Priyanka Rao, the founder of design-your-own flatpack furniture company, Evolvex, travelled to Italy for her first Milan Furniture Fair this year. Here she reports back for Interiors Addict.
This year’s Milan Furniture Fair saw designers push the boundaries of colour, technology and form. There was a mix of vintage inspired to minimalist to futuristic to just downright crazy. For those of you who have never been, the fair is not just the main exhibition halls (of which there are 20), but also fringe events like the Zona Totona, Ventura Lambrate, MOST and Design Village that take over the trendy districts of Milan. I was lucky enough to find accommodation right in the midst of the fringe events. Needless to say my eyes and my feet were enemies by the end of the week. Here are some of my highlights.
There were a lot of bright colours mixed with darker greys. This year’s colour had to be yellow (and yellowy tones) – perhaps a sign we should all just cheer up out of the doldrums of the current economy!
The Young Designers exhibit at the Salone Satellite looked at new materials and manufacturing processes.
Raul Lauri (from Spain) lights made from coffee grounds…
Australian Tate Anson’s clock was made from one piece of wood, with each piece carefully steambent to create the intricate form…
The Future in Making was an eye-opening exhibit at the Palazzo Clerici, where the manufacturing processes of the future were explored. Nine ‘what if’ style questions were asked with fascinating results. My favourite looked at how food is printed in 3D…
The next Masterchef…
A definite highlight was Tom Dixon’s lights exhibited at the Museum of Science and Technology. At the Soda Stream bar in the same venue, there was a beautiful light installation.
Aussies really represented at Milan – both Tamara Maynes’ DIY lights at the Supercyclers exhibit and Emma Elizabeth’s marble themed carpets were so cleverly done.
Missoni, Vitra and Fritz Hansen took on a ‘casual living’ theme.
Edra made me think – do I love this or hate this?
Remember Grug? If he was a cabinet, this is what he’d look like…
You can find more images at the Evolvex Facebook Page.
Priyanka x
