B&B Italia
Heralding a new chapter, B&B Italia launched ‘The Collection’, an installation that drew on the brand’s design anthology, tracing its path through time and highlighting the value of its historical collections. A series of living, dining, and sleeping vignettes in the Via Durini showroom placed the spotlight on new products as well as past collections that have revolutionised the concept of living.
New releases include Piero Lissoni's Dambodue sofa system and Isos and Assiale tables, Naoto Fukasawa's Omoi armchair, Monica Armani's Allure O’ Dot tables and coffee tables, and Tiziano Guardini and Luigi Ciuffreda's Narinari small armchair. The brand also expanded its outdoor furniture collection with brand new products: Softcage and La Bambola Outdoor by Mario Bellini, Tobi-Ishi Outdoor and Button Tables Outdoor by Barber Osgerby, and Tesa O’ by Monica Armani.
Acerbis
With a 150 year long tradition, Acerbis is one of Italy’s longest-established furniture companies experiencing a creative resurgence since Francesco Meda and David Lopez Quincoces stepped into their role as creative directors in 2020. With its Salone installation, Acerbis made a definitive statement within Pitsou Kedem’s architectural vision, showcasing a strong identity. The space offered a new realm of textural and colour contrasts, providing a sense of welcome and inspiration. The setting featured a striking contrast between the glossy brick-red walls, a nod to Acerbis’ mastery in lacquering, against the pristine white of the floor coverings.
This year, the brand continued to honour its distinctive style by partnering with renowned design icons and emerging talents like Sabine Marcelis and Pietro Russo. Marcelis’ Lokum series of low tables was one of the week’s standouts. Capturing the sophistication of minimalist shapes enhanced by superb blown glass craftsmanship, this collection is a tangible result of the Dutch designer’s ability to transform materials into works of art.
Acerbis stand at Salone del Mobile 2024. Photo by Thomas Pagani.
Lokum low tables by Sabine Marcelis. Photo by Lorenzo Cappellini Baio.
‘Marcelis’ Lokum series of low tables was one of the week’s standouts. Capturing the sophistication of minimalist shapes enhanced by superb blown glass craftsmanship, this collection is a tangible result of the Dutch designer’s ability to transform materials into works of art.’
Dana Tomić Hughes
Glas Italia
In what has consistently been a strong presentation at Salone over the years, Glas Italia unveiled collections by superstar designers including Michael Anastassiades, Piero Lissoni, Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola and Yabu Pushelberg, each exploring the magic and possibilities of glass applied to furniture and architecture.
Patricia Urquiola’s new Babar tables are made entirely with recycled raw materials, emphasising craftsmanship that makes each piece unique and unrepeatable. These tables also reiterate the potential and charm of a sustainable and infinitely reusable material.
Kazimir, the series by Michael Anastassiades for his first collaboration with the brand, is a tribute to the geometric abstractionism of the artist Kazimir Severinovič Malevič – sculptural and refined furnishing objects obtained from the overlapping of sheets of green double-sided etched glass (coloured in paste) or extra light etched glass.
Philippe Starck created three unique glass pieces that experimented with and introduced innovative solutions. In the Compression table, glass joins solid wood and chromed steel assembled with a solid interlocking system. Thanks to a complex curvature technique never used before, the Menteur concave and convex mirrors faithfully reflect the image in their central part but magically deform on the perimeter edge.
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Glas Italia’s stand at Salone del Mobile was organised in a sequence of areas alternating new releases with iconic products from the collection. These were framed by Aladin and Sherazade wall partitions and doors – the two systems designed by Piero Lissoni, newly enhanced with technical and functional solutions and new finishes and colours.
Dana Tomić Hughes
Bitossi
Bitossi unveiled collaborations with Objects of Common, Zaven and Patricia Urquiola, each one expressing a diverse facet of the ceramic company by harnessing each designer's expertise and different perspectives.
Torsi by Objects of Common Interest celebrates the classical heritage of art history in a contemporary vision. Zaven's new collection of Curve vases and Isola tables marked a return to furniture for Bitossi, which the company proposed back in the 1950s. Merlate, an innovative collection by Patricia Urquiola, is envisioned as micro-architectures – vases distinguished by their irregular and textured shapes inspired by typical architectural elements of construction projects.
Merlate by Patricia Urquiola. Photo by Matteo Bianchessi.
Curve vases and Isola tables by Zaven. Photo by Matteo Bianchessi.
Torsi by Objects of Common. Photo by Matteo Bianchessi.
Poliform
An immersive multi-sensory space defined by lines and angles balanced by the brand’s softer, more comfortable side, Poliform’s new collections at Milan Design Week were shown inside, as Poliform described it, ‘a palette of warm tones, the delicate scent of leather and bergamot (the new Poliform fragrance), the muffled effect of the 70s-style liquorice carpet that softens the passage between the rooms, up to the harmonious musical background designed specifically to accompany visitors along the exhibition path.’
With a focus on refined, elegant pieces in tune with the ideals of lightness and material restraint, large surfaces of square black bricks, and the crafted effect of their textured regularity, were chosen to evoke the mosaics that define Yves Saint Laurent’s house in Marrakech, Villa Oasis. While platforms surrounding the central lounge areas, dining, kitchen and sleeping areas, and suites with multiple proposals for wardrobes, staged the Outdoor Collection.
New designs by Jean-Marie Massaud, Emmanuel Gallina and Stefano Belingardi Clusoni joined bestsellers and range expansions. Standouts include the Ernest sofa by Jean-Marie Massaud, characterised by unstructured volumes and inspired by a soft feather pillow. The French designer also released Leopold, a new dining chair, and the Adrien table, a sculptural furniture element that finds character in the asymmetrical base. Other nightlights include the Orbis padded collection with two sofas and an armchair with a wraparound backrest by Emmanuel Gallina, and the Loai armchair, the first collaboration with architect Stefano Belingardi Clusoni.
‘Completing the proposal,’ remarked Poliform during one of their most beautifully curated collections to date, ‘are the most recent evolutions of kitchen systems, day and night, in a compositional consistency that perfectly reveals Poliform’s design: a complete living space, an immersive atmosphere, a total architecture.’
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‘The Poliform stand went beyond showcasing their entry into outdoor furniture, it also highlighted their capabilities from an architectural perspective. So it wasn't just about furniture, it was about creating immersive spaces that inspire.’
Michelle McEwen, Group of Marketing, Poliform Australia