The Monocle Minute
On Design

Last week, Salone del Mobile took over the Lombard capital with exhibitions and its own dedicated kiosk (pictured). We relive the fun of the fair and Milan Design Week by presenting some of the highlights. We look back on UK designer Faye Toogood’s colourful collaborations, try out Technogym’s smart fitness kit and spirit ourselves away to the Mediterranean with some of the finest ‘Made in Italy’ wares. But first, Nic Monisse reflects on what he learned in Milan, starting with what makes good teams tick…

Japanese furniture company Time & Style’s new showroom in Brera, which opened in time for Milan Design Week, is an enclave of calm. In its new location on Largo Claudio Treves, tatami mats, futons and pale wooden furniture demonstrate a fresh take on traditional Japanese craft.

There is a selection of classic pieces on show, including Nami chairs and paper lanterns. But the standout launch from the company is Stone Garden, a modular collection of tatami mats that are placed on top of interlocking cedar platforms inspired by the eaves of Zen Buddhist temples and the rock gardens often found within their grounds. The tatami mats are woven by artisans in Kumamoto from igusa grass and can be topped with cushions made from camel hair by Kyoto-based futon specialists Iwata. It’s an ideal addition for those looking to bring a touch of Japanese-inspired calm to their home.
timeandstyle.com

Italian furniture company Baxter brought some Mediterranean warmth to last week’s Salone del Mobile with its sprawling booth inspired by caravanserais, the guesthouses traditionally found along major trade routes. The space, titled The Clay House, was rendered in a palette of orange, burnt-red and terracotta. Visitors to the booth were able to walk through different rooms of the makeshift structure to explore the company’s new collection of “Made in Italy” wares.

New pieces by South Tyrol’s Hannes Peer were inspired by 1970s conversation pits, while French designer Christophe Delcourt’s collection of low tables and consoles played with geometric compositions and stones. The Baxter showcase also featured Italian talents such as Roberto Lazzeroni, Studiopepe, Federico Peri and Paola Navone. The company’s choice of overarching colour schemes and materials at this year’s event gave the works on show a certain cohesiveness – a lesson in the value of sticking to a unifying house code. And it’s something that will serve buyers well if they’re looking for coherent collections with which to furnish their homes.
baxter.it

Yves Béhar is the founder and chief designer of San Francisco-based Fuseproject, a branding firm that has worked on projects for companies such as Google, Louis Vuitton and US furniture giant Herman Miller. Fuseproject also has a digital division, Fusedigital, which was launched after the firm acquired Portuguese agency Mindshaker. At Milan Design Week, the Swiss-born designer unveiled a new modular sofa system, Peaks, created in collaboration with Dutch furniture and interiors company Mooi. He visited Monocle Radio’s pop-up studio at Milan Design Week (pictured) to tell us about the project.

How should the Peaks modular sofa system be used in a living space?
Most couches and living rooms feel quite static. This is particularly noticeable in multigenerational homes because children don’t like to sit on couches. The furniture doesn’t move and there are no options for interaction. Peaks is a centrepiece where people can sit and play board games. I hope that it transforms living rooms into more playful environments.

How does the design of Peaks facilitate this?
The sofa is made of triangles – it looks like little mountains. You can alter the direction of the sofa by moving the pieces up or down. Triangles are a universally significant shape and hold a lot of meaning. The down triangle represents water and femininity, while the up triangle represents fire and masculinity.

How does your work reflect Swiss and Californian design philosophies?
I want things to work well, which reflects my Swiss background. I value excellent engineering and manufacturing. I’m not afraid to take risks; it’s in my DNA to try new things. I also prize flawless execution. Meanwhile, spiritual thinking is something that I have come to embrace in California. It’s a diverse place where everyone has a different philosophy. It’s important to put your heart and spirituality into your work because that’s how it acquires meaning, both for you and for others.

To hear more from Monocle Radio’s pop-up studio at Milan Design Week, tune in to ‘Monocle on Design’.

Considering the ubiquity of gyms in our hotels, cities and homes, it’s somewhat disappointing that the design of fitness equipment is so often uninspired. Enter Technogym, an Italian company founded by Nerio Alessandri in 1984, which has long been giving these functional products a sleeker look. The brand celebrated its 40th anniversary during Milan Design Week with its Design to Move installation at its three-storey flagship on Via Durini. The showcase featured 40 gym benches reimagined by designers and artists including Giorgia Apreia, Antonio Citterio, Patricia Urquiola (pictured, bottom) and Piero Lissoni.

South African-British designer Kelly Hoppen, a long-term collaborator with Technogym, wrapped her black-wood bench with leather and silver finishings. “I train six days a week and use all of Technogym’s products,” says Hoppen. “The bench is all about lengthening muscles, so I wanted to reflect this in its design by making it more streamlined.” A selection of 15 benches will be auctioned in collaboration with Sotheby’s in September, while the other 25 benches will be available to purchase online. All proceeds from both the auction and online shop will be donated to Unicef.
technogym.com

Milan Design Week can sometimes feel like a brand takeover: big furniture, fashion and lighting companies commandeer the city’s most beautiful and historic buildings, loading them up with products. Hermès’s showcase, The Topography of Material, stood out by taking a far subtler approach. There was branding on the street outside the huge La Pelota Jai Alai exhibition space but, once you got inside, you were greeted with muted lighting and intricately patterned flooring made from materials including wood and limestone.

Hermès’s aim was to create a dialogue between the old and the new, a theme reiterated at the end of the exhibition, where pieces from the company’s archive were juxtaposed with those from its current collection. It showed the timelessness of a brand that is unfazed by fads. Less here was certainly more.
hermes.com

Faye Toogood was seemingly everywhere in Milan last week. As well as presenting the wares of her namesake furniture brand, the UK designer launched three collections with leading manufacturers. Two of those – Rude for CC-Tapis and Cosmic for Tacchini – were presented at the CC-Tapis showroom near the Duomo di Milano. Though Toogood is best known for her subtle designs, her new pieces are irreverent and bursting with colour. “I’ll be 50 in a couple of years,” she says. “Now I feel ready to celebrate.”

Rude, Toogood’s third collection for Italian rug-maker CC-Tapis, is inspired by the work of artist Francis Bacon. “The pieces are quite expressive and tongue-in-cheek,” she says. Cosmic for Tacchini, meanwhile, is a suite of furniture that includes padded mirrors, hanging lamps that resemble pillowcases and cosy loungers upholstered in leather and silk. Sculptural and soft, the pieces are an invitation to get up close and personal, and to not take design – or yourself – too seriously.
cc-tapis.com; tacchini.it; t-o-o-g-o-o-d.com