Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2013 started yesterday. However, the event already managed to attract attention with a new trend in design with incorporated the maker culture.
Salone del Mobile is known as the biggest furniture fair in the world. It is a place where designers and architects from all over the world show off their newest designs and furniture collections. The Salone is held on an area of almost 230,000 square meters and it is visited by people from more than 150 countries.
Maker Movement
It seems that the focus of this year’s fair is the lately popular Maker Movement. For those of you who don’t know, the Maker Movement is a tendency in which products are made of broken, unused or discarded elements from various technology devices. The rise of this movement is not only due to the fact that the Maker Faire also participates in the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan. The maker trend is generally gaining speed in design.
Technology Invasion
Logically, technology also managed to find a big place at the 2013 Milan Design Week. Tools for Life by OMA was one good example of that. The collection features furniture pieces, like tables, that were adjusted by an electric motor. In that way, the products in the collection really resembled “tools” rather than design pieces.
Cassina’s collection also followed the technology theme. It illustrated how digital technology will affect the future of design. The interesting thing about this collection is that it successfully and effectively managed to integrate digital technology in furniture design. As a result, Cassina’s products were very flexible and they impressed with their many purposes.
Other Highlights
Tom Dixon’s collection for Adidas also impressed with its gender-neutral sportswear. Again, Dixon added vintage style to his designs. That made his collection to stand out among many others.
Australian designer Adam Goodrum presented a collection for The Wood Lap Interiors which revolved around wool. With it, Goodrum tried to show how versatile this fabric can be by featuring it in felt shoes, for example.
Vitra surprised with a colorful collection made out of new fabrics. In addition, the designers of the products in it, Hella Jongerius and Jean Prouve showed that they were not afraid to mix materials.
The collections of Moooi and Bassamfellows also did not disappoint. Like always, Bassemfellows presented a collection that was both luxurious and trendy. Moooi, on the other hand, gave the attendees something more provocative and daring with its 4.5-meters-high installation.
Salone Internazionale del Mobile will continue until April 14.
