Similarly to former years, this eleventh edition of iSaloniWorldWide Moscow will be flanked by the Salone Satellite, an ideal opportunity for business people to meet up with young designers from Russia and the former Soviet Republic countries. The participants’ projects speak of technology and functionality, research into innovative new materials, environmental and people friendliness, along with a desire to preserve recollections of the past and to create something that breaks away from the usual stereotypes. These young designers love to experiment and cherish the experience of each creative process they undertake. However, what most strikes the observer is their passionate research into the more poetic and harmonious aspects of a project, and their attempt to conceive something that dialogues with the spirit.
We asked some of them to talk about their projects.
Alice Minkina – “At this Salone Satellite I will present the Sagano chair, some parts of which are in bamboo. This project uses a technique I have devised myself and which consists in rolling up sheets of bamboo cut into fine strips. Owing to their flexibility, these strips assume the shape needed for chairs, vases and tables. In my work, my main objective is to create a sustainable design using natural materials”.
Daria Pavlova – “I love working with different materials all the time. In fact, each material has a particular characteristic that affects the creative process and enables me to experiment in a different way on each occasion. Recently, I have done a lot of work with resin, a material that is really fascinating, extremely flexible and hardwearing, with enormous potential. So, at the Salone Satellite I will be presenting Resin, a coffee table with a pigment-coloured resin top. Under the top, some metal strips have been positioned in a circular design to create a pattern recalling the growth rings of a tree trunk. While it is certainly true that every material is unique, wood is still my favourite and I have celebrated it with this decorative element”.
Elina Bilous – “I love working with glass because it offers me endless possibilities to experiment new intuitions. My design speaks of nature, man, life and myself. The project I am presenting – Memory of the Earth – sets out to recount who we are, where we come from and how all living creatures are unique yet interconnected with their surroundings. Through my research, I intend to underline how the place of our birth and upbringing influences the way we are. My mission? To make people happy”.
Anastasia Gravilova – “Move Place is a mobile workstation mainly consisting of an ergonomic table which is easy to move. Many of its components have a twofold function enabling its user to file things away or use whatever he needs without negatively impacting the transportability of the desk, which, whenever necessary, may literally be parked in the same way as a bicycle. Move Place allows for a new approach to the organization of work spaces in a way that is absolutely practical and convenient. I am convinced that, in the future, designers will have to increasingly address topics regarding the mobility of our living environments and to seek innovative ground-breaking solutions that come to terms with the ever reduced spaces of our homes and offices”.
Lubimova Ekaterina – “Conti is a table whose top has an uneven surface in relief, to recall a landscape. The idea was sparked by my desire to use the remarkable qualities of house plants in a domestic interior. For instance, a cactus plant on a desk is able to absorb the electromagnetic waves of a PC. However, it did not seem sufficient to simply place a plant next to the computer. I started to reflect on the natural environment of a plant and how that environment could be reproduced. Cactus plants, for instance, live among the desert dunes. So, I have designed an ash wood top that reproduces a typical American dessert in miniature, where each raised and sunken relief is actually assigned with a function, for positioning a computer, a table lamp, a pen holder and, of course, a plant… This is how the functional table was born, as opposed to the stereotypes which contemplate nothing but flat, boring surfaces for our desks”.
Maya Prokhorova – “We shall be presenting the Helium chair at the Salone Satellite. This chair has the visual appearance of ice and so it naturally transmits a sensation of stiffness but it is actually upholstered with a transparent technological material with a soft and pleasing hand-feel, which warms the chair and makes it very comfortable. We have always been extremely fascinated by these contrasting sensorial stimulations, and they have inspired us to realize this project”.
Rodion Zenevich – “Pogo is a meccano set in soft and flexible felt whose assembly components are press studs. The project is inspired by the classical construction game of metal Meccano, to which I have chosen to add softness, tactility and colour to make it more suitable for children to use”.
Alexey Zhukov – “I have called my project Wirocco, which is a combination of the words Wire and Barocco. The guiding principle is that of uniting two styles in one single definition. In this way, I have created a piece of furniture which stylistically recalls the Baroque period, but uses a relatively modern material such as wire. In fact, I find the idea of mixing different styles and materials very interesting since this produces unprecedented effects. Today many people say that, in our complex world, everything has already been invented. This challenge is what I love about my work: the strive to create something that does not yet exist”.
Nasya Kopteva and Sasha Braulov – “At the Salone Satellite we shall present a desktop organizer made from recycled wood. The set comprises ten elements for organizing a desk (pen holder, pencil sharpener holder, docking station, etc.), each one of which represents an iconic architectural structure of the Russian avantgarde movement. In fact, we believe this movement was of fundamental importance to our history and culture. It is very important for us to create something which celebrates and recalls that extraordinary period”.
