Sculptur effect

What emerges from interpretive itineraries of new trends showcased at Milan Design Week is a new expression of design featuring an array of contaminations and the sculptural effects of marble

Milan Design Week has presented an emotional itinerary featuring the most innovative furnishing and design proposals, enriched by an impressive array of interpretative inspirations which embrace ambiguity, in terms of trends. Some chose to focus on integrated technology (for example Natuzzi with its Smart Living project, developed in collaboration with LG, or Kartell with I-Table by Piero Lissoni).

Some have turned towards heightened naturalness (Riva1920 in particular, basing its primary identity on increasing sustainability, with bathroom and kitchen interiors). Others have pursued the path of extreme originality, culminating in art and not just products (Clan Milano proposals designed by Alessandro La Spada deserve a mention here), and there was no shortage of allusions to fashion (this year has seen the birth of the new Etro Home brand, characterised by exceptional allure in terms of texture and flair).

One interesting aspect of current interior research is a desire to transcend boundaries, formal or expressive limits in order to embrace delicate genre contaminations. Design is enriched with unconventional materials, marble in particular. Numerous brands have chosen to exploit this natural element’s texture and evocative force, with veritable investigations into its potential for accessories, resulting in enhanced end results which exude pure elegance.
This is certainly the case for Baxter, which has played with materials and geometries with its Selene cupboards: velvet and marble, circular elements matched with solid linearities, even the linear modelling of marble blocks, transformed into the Rail tables.

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Baxter,Selene cupboard, design Hagit Pincovici
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Baxter, Rail tables, design Federico Peri

MisuraEmme has concewwved the new Over bookcase in collaboration with Studio Castiglia, whose keynote feature is the possibility to integrate different materials including marble, directly from the back.

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MisuraEmme, Over bookcase, design Studio Castiglia

Brands dedicated to wood, such as Giorgetti, apply their primary material alongside marble for extraordinary colour and tactile effects (such as in the table Disegual, designed by Umberto Asnago), or Poltrona Frau which reinterprets the table Jane (design by Jean-Marie Massaud), with an accentuated sculptural presence created by a central lazy susan and four external and extractable radial sections.

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Giorgetti, Disegual table, design Umberto Asnago
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Poltrona Frau, Jane tabale, design Jean-Marie Massaud

An exclusive début for MDF Italia, Tense Material Marmo (design by Piergiorgio & Michele Cazzaniga) features an inlayed table surface, a veritable representation of Kandinsky’s “Point, Line, Surface” theory. Noble material embraces new interpretive solutions which become veritable works of art.
It is no coincidence that Oluce has chosen to celebrate 40 years of Atollo by releasing a new version of the iconic lamp, in precious portoro marble.

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MDF Italia, Tense Material Marble table, design Piergiorgio & Michele Cazzaniga
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Oluce, Atollo Marmo lamp, Design Vico Magistretti © Courtesy of Oluce