Installations, design beyond the product

One of the design aspects that inevitably comes up during the Salone del Mobile is the installations. Far from creating neutral boxes, stand design plays an essential role in framing and rendering a catalogue intelligible. It functions like a metronome that sets the tone for each collection and conveys its atmosphere and potential. At their best, exhibition installations also offer an opportunity to encourage designers to explore new spatial configurations, to interpret design from different angles and perspectives. And, not least, to unwrap the themes and emerging sensitivities that shape the work of these companies.  

Of these, sustainability in all its multiple facets remained in the spotlight, as demonstrated by some of the most intriguing installations spotted at the latest Salone del Mobile.Milano. The QuadroDesign pavilion, an Italian company specialising in stainless steel taps and accessories, was entirely envisioned with a circular logic. The project, by Studio Giacomo Moor, was conceived with a long-term vision in mind. The elegant modular structure used for the stand, made of wood and made reconfigurable by the incorporation of a special aluminium joint, was dismantled and transferred to Masala, Zambia, thanks to a collaboration with Koalisation, an Italian company active in the carbon finance sector. Once fitted with walls and sanitaryware, the pavilion will be become a public toilet located not far from the town’s coal market, thus becoming a tangible legacy of solidarity - and a demonstration of how even the formats we take for granted can be reimagined in the light of new opportunities.  

Tacchini Italia Forniture’s stand at the latest trade fair in Milan also introduced a new concept of architecture – fresh, fluid and atmospheric. The project, designed by Studio Cameranesi-Pompili and Studio LYS, drew inspiration from the codes of nomadism: rather than a succession of spaces defined by the perimeter of walls, suspended fabrics and filtering surfaces evoked the archetypal tent, making the transition more fluid, the outline less defined, and the perception softer. This device also aligns with Tacchini’s latest collections – think in particular of Faye Toogood’s work – in which the tactile dimension evoked by the typology, textures, and colours of the materials used is central. 

Sustainability was one of the key themes in Knoll’s imposing pavilion, a project by the Belgian studio OFFICE (Kersten Geers and David Van Severen), now in its fourth year of collaboration with the American brand. The spacious, airy environment was distinguished by a structure of metal profiles segmenting the space and organising the exhibition areas. Some of these areas seemed to have been reclaimed by an apparently spontaneous, untamed nature, inviting a moment of mental relaxation. Made entirely from recycled and reused materials, the structure’s life cycle will be progressed at a future event. 

Among the new products spotted at the fair were also some that seemed destined to shake things up. This was the case with the Italian Radical Design group, which includes the brands Gufram, Memphis and Meritalia®. For the first time, the group’s founders decided not to confine the products of all three brands to a traditional single-brand presentation, but to merge their visual identities to create an unexpected ‘Radical Home.’ This, however, was no cold fusion: their shared heritage, inextricably linked to the experimentation of the Italian Radical period, allowed the three collections to forge new dialogues, reinforcing the good-naturedly irreverent spirit of these icons. In order to bring out their potential within a domestic setting, the Radical Home structure, designed by the architectural firm (AB)NORMAL with creative direction and styling by Greta Cevenini, drew on clear Palladian neoclassical spatial organisation, highlighting a new possible interpretation of the space, poised between architectural order and the unpredictability of furnishings.  

The Porro stand, designed by Piero Lissoni and again styled by Greta Cevenini, also evoked a domestic concept. Sheltered by a gabled roof, the archetypal symbol of domestic living, the design eschewed technical lighting, making for a more intimate and homely space. The structure, made of metal and now in its third consecutive year of use, has made longevity and circularity its hallmark. The walls, reduced to a minimum, are made of recycled and recyclable wood, whilst the furnishings are entirely reused in the company’s showroom.