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.

Assiale table by Piero Lissoni stands out for its essential design, distinctive presence and contemporary character, offered in two versions: extendable and fixed. ‘It is a perfect bridge, my structural idea of a bridge or the base of a building. It is a suspended object and like any bridge it can have two faces: there is the bridge that stands still and the other that expands. It came to me thinking about the bridge that opens in the movie Blues Brothers, when they are making one of their first escapes, this thing fascinated me a lot.’ – Piero Lissoni

Assiale table by Piero Lissoni stands out for its essential design, distinctive presence and contemporary character, offered in two versions: extendable and fixed. ‘It is a perfect bridge, my structural idea of a bridge or the base of a building. It is a suspended object and like any bridge it can have two faces: there is the bridge that stands still and the other that expands. It came to me thinking about the bridge that opens in the movie Blues Brothers, when they are making one of their first escapes, this thing fascinated me a lot.’ – Piero Lissoni

Isos Table by Piero Lissoni embodies transparency and visual lightness. Its cylindrical legs play the lead design role. A load bearing element is grafted to the top via a steel plate, achieving a unique design junction. ‘The Isos table has legs cut at 35 degrees. As if it were a pencil, I pointed the legs at the nook where the tops rest on them to lessen the impact and to exaggerate their static and architectural quality. It can be made in many materials, in glass, in wood, with marble legs. But the interesting thing is the tension that is built between these pencil-columns and the top.’ – Piero Lissoni

Isos Table by Piero Lissoni embodies transparency and visual lightness. Its cylindrical legs play the lead design role. A load bearing element is grafted to the top via a steel plate, achieving a unique design junction. ‘The Isos table has legs cut at 35 degrees. As if it were a pencil, I pointed the legs at the nook where the tops rest on them to lessen the impact and to exaggerate their static and architectural quality. It can be made in many materials, in glass, in wood, with marble legs. But the interesting thing is the tension that is built between these pencil-columns and the top.’ – Piero Lissoni

Narinari Armchair by Tiziano Guardini and Luigi Ciuffreda is a small sculptural seat inspired by a Sea Eagle. It is the result of B&B Italia’s first collaboration with talented young designers with backgrounds in fashion (Guardini) and architecture and design studios (Ciuffreda).

Narinari Armchair by Tiziano Guardini and Luigi Ciuffreda is a small sculptural seat inspired by a Sea Eagle. It is the result of B&B Italia’s first collaboration with talented young designers with backgrounds in fashion (Guardini) and architecture and design studios (Ciuffreda).

La Bambola Outdoor. Photo by Tommaso Sartori

La Bambola Outdoor. Photo by Tommaso Sartori

Button Tables Outdoor. Photo by Tommaso Sartori.

Button Tables Outdoor. Photo by Tommaso Sartori.

'The Collection' by B&B Italia unveiled at their Design Studio Milano showroom on Via Durini.

'The Collection' by B&B Italia unveiled at their Design Studio Milano showroom on Via Durini.

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

Lokum low tables by Sabine Marcelis. Photo by Alberto Strada.

Lokum low tables by Sabine Marcelis. Photo by Alberto Strada.

Elitra cabinets by Pietro Russo. Photo by Alberto Strada.

Elitra cabinets by Pietro Russo. Photo by Alberto Strada.

Due Più seat, designed in 1971 by Nanda Vigo. Photo by Alberto Strada.

Due Più seat, designed in 1971 by Nanda Vigo. Photo by Alberto Strada.

Free System modular sofa, designed in 1973 by Claudio Salocchi. Photo by Alberto Strada.

Free System modular sofa, designed in 1973 by Claudio Salocchi. Photo by Alberto Strada.

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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Babar Dining Table by Patricia Urquiola.

Babar Dining Table by Patricia Urquiola.

Kazimir Collection by Michael Anastassiades.

Kazimir Collection by Michael Anastassiades.

Remis Console by Patricia Urquiola.

Remis Console by Patricia Urquiola.

Compression Dining Table by Philippe Starck.

Compression Dining Table by Philippe Starck.

Menteur Mirror by Philippe Starck.

Menteur Mirror by Philippe Starck.

Menteur Mirror by Philippe Starck.

Menteur Mirror by Philippe Starck.

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

Photos by Crisula Barbata.

Photos by Crisula Barbata.

Photo by Francesco Romeo.

Photo by Francesco Romeo.

Photo by Francesco Romeo

Photo by Francesco Romeo

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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Poliform stand entry to at the fair grounds.

Poliform stand entry to at the fair grounds.

Saint Germain sofa and Loai Armchair

Saint Germain sofa and Loai Armchair

Wall system and Code ystem

Wall system and Code ystem

Lexington day system and Aiko side board

Lexington day system and Aiko side board

‘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

Ernest sofa and coffee table

Ernest sofa and coffee table

Strata coffee table and Ernest sofa

Strata coffee table and Ernest sofa

Ernest coffee table and sofa

Ernest coffee table and sofa

Ernest sofa and Senzafine Wardrobe System

Ernest sofa and Senzafine Wardrobe System

Adrien dining table and Leopold dining chair

Adrien dining table and Leopold dining chair

Loai armchairs and Monolith Indoor table and Brera bed

Loai armchairs and Monolith Indoor table and Brera bed

Orbis sofa and armchair. Starta coffee tables

Orbis sofa and armchair. Starta coffee tables

Lexington Day System and Ernest sofa

Lexington Day System and Ernest sofa

Brera sofa and Mush coffee tables

Brera sofa and Mush coffee tables