hollywood, endowing dining rooms, living rooms and bedrooms with sophisticated details
and extremely high-end materials. The Baldi Anniversary collection by Baldi is pure
luxury, deployed in all its facets, starting with the lapis lazuli blue. Roberto Cavalli Home
Interiors furnishings, with their distinctive house patterns, encapsulate timeless luxury.
The Isabel collection of chairs by Carlo Colombo for Flexform are entirely leather
(including the foot covering) and come in 9 colours: an opulent product that leaves the
precious materials to speak for the project. Even the children’s world is embracing luxury:
Provasi has launched the Children & Kids collection with the Lorenzo bed, a handstudded chest of drawers, bedside tables, crib, wardrobe and desk as well as a complete
set of linen.
Another priority of this edition seems to be to highlight the ARTISAN MANUFACTURE of
products, especially those of Italian companies, world-famous for their great manual
skills, handed down from generation to generation. A perfect example of this are the
double-sided Flabello table mirrors by Lanzavecchia+Wai for Gallotti&Radice, which
underscore the imperfect beauty and uniqueness of the artisanal etching.
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec have explored a very ancient technique with the wrought iron
frame of the armchair from the Officina collection for Magis (with a plywood seat); the
slight imperfections of this processed raw material ensure that each piece, with its
unmistakably industrial feel, is unique. Glas Italia has come up with a reworking of the
oldest coloured glass processing techniques with its FOUNTAIN_glass tables, signed by
Tokujin Yoshioka. Thin metal wires are threaded in and out, reminiscent of the ancient
technique of filigree, to outline an ethereal volume in Piergiorgio Cazzaniga’s Sign for
MDF Italia, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a change of name and
appearance: Sign Filo comprises 45 m of steel wire, 16 shoulders and 12 cross wires
assembled by hand with more than 226 welding points. The knowledge of craftsmanship
is manifest in the dovetailed chest of drawers, its curves carved out of solid wood, the use
of faux leather and the oil-based and natural wax finishes in the Authentic Living
collection (desk, bookcase, chair, table and side table) launched by Riva 1920 in
collaboration with Lamborghini and signed by Karim Rashid.
The CONTAINER THEME has been the focus of much attention, brought up to date and
interpreted with new solutions such as the multifunctional Cases cupboard by Francesco
Rota for Lema with its heat-treated oak frame, which is ideal either against a wall or in
the middle of the room. It is a spare volume, notable for its delicate looks, achieved
through the play of full and empty spaces. There are 4 different components – sideboard,
chest of drawers, cabinet and mobile bar – allowing for 5 potential combinations.
Francesco Rota tackles the same theme for lapalma, playing with bi-frontality and
modularity: ADD S is a system of 90 cm modules that come in three different heights, all
45 cm deep, which are ideal for storing objects, books or files comfortably. Stefano
Boeri’s Mettitutto container in solid wood is descended from the classic sideboard, but is
powerfully contemporary in character. This retro piece for the historic Annibale Colombo,
which opened a business division devoted to Design this year, marks his first foray into
interior design. Giuseppe Bavuso’s Self furnishing system for Rimadesio offers an infinite
number of combinations, available with a plinth or aluminium feet, suspended, wallmounted or free standing, with an extruded aluminium door with embedded hinges,
devoid of joints and visible screws. Knowing how to reinvent the identity of an object that
represents itself, becoming a piece of domestic theatre is exemplified by Arik Levy’s
Mineral Structures, which corroborates his fruitful partnership with Citco. It is a bookcase
made from a single block of marble, carved and processed using the very best
technologies before being finished off by the able hands of specialist craftsmen. White oak
is used for the Modulo collection of contemporary modular cabinets, some of which are
stackable; boasting dovetailed joints, the collection is produced by the nigh on 100-yearold English company Ercol. Timeless classic style is brought bang up to date with a builtin lighting system (cool and warm light) in the USM Haller E range designed by USM
Modular Furniture of Swiss company USM.
REFERENCES TO THE PAST have always had a strong pull for designers and
manufacturers, forging a powerful bond with their sector. This year in particular, the
Fifties seem to hold the greatest appeal: the Aleta chair – from the collection of the same
name, which includes a stool and small armchair – by Jaimé Hayón for the Spanish
Viccarbe Hábitat company, boasts the same rigor, and is also imprinted with nostalgia for
Nordic design. It is characterised by the curvature of the legs, which echoes those of the
upholstered chair. The sources of inspiration go beyond the decades when it comes to
certain types of furniture: the long dining tables (252 cm) and the benches in the new S
1090 collection presented by the German company Thonet to a design by Randolf Schott
(of the Thonet Design Team), in ash or oak and steel, reference the old monastery
refectory tables, robust and open to socialisation.
RE-EDITIONS are still the mainstay of design, abundant and reworked in a contemporary
key. Presented for the first time at the 1987 Salone, where it was awarded the prize for
the most innovative product, Fiam is re-presenting Ghost, by Cini Boeri in collaboration
with Tomu Katayanagi: the company asked its designers to reinterpret the 30 years of the
historic glass armchair with two Mini Ghosts to be hand-decorated in colours chosen by
Cini Boeri herself (one of the two versions will be auctioned at a charity event). Nostalgia
is also to the fore at Knoll with the Platner dining table, produced by the designer of the
same name in 1966, with a nickel, bronze and gold-plated frame, now with a new
marble top in all the finishes. Only 2 cm taller, Hans J. Wegner’s CH23 dining chair,
which has been out of production for the last five decades, now revisited by Carl Hansen
& Son, is otherwise identical to the original in terms of ergonomics and functionality.
Centimetre, the rug designed by Eileen Gray for the living room at the famous Villa E1027
and a ode to the number 10, is re-proposed by ClassiCon. Re-editing products from its
own past and reinterpreting them in a contemporary key has always been a guiding
theme for Gianfranco Ferré Home, and the same is true of its new collection. Great care
has been taken with every last detail, yet it is extremely restrained in terms of dramatic
expression. It is a perfect combination of luxury and minimalism. D.156.3 armchair is not
a re-edition but a special edition from Molteni&C, which is continuing to valorise the Gio
Ponti archive, augmented with new pieces – eleven so far, since 2012 – presented to the
public for the first time. Exhibited at the Altamira showroom in New York, along with
pieces by Parisi, Albini, De Carli, Gardella and other highly representative pieces from the
X Triennale di Milano, it speaks for itself.
Lest we forget, the home – container of choice for furnishings – is the place of refuge, an
invitation to retake control of one’s own time, a place where one can feel at ease wrapped
in a SOFT COCOON EFFECT. The generous and liveable shapes of Piero Lissoni’s Dumas
armchair for Living Divani, which complements the sofa by the same name, are an
invitation to stop and enjoy its softness while admiring its absolute simplicity. Shinsaku
Miyamoto’s Beatrix for Ritzwell is the ideal chair for those wishing to withdraw from the
world in a Fifties Scandinavian atmosphere. Its tall, rounded and enveloping
back/headrest creates a 180° field of vision, and also acts as a sound buffer. A sofa
basically consists of frame and cushions, according to Antonio Citterio, and Grand Sofà,
the piece he has designed for Vitra, epitomises this, as does the Latin phrase nomen
omen: its large dimensions and supreme comfort are the embodiment of contemporary
luxury.
The MEDITERRANEAN SEA meets the mare magnum of design to inspire the Blau
outdoor range. Blau translates as blue, like its waters. Designed by Fran Silvestre
Arquitectos for Gandiablasco, this range of objects (there is also a lamp in the shape of a
tree) is made of microperforated aluminium sheet metal, enabling the light to filter
through the pieces. Ethimo’s Allaperto collection by Matteo Thun and Antonio Rodriguez
is in contemporary Mediterranean style, kaleidoscopic in its use of colour and metal,
combining teak with Etwick fibre or coloured plastic, aluminium with wood and textured
Ethitex tartan, creating solutions that define the new trends of living en plein air.
Mediterrean spirit meets Nordic culture in the Kite armchair by Gamfratesi (Enrico Fratesi
and Stine Gam), produced by Porro. Both delicate and generous, it is just as at home in
office waiting rooms as it is in period residences given its evergreen look and timeless
charm.
The furniture scene evidences a focus on structural and visual linearity in the QUEST FOR
THE TRUE ESSENCE of the product. The soul of the piece and its purpose ring out loud
and clear in Generic C, the new range of Kartell chairs by Philippe Starck, which
represent “generic ideotype” chairs for collective spaces. Conceived for bars, restaurants,
places of entertainment (C actually stands for “Coffee”), function is the main protagonist,
ahead of whatever “shape” or possible aesthetic interpretation. Lucky by Luka Stepan is
an archetypal chair, presented as a prototype last year at SaloneSatellite and immediately
snapped up by Blå Station. The Palmer sofa by French designer Toan Nguyen for Fendi
Casa also stands out for the expressive lightness of the regular volumes, achieved after
very meticulous research: minimal architecture in which the seat is held up by the outer
supports of the backrest, while the slender leg is reminiscent of the plant structures.
Linearity and essentiality are also to the fore in the MC14 collection by Konstantin Grcic
for Mattiazzi, which consists of a gold-coloured chair and a table which also has a top in
Fenix NTM®, an innovative, nanotechnological material that is super matte and soft to
the touch.
As previously said, although no one material prevails over the others, apart from leather,
which is particularly popular this year, solid WOOD in all its varieties and in combination
with other materials is still very attractive. As its name suggests, Very Wood’s entire
catalogue revolves around this material mixed with other techniques and with a wide
range of fabrics, like the Carmen collection of beech chairs designed by Matteo Thun
Atelier, the seats and backrests upholstered in fabric, vinyl or leather. A solid frame made
of ancient oak paired with linear cushions, supported on slender see-through glass legs
characterises Air Wildwood Sofa, the latest sofa from Lago, signed by Daniele Lago. Its
lightness and suspension can be emphasised by the lighting effects located under the
seat, which also make for an atmospheric surrounding environment. The TandO maple
wood table, with its red steel legs and round broad feet is the fruit of Jasper Morrison’s
latest collaboration with the historic Japanese Maruni company. The Button sofa by Front
and produced by Swedese features large wooden buttons, revisiting the Capitonné
upholstery technique and conferring maximum functionality thanks to the possibility of
attaching cushions, containers and shelves to them.
DESIGN ALSO TAKES A NOD AT ART. Canova pictured his Venus surprised in intimacy
and gave her a marble veil to hide her from prying eyes. Fabio Novembre has added a
system of wooden shelves corresponding with the most intimate parts of her body, to
camouflage her with words and things. Venus, manufactured by Driade, is a piece
produced by four hands but at different times by two Italians who are extremely sensitive
to supreme female beauty. Works by the famous eighteenth-century Japanese painter
Itō Jakuchū have been reproduced in the collection of textile tapestries produced by Sicis:
each panel is a work of art in its own right, created with precious materials such as silk,
lurex and embroideries, that only special looms can produce. Philipp Mainzer’s Kazimir
table for e15 was inspired by Russian Suprematist compositions; the top is made in
European oak or walnut and the base in powder-coated steel. The Edges wood panelling
and modular cladding system by Marco Piva for Lualdi becomes a work of art and
incorporates the door presented last year at the Salone del Mobile, which creates volume
in what is usually a two-dimensional item: the volumetric effect achieved by the way the
panel is cut, as if it were a frame within a frame, has now been transferred to the wall
panelling and modular cladding.
With summer on the way, our thoughts naturally turn to OUTDOOR FURNITURE.
Sol+Luna by Extremis, one of the companies with the greatest focus on outdoor
furnishing, is a 2-in-1 piece, a chaise longue that, with a simple gesture and the addition
of three cushions, turns into a comfortable sofa, with an optional parasol-disc that lights
up in the evening. The Arena day bed from Roda is another “hybrid”, suitable for relaxing,
taking the sun or reading informally. It ushers a new narrative type into the company’s
collections: its elliptical shape is inviting, as is the angle of the backrest, and it is
extremely comfortable, thanks to the Batyline upholstery webbing, a new entry into the
catalogue. Apsara by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba for Giorgetti is a range of modular
chairs, again for outdoor use, where wood (Afrormosia) predominates, in a domestic and
contemporary revisiting of the typical duckboard.
Lastly, there is the inevitable IRONY, expertly played out by Ferruccio Laviani in DVision.3 for Fratelli Boffi (the first of three versions of the collection), which turns a piece
of furniture – a trumeau – especially popular in the eighteenth century and which came
back into vogue during the Seventies, into visionary objects. Cut in two by an imaginary
diagonal line, the top half in crimped wood slides symbolically downwards to meet the
lacquering on the lower half. Stylish details, such as the brass ferrules and oval mirror
hide the shelves inside the cupboard, making it into a sophisticated and rational piece of
furniture. An unusual large oval hole, in sheet metal, created through a process that
involves many different printing and folding stages, characterises the Holo collection. Born
of the marriage of Kristalia’s technology and the creativity of Kensaku Oshiro, it comprises
a console, a side table and a table with laminate, glass or solid wood tops. Claesson
Koivisto Rune’s Bouquet side table for Offecct is spontaneous and immediate, intended to
bring gaiety and a touch of good humour into a room. It also pays homage to Andy
Warhol’s flowers and is decorative yet functional, at least as far as holding a book or a
cup of coffee goes. The large Pack sofa is unexpectedly surprising, made up of an
irregularly shaped seat that represents an ice cap, with a bear (in ecological fur) lying on
its side, propped up on the seat, serving as a backrest. It makes for an arresting domestic
landscape, signed by Francesco Binfarè for Edra.