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Out & About in Tortona // MILANTRACE2015.


COTTO, Thai bathroom ware and tiling company, launched Patchwork by Piero Lissoni – an original collection of tiles, bathroom fixtures and accessories.

Moooi’s Unexpected Welcome & Moooi Carpets.

Tortona, an industrial area around Porta Genova – has had a somewhat eventful past in it’s 15 years of running during Milan Design Week. Historically a major design hub for young up-and-coming designers and one of the biggest satellite events outside the gigantic fairground at Rho, Tortona is now also home to a number of more established brands.

Nowadays I experience mixed feelings when visiting Tortona – much like the standard of work to be found on show, which varies from disappointing, mediocre, to excellent and everything in between. Perhaps the most disappointing element of all has been the once amazing Superstudio, which this year I didn’t even bother visiting (I feel sad to write these sorts of things, but then again I’ve never been the one to beat around the bush – Superstudio has been dying a slow and painful death in the last few years, and has now come to the point where desperately urgent resuscitation or closure is needed – no two ways about it. Somebody do something – please!)

Alas, let’s not get all critical and negative, and let’s focus instead on some of the interesting things spotted during our visit in Tortona during Milan Design Week 2015.

COTTO, Thai bathroom ware and tiling company, showed in a beautiful old courtyard which was entirely mirrored on one side, creating an incredible setting for the presentation of their stone slabs. The company launched Patchwork by Piero Lissoni – an original collection of tiles, bathroom fixtures and accessories.

This is the third consecutive year, Moooi presented Unexpected Welcome in their showroom on Via Savona, this time using large scale art photography by Rahi Rezvani as oversized background to their furniture. I must admit that I felt somewhat underwhelmed by the repetitive nature of Moooi’s presentation, even though the images I’m sharing with you paint the space in a completely different light – the show was incredibly photogenic and looks incredibly impressive in the photographs. This year Moooi launched a new company called Moooi Carpets, with an inaugural collection of photo-realistic designs by various talented creatives.

Left: Alex de Witte at Tutobene. Right: Studio Kalff at Tutobene.


Knapontwerp at Tutobene.

Lensvelt at Tutobene.

In what was a personal highlight of Tortona, Dutch design platform Tuttobene presented the works of 20 designers. Some of my favourite projects were by the likes of Alex de Witte who showed his Big Bubble Light inspired by his favourite childhood pastime: blowing bubbles; Studio Kalff with her Glassware Series assembled using vintage glassware and the new Writing Table; Knapontwerp who presented a series of mirrors, in which serendipity in applying the colour to the mirror defines the design; Berlin-based NEO/CRAFT with IRIS, a pendant light which appears like a permanent iridescent soap bubble; and
Lensvelt, who presented UNM, a modular workstation & storage system designed by Nina Graziosi, featuring a copper and terrazzo finish – a particularly delicious looking combination of materials.

NLXL Wallpaper held an exhibition at the Studio of Italian designer Paola Navone on Via Tortona. The Dutch wallpaper company presented the works of both Paola Navone & Daniel Rozensztroch – the Artistic Director of Paris concept store Merci. Paola Navone’s “Addiction” collection talked about her addiction to colour blue, while Daniel Rozensztroch’s “Obsession” wallpapers spoke about his obsession of collecting small objects.

The post Out & About in Tortona // MILANTRACE2015. appeared first on Yellowtrace.

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