The city of Milan in Italy hosted the now famous Furniture Fair for its 56th edition at the beginning of April 2017. As with each edition of this renowned event, creators, designers as well as the major furniture houses around the world come together to share with us their creations from their imaginations and make us dream ever more.
The largest furniture fair in the world
During the furniture fair period, Milan becomes the epicenter of the design world. After 56 editions, more than half a century of existence, this international meeting is always full. This year again, there were more than 2000 exhibitors spread over 200,000 m² of exhibitions. This year, the show welcomed no less than 370,000 visitors from 165 different countries during its entire duration. Exhibitors, buyers, journalists and curious professionals invaded the capital of fashion and design during this period.
Today's designers and tomorrow's furniture
During these 6 days punctuated by creation and design, the main attribute and herald of this year's trend was the alliance of technological innovation and craft techniques. Many designers have amazed us with their creations requiring extraordinary know-how, such as the “Glass Fountain” collection in Murano glass by designer Toyujin Yoshioka, entirely made with ancient cast glass techniques. Also, the “Venus” lounge chair by Ora Ïto for the Citco brand, made from a single block of marble thanks to today's new technologies. The major design and furniture houses presented us with their new products placed under the signs of design and know-how.
“Glass Fountain” collection by Toyukin Yoshioka
Kartell reinvents Componibili
Certainly the most popular stand during the Milan Furniture Fair was that of the famous Italian company Kartell, inventor of the first plastic chair in the world. Kartell has always established itself as being at the forefront of innovation and imagination. This year, not without counting the numerous creations by designer Philippe Starck for the Italian house, we were attracted by the famous Componibili storage unit, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. This iconic piece of furniture, modular as desired, was revisited this year in the legendary Campbell can, a little nod to Andy Warhol.
Componibili by Kartell, Campbell's canned version
The Season modular sofa by Piero Lissoni
Piero Lissoni is a famous Italian designer who worked for this edition of the Milan Furniture Fair in collaboration with the designer furniture brand Viccarbe. He invented a modular sofa that he called Season. Composed of several modules, this gives us the possibility of giving the sofa the shape we want. It's up to us to deal with the different straight modules and the rounded ones. Piero Lissoni has here chosen very flashy colors like canary yellow on a matte black base for an accentuated contrast.
“Season” modular sofa by Piero Lissoni
The Bookchair library by Fou Soujimoto
The Italian designer furniture publisher Alias signs a collaboration with the Japanese designer Fou Soujimoto who completely reinvented for the occasion a piece of furniture that everyone has, namely the bookcase. Entitled “Bookchair”, this piece of furniture, which is more of a work of art than furniture, has within it a chair that can be removed from its structure in order to enjoy a good book. A true object within the object, highlighting man's intimate relationship with literature. This library will only be offered in one color, white, which lets us imagine that its creator made this choice to further emphasize this relationship of purity between man and the book.
“Bookchair” bookcase by Fou Soujimoto
Tom Dixon and Delaktig
For those who don't yet know, Tom Dixon is a famous British designer of Tunisian origin, having worked with the biggest furniture houses in the world. This year for the Milan Motor Show, Tom Dixon presents his new concept of fully customizable sofa bed, the “Delaktig”. A multitude of objects can be clipped directly into it, such as a lamp, mobile device charging, or even a tablet. This is what gives Delaktig its value, because as with a smartphone and applications, the person can decorate it with objects according to their desires and needs!
“Delaktig” daybed by Tom Dixon
Gufram, Moschino and Jeremy Scott
The famous house Gufram reinvents furniture classics in disproportionate dimensions with designer Jeremy Scott. Here the famous Bocca sofa closes its legendary lips with a zipper. The other pieces, from the collection of everyday objects, are available in gigantic proportions. For example, pumps transform into giant bookcases, and the biker-style leather bag becomes... a wardrobe! Genius or delusions of grandeur? This collaboration never ceases to amaze us...
Moschino stiletto heel shelf by Jeremy Scott
To go further, discover the top 10 furniture shows and fairs in the world!
