Each year at Salone del Mobile, our exhibition of captivating collaborations is joined by a whole host of friends to enrich the true Wallpaper* Handmade experience. This year, we are housing new launches, a vibrant bar collaboration and another viral outdoor installation, this is before we even mention the plethora of projects we have commissioned for Wellness & Wonder: this year’s Handmade theme.
British duo Pinch is displaying Elan, a new armoire that celebrates dynamic marquetry techniques, composed of three birch veneers imbued with sinuous patterns. ‘It has poise, grace and personality but stops short of being overbearing,’ says Russell Pinch. When opening the wondrous wardrobe, you see elegant detailing in the cast brass, copper plated handles and hinges that have been specially commissioned, while the shelving and internal hanging system are bespoke-made in a Dorset workshop.
Over in the garden, Sunbrella presents ‘LE ROI’ by Marc Ange, another showstopping installation by the designer and artist. In contrast to last year’s pink paradise that became the most Instagrammed exhibition of Milan, this year Ange rolls on with his darker side – one which he explored at Design Miami in December. Here, new Refuge lamp designs are launched, smartly dressed in deep blue Sunbrella fabric. This textile becomes a motif in the installation that starts with gold leaves leading guests to a throne where a sad-eyed teddy bear in the same blue fabric sits, underneath a low ceiling. The conceptual artwork is described as ‘an allegory of a lost childhood.’
Le Roi by Marc Ange for Sunbrella
It wouldn’t be Wallpaper* Handmade without a little disco, and this year Gufram have aptly dug into its archives for a new nightlife-inspired collection. The Disco Gufram collection taps designers including Atelier Biagetti and Rotganzen for fun seating to be showcased in an installation that with no doubt will exude Gufram’s avant-garde take on what makes a great night out at Salone.
Keeping visitors sustained are Italian coffee experts Lavazza as it presents new coffee machine models. Coined as ‘the quality of Lavazza coffee inside, a whole bunch of fun outside,’ the array of vibrant machines will be joined by a special Lipstick edition made in collaboration with Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari’s Toiletpaper magazine.
To go alongside the launch, they are opening a playful bar inside Mediateca that will be doused in Toiletpaper’s pop-art graphics. On the menu is coffee-inspired Aperitivo treats and reworking’s of traditional Italian dishes. The silhouettes of the coffee machines have also been personified into ‘Tiny Heads’ installations that will be on display across Brera, follow them all the way to Mediateca, our sanctuary of design.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Handmade: Wellness & Wonder is open to the public on 17 April (12pm–4pm); 18–20 April (10am–6pm) and 21 April (10am–5pm)
ADDRESS
Mediateca Santa Teresa
Via Della Moscova, 28
20121
Milan
-
Audi launches AUDI, a China-only sub-brand, with a handsome new EV conceptThe AUDI E previews a new range of China-specific electric vehicles from the German carmaker’s new local sub-brand
-
Inside Izza Marrakech: A new riad where art and bohemian luxury meetHonouring the late Bill Willis’ hedonistic style, Izza Marrakech fuses traditional Moroccan craftsmanship with the best of contemporary art
-
Clocking on: the bedside analogue timepieces that won’t alarm your aestheticWe track down the only tick-tocks that matter, nine traditional alarm clocks that tell the time with minimum fuss and maximum visual impact
-
Milan’s Triennale Design Museum spills the beans on the art of food (and food of art) -
Buccellati sets the table for conviviality at Milan Design Week 2022Designers Dimorestudio, Ashley Hicks, Chahan Minassian and Patricia Urquiola create spectacular dinner table designs for Buccellati’s Milan Design Week exhibition, ’Il Galateo – a journey into conviviality’
-
Super bowl: designers are throwing shapes in the pasta world -
We’re at the sharp end of sophisticated postprandial entertaining with our tool kit -
Eat, drink and shop your way round Milan during Salone with Picky Nicky -
Dinner, drinks and disco: Salone del Mobile’s top entertainment installations -
India Mahdavi creates a pink Parisian fantasy in Ladurée’s Tokyo tea salon -
Artist’s Palate: Tokujin Yoshioka’s wagashi
