Milan - The melting pot of exquisite design
Milan - The melting pot of exquisite design
Since 1961, the Milan Furniture Fair has gathered designs from around the world. In 1979, designer and architect Lars Bülow visited the fair for the first time. Read about his early impressions and the Italian furniture pieces that left a lasting mark on design history.
A few weeks ago, the 63rd edition of the Salone del Mobile was held in Milan, Italy.
The Milan Furniture Fair, today also called The Milan Design Week, was launched in 1961 and is the world’s largest trade fair for furniture. It is held annually in April and is located at the fairground Fiera Milano and in hundreds of showrooms and temporary exhibitions around the city of Milan. It's truly a global event that brings together thousands of companies and visitors from all parts of the world. Although fairs have generally decreased since the pandemic, Milan holds its position and attraction year after year.
The first time I visited the ‘Salone’ was back in 1979. For a young unexperienced designer this was an amazing opportunity to explore what the best international companies and their star designers could accomplish in collaboration.
I still remember both my excitement and the fatigue followed by a long day at the fair. I went back to the hotel for a quick shower and then out again for showroom parties, not least for the Italian cuisine. I was in Milan together with my partner Kersti Sandin, and one night, we met a Swedish reporter asking us to highlight one product each from the fair. Kersti preferred a Flexform sofa with a red and white striped cover. In my case, I fell for a cabinet manufactured by Molteni & Co, in forest green lacquer board with frosted glass doors. Remembering such details after 46 years shows what a deep impact this Italian fair debut made on me.
Below are four other furniture objects I discovered for the first time in Milan back in 1979, all today internationally loved classics and icons.
The Proust Armchair was designed by the architect Alessandro Mendini in 1978. Mendini (1931-2019) focused predominantly on neo-modern and contemporary design and played an essential part in the development of Italian postmodern and radical design. Mendini’s Proust Armchair was a modern, playful interpretation of the Louise XVI Baroque style armchairs. It was first used to furnish the Palazzo dei Diamanti, in Ferrara during an exhibition called “Incontri ravvicinati di architettura”, which means "Close encounters of architecture" in English. The Proust chair is hand carved and hand painted by the Italian Cappellini company. Today the Proust Armchair is manufactured in rotation molded plastic by the Magis company – in Italy, of course.
Enzo Mari (1932-2020), was an Italian architect and graphic designer, today best known for launching the unconventional concept of basic furniture called Proposta per un’ autoprogettazione’ in 1973. This collection of tables, chairs, and cabinets was made of wooden slates designed for self-assembly. Here, Mari was in line with the radical design movement, aiming to engage young consumers to interact instead of passively consuming industrially produced products. It is important to remember this was the time of the oil crisis, with an internationally growing environmental consciousness. In the same year, Enzo Mari designed the classic Frate dining table for the company Driade.
Today, the company Cassina is one of the world’s most acclaimed furniture manufacturers, as it was in the late 1970s. I can still remember my impression when I visited their showroom in Milan. The magnificent interiors and the company’s exquisite furniture collection are hard to forget. One product that struck me hardest was the Maralunga sofa, created in 1973 by Italian design master Vico Magistretti (1920-2006). To me, the furniture designed by Magistretti reveals an outstanding combination of thorough studies of functional needs, material possibilities, technical challenges, and, not least, artistic integrity. He looked at usual things with an unusual eye. That made him one of the most important European designers of the 2000th century.
Mario Bellini recently turned 90, reflecting on an extraordinary building architect and industrial designer career. Before founding his design studio in Milan in 1973, Bellini held the position of design director for the company Olivetti for almost 30 years. As a furniture designer, he collaborated with some of the best Italian manufacturers, such as B&B Italia and Cassina. For the latter, Bellini designed the iconic CAB chair in 1976. This archetypically shaped chair is upholstered with thick leather and assembled with zippers inside the legs. This concept, which I had never seen before in 1979, stayed in my mind as a technical and artistic innovation.
Over the years, my fascination with Italian design has become increasingly stronger. I can still question the lack of sense and functionality in many Italian objects, but when it comes to detailing, finesse, material quality, and craftsmanship - the Italians maintain their edge!
As a result of this fascination, the Museum of Furniture Studies collection holds objects from 27 Italian designers, from Giuseppe Gaetano Descalzi to Anna Castelli Ferrieri.
In the museum collection, the Italians hold a third place after the Danes and the Swedes. Vivere il design Italiano!
Article written by Lars Bülow
