Welcome to Wallpaper* issue 301. Our tricentenary successfully navigated, it feels a no less auspicious moment to be ushering in a new age of design – just in time to celebrate Salone del Mobile 2024.
Why a new age? Because a younger generation at the apex of forward-thinking furniture companies – Giulia Molteni and Maria Porro, for instance, or Carola Bestetti at Living Divani and Eleonore Cavalli at Visionnaire – has resulted in a broader scope being offered to designers commissioned to create work for the leading brands. With this deeper pool of references comes a slew of fresh ideas on how to live, work and play that reflect a wide spectrum of cultural, societal and environmental shifts.
In the same questing spirit, we profile a few of those whose work embodies where design is (or should be) going: whether that’s Atelier Biagetti’s concept of nomadism, recast in its collaboration with MCM as a new idea of home that embraces technology, or Faye Toogood, whose repurposing of folk references for Poltrona Frau breaks with the contemporary concept of the ‘luxury furniture designer’.
As well as documenting those currently disrupting the established houses, we examine the roles of three emerging design studios in exploring new ways of working in furniture and design, whether through collaboration, performance or the repurposing of industrial materials and processes. We also revisit the lives and careers of two pioneering figures in the design world – Ingo Maurer and Louis Kahn, the latter being recognised at Salone.
Massaro House in New York’s Hudson Valley, a new build based on original drawings by Frank Lloyd Wright
And we feature two ‘revivals’: one the simulacrum of an unbuilt, site-specific Frank Lloyd Wright house, the other a rebuild of Aluminaire House, a novel aluminium-clad home by Albert Frey, that has moved from New York to its present resting place in Palm Springs. And capturing the spirit of the present, we bring you a working wardrobe that, well, works, read the runes around outdoor furniture, and feature nine watches united in their dramatic use of dark hues.
Finally, and by way of a hello, it gives me great pleasure to be rejoining Wallpaper* as Editor-in-Chief. I’d like to thank Sarah Douglas for handing on a title in such spectacular health – testament to her seven years of exemplary stewardship. The eagle-eyed among you will notice some further changes to the editorial masthead. These new positions are richly deserved; harbingers, too, of a new age for Wallpaper* as it heads towards its quadricentennial. Enjoy the issue.
Bill Prince
Editor-in-Chief
The May 2024 issue of Wallpaper* is available in print from 11 April, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
On the newsstand cover: ‘Pilotis’ console, by Rodolfo Dordoni, for Minotti. Pair of 18th-century urn-shaped vases (Walter Padovani). Bas-Relief I (2023), by Sergio Roger (Spazio Nuovo). Fruit platter (1937), by Jean Puiforcat. Travertino Romano Classico panels in matte finish, by Marsotto.
On the limited-edition cover: A ‘Karat Blau’ pendant lamp, by pioneering brand Ingo Maurer, which is looking forward to a new age under the guidance of lighting firm Foscarini
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Put these emerging artists on your radarThis crop of six new talents is poised to shake up the art world. Get to know them now
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Dining at Pyrá feels like a Mediterranean kiss on both cheeksDesigned by House of Dré, this Lonsdale Road addition dishes up an enticing fusion of Greek and Spanish cooking
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Creased, crumpled: S/S 2025 menswear is about clothes that have ‘lived a life’The S/S 2025 menswear collections see designers embrace the creased and the crumpled, conjuring a mood of laidback languor that ran through the season – captured here by photographer Steve Harnacke and stylist Nicola Neri for Wallpaper*
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Inside the Shakti Design Residency, taking Indian craftsmanship to Alcova 2025The new initiative pairs emerging talents with some of India’s most prestigious ateliers, resulting in intricately crafted designs, as seen at Alcova 2025 in Milan
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Faye Toogood comes up roses at Milan Design Week 2025Japanese ceramics specialist Noritake’s design collection blossoms with a bold floral series by Faye Toogood
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6:AM create a spellbinding Murano glass showcase in Milan’s abandoned public shower stallsWith its first solo exhibition, ‘Two-Fold Silence’, 6:AM unveils an enchanting Murano glass installation beneath Piscina Cozzi
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Dimoremilano and Loro Piana channel 1970s cinema in decadent Milan displayAt Milan Design Week 2025, Dimorestudio has directed and staged an immersive, film-inspired installation to present new furniture and decor for Loro Piana
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In Milan, MoscaPartners presents a poetic exploration of ‘migration’Alongside immersive work by Byoung Cho, MoscaPartners’ Milan Design Week 2025 display features an accessible exhibition path designed for visually impaired visitors
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The making of PAN and Nike’s euphoric, club-inspired collaboration at Milan Design WeekAlongside a new Air Max 180 release, ‘The Suspended Hour’ display sees Berlin record label PAN imagine the unfolding of a club night, from dusk until dawn
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Tokujin Yoshioka’s ephemeral ice furniture is made to melt in MilanTransparent chairs of frozen water slowly disappear during Milan Design Week 2025, in an expression of light by Japanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka
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In Milan, Rooms Studio examines Georgia’s shifting social landscapeExpandable tables that reference recent government protests and lamps held together with ‘chewing gum’ feature in the Tbilisi-based studio’s Milan Design Week 2025 installation
