The Monocle Minute

During Milan Design Week, I decided that it was time to educate my children about the joys of great design. At the Capsule Plaza showcase in Porta Venezia, I thought that it would be OK to let my one-year-old touch the leg of a wooden chair. This proved to have been wishful thinking because an attendant swept in to reprimand us. On closer inspection, the chair was surrounded by white tape on the floor. All this for a piece of furniture that was made to be sat on! When an item that is meant to improve your quality of life becomes a museum piece, you know that things have got a little silly.

I had an entirely different experience on the last Saturday of the week, when curator Valentina Ciuffi invited me to have a conversation with Brussels-based artist collective Espace Aygo. The group is made up of graduates who live and work together, and have fitted out their home with wacky designs. Espace Aygo’s work is rightfully gaining international recognition, with Swedish member Line Dansdotter Murkén exhibiting two pieces at the Rossana Orlandi Gallery during Design Week. The group was also commissioned to create a bed with an oak base and raised, sofa-like felted sides for Delvis (Un)Limited gallery. The members were then asked to spend the night on the bed in the gallery window as part of a weeklong experiment called “The Theatre of Things”, demonstrating how design could be a lived experience.

When we met at 09.30 on Saturday, Espace Aygo’s members were looking a little dishevelled after a night of clubbing. But they soon perked up with cappuccinos, orange juice and croissants as we lounged on their Somnia Banquet bed and talked about their flourishing careers. There was no tape on the floor telling us that we shouldn’t be there – just a collective of designers who actually slept on the beds that they made. Surely this is how design should be: beautiful, collectible and, ultimately, usable. And that includes dropping the odd croissant crumb on the sheets.

Ed Stocker is Monocle’s Europe editor at large. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Taiwan manufactures more than 90 per cent of the world’s most advanced semiconductors and is braced for a fresh round of US tariffs on these chips, which are used to make everything from mobile phones to electric vehicles (writes Julia Lasica).

The tariffs would certainly hinder Taiwan’s economy – and the US holds the cards in any negotiation. “Taiwan relies almost entirely on the US for its defence,” says Taipei-based journalist William Yang. “Meanwhile, there is a real possibility that Donald Trump could make a deal with China over Taiwan’s head, leaving it adrift between the world’s two largest economies. The island is attempting to prove to the US that it is a reliable partner and will respond positively to whatever demands the administration makes.”

The torches for next year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics are a reminder that Italy still knows how to make charming and covetable designs (writes Carlota Rebelo). Unveiled in ceremonies held in Milan and Osaka this week, the torches were developed by Turin-based studio Carlo Ratti Associati in collaboration with Eni, Versalis and the Cavagna Group. Named “Essential”, their minimalist forms strike a balance between innovation and sustainability.

Both versions of the torch feature a visible burner core and reflective, iridescent bodies. The Olympic torch is finished in a blue colour called “Shades of Sky”, inspired by Italy’s ever-changing landscape, while the Paralympic version is painted in a dark-amber hue named “Mountains of Light”, symbolising the athletes’ collective strength. Milan and Cortina might be less than a year away from hosting the Games but Italian designers are already taking a victory lap.

Florence-based stationery brand Pineider has been selling handmade paper and writing instruments since 1774. Its illustrious list of customers include Stendhal and Elizabeth Taylor. CEO Nicola Andreatta calls Pineider “a 250-year-old start-up”, which has gradually expanded into leather goods and other accessories. He spoke to Tom Vanderbilt in the company’s Rockefeller Center boutique in New York – its only location outside Italy.

Are there any parallels between the worlds of watchmaking and stationery?
A watch, much like paper, is not really something that you need in order to survive. In today’s world, there are a lot of instruments that tell you the time and you have various ways to write and send messages. A watch isn’t vital but there’s something [alluring] about it. The mechanics of a timepiece and the feel of the paper still matter.

How does a 250-year-old company maintain its legacy?
Through people. I have been meeting employees across the business, such as our boutique manager in Florence, who started working here in the 1950s when he was 13. We’re going through a rebranding process. We need a better way to convey what we are about. You don’t find many companies that have 250 years of history. That means we have been doing something right.

What direction is the luxury market heading in?
Luxury is becoming more personalised. When someone has everything, they look for something made just for them. We have been working with a few Italian yacht companies to make paper embossed with the name of their boats, as well as pens that have the silhouette of their vessels. We sometimes even incorporate the cork from the bottle that was broken to launch a ship. The details matter.

More conversations from this year’s edition of the fair. We hear from multidisciplinary maker Omer Arbel and visit the cavernous design gallery Nilufar Depot. Plus: a continents-spanning conversation with researcher Wong Eng Geng and Nifemi Marcus-Bello.