An unrivaled passion for furniture design returned to Milan this year at Supersalone, a special edition of the 60-year-old Salone del Mobile.Milano. The annual event, also referred to as the Milan Furniture Fair, is typically held in April but had been on pandemic-induced hiatus for the last two-and-a-half years.
Patricia Urquiola
Patricia Urquiola worked with material scientists at Andreu World to shape a thermopolymer material made of natural microorganisms for the Nuez Lounge BIO chair. Assembled with no glue, the chair is easy to disassemble and 100% recyclable. The textiles for the chair are made from recycled plastic but feel as soft as cotton.“Using different materials is part of the future. Sustainability must not only be an adjective, but something that is part of us like a shadow.”
Nuez Lounge BIO, Designed in Milan
Photo courtesy of Andreu World
Monica Armani
Monica Armani was in New York City when she saw sunglasses in a store window that reminded her of Jackie O. “I loved the shape,” she says. “I was motivated to recapture the style that Jackie O made unforgettable in the ’60s.” She infused the decade’s simple lines, scale, and glamour into the design for Allure O’. “I love the language of proportion of the ’60s era and the sophisticated design that produced styles we continue to see today.”
Allure O’, Designed in Trento, Italy
Photo Courtesy of B&B Italia USA Inc
Carlotta de Bevilacqua
It’s more than light. INTEGRALIS combines cleanliness and beauty. “To me design is the creative synthesis that translates skills, science, measurements, and limits into beauty,” says Carlotta de Bevilacqua, president and CEO of Artemide. INTEGRALIS offers various levels of light and sanitization, great for private and shared spaces alike. “In any area, good design makes us feel good, builds a positive relationship with the object, and has a positive effect on our psychological well-being.”
INTEGRALIS, Designed in Milan, Italy
Photo coutesy of Artemide
Michele Albera
Michele Albera led students at IED Torino in this collaboration with Suzuki that resulted in a concept vehicle that combines two main features of the Hamamatsu brand: the two-wheeler side and the four wheels’ production. Misano is a sporty and compact vehicle—an experimental reinterpretation of the classic barchetta. “The passion, style, and fun of Italian design with the functionality, compactness, and vision of the Japanese approach.”
Suzuki Misano, Designed in Turan, Italy
Photo courtesy of IED
Piero Lissoni
The latest in the KN Collection—the KN06 armchair and KN07 chair—build on a legacy of classic, minimalistic seating with inviting, curved designs. The KN06 takes a seashell-like form in fiberglass, coated in glossy white or black or covered in fabric or leather, resting delicately on a slender, enveloping structure in balance of function and aesthetics. “This chair had to have one special characteristic: It had to seem like a cloud, floating in the air.”
KN Collection, Designed in Milan
Photo courtesy of Knoll
Luca Nichetto
Lodes’ Luca Nichetto-designed Croma is named after the Italian word for “eighth” and emits subtle washes of light upwards. “I was inspired by the musical note’s vigor and dynamism, reflected in the lamp’s solid conical body in metal, which stretches upwards into a slender pipe,” Nichetto says. “I’ve always been fascinated by the role of music in design. The musical note’s elegance brought me to reexamine the classic floor lamp.”
Croma, Designed in Stockholm & Venice
Photo courtesy of Lodes
Urd Moll Gundermann
Denmark designer Urd Moll Gundermann designed this romantic collection for Linie Design inspired by the concepts of dimension and senses. “Through the interplay of materials—the juxtaposition of raw wool and sumptuous, shiny silk—I strove to create a sense of tension and tactility that brought the designs to life,” she says. “Emotions gave birth to color and shape, creating a poetic woven expression in a three-dimensional interpretation.”
Dimensuous Collection, Designed in Denmark
Photo courtesy of Linie Design
Additional reporting by Laura Rote
A version of this article originally appeared in Sixtysix Issue 07 with the headline “Design Returns.” Subscribe today.
