3rd April 2019

Zetteler in Milan

- written by Laura Snoad

Invites and announcements have been pouring in thick and fast this week. It’s now official: Milan Design Week 2019 is set to be a corker.

We’re super-excited that we’ve got three very special clients exhibiting this year: a squad of Scandinavian talents at the Norwegian Presence group show, Stockholm’s multidisciplinary masters Note Design Studio and London’s very own terrazzo aficionado Robin Grasby, founder of Altrock.

While you’re sorting through the final flurry of emails and honing your schedule, be sure to add these must-see shows to your itinerary. If you’re cartographically inclined, download our nifty Milan map dotted with the best events the week has to offer. And to keep up to date with what the Zetteler team is seeing and salivating over, keep your eyes glued to our Instagram stories. Without further ado, here’s what our clients are up to in Milan...

JOIN by Norwegian Presence

Via Savona 35, Zona Tortona

9–14 April

Sustainability is the focus of this Norwegian showcase, which brings 21 designers and craft artists together with seven manufacturers under the expert curation of Oslo design power couple Kråkvik&D’Orazio. JOIN explores a broad range of environmentally conscious processes, from reusing waste (take Kent Fonn Skåre’s Universell geometric furniture made from granite offcuts salvaged from Bergen construction sites) to considering what happens to an object after it reaches the end of its life – take KnudsenBergHindenes’s recycled and recyclable Hive storage units, for example.

For some exhibitors ‘Join’ means solidarity across borders, as in Máret Anne Sara’s reindeer bone jewellery created with US-based artist Matt Lambert to raise awareness of the challenges faced by indigenous peoples in the arctic circle. Others have chosen to inspire awe in the Norwegian landscape of forest and fjords, encouraging us to make greener choices by reminding us of the delicacy of the planet. For her Duft sculptures, Kaja Solgaard Dahl has experimented with the often-overlooked sense of smell, infusing polished larvikite rock with natural oils to conjure the scent of the forest. While Tron Meyer’s Varde sculptures are made from stacks of volcanic stones split to show the incredible textures formed 290 million years ago – here nature is the ultimate craftsperson. Please join us (if you’ll pardon the pun) for this mind-expanding show in Zona Tortona.

JOIN by Norwegian Presence. Exhibition by DOGA, Klubben and Norwegian Crafts. Styling by Kråkvik&D’Orazio. Photography by Trine Hisdal.

Formations – Note Design Studio x Tarkett

Circolo Filologico Milanese, via Clerici 10

9–14 April

Taking over the spectacular location of the Circolo Filologico Milanese, Stockholm’s Note Design Studio continues its long-time collaboration with French flooring brand Tarkett with a totem-like installation made from the new sustainable iQ Surface vinyl collection. The towering columns have each been clad in a different shade of the recycled material, playing with notions of scale and colour. As well as introducing iQ Surface to a context as far away from flooring as you can imagine, the installation will also test the material to its physical limits, heating and stretching it to hug all manner of shapes from multi-sided blocks to spheres.

But this isn’t all the good folk at Note are up to in Milan. While you’re at the Salone del Mobile, be sure to check out the studio’s Tonella pouffe collection for Sancal (part of the brand’s new Turati collection inspired by the architecture of Milan), the elegant and environmental Supra chair system for Basque Country furniture manufacturer Ondarreta, a brand new colour palette for lighting brand Vibia, and stand designs for Magis and Phoic. Around the city, be sure to see the Note-led redesign of Magis’s showroom and some mind-boggling carpet designs for Dutch brand Moooi, inspired by Escher-like architecture.

Formations – Note Design Studio x Tarkett. Images courtesy of Note Design Studio.

Robin Grasby at Wallpaper* Handmade X

Salone dei Tessuti, via San Gregorio 29

9–13 April

This year under the theme of ‘with love’, Wallpaper* Handmade brings together a seductive collection of exciting designers including Zetteler’s own Robin Grasby. Robin is the mastermind behind Altrock, a new handmade take on terrazzo launched in November 2018. Robin makes the material from marble offcuts in his east London studio, placing each piece by hand. This means he can control the colour and pattern of every surface, making each unique. The result is a hard-wearing, low-maintenance and highly graphic surface that reduces waste and celebrates the idiosyncrasies of the stone.

Robin was invited to create one-off designs for this year’s show, which celebrates ten years of Wallpaper* Handmade. Each object in the show is a labour of love and – new to this year – a collaboration. Robin has created two tables in collaboration with Turkish marble manufacture Temmer Marble. Founded in 1998, it’s one of the largest marble production facilities in the country. Joining Robin’s pieces are a slumber pod by artists Elmgreen & Dragset and silver specialist Georg Jensen, a bicycle ride for two by Paul Smith and Mercian and an intriguingly named ‘harmony machine’ by Germans Ermičs and Bang & Olufsen. Expect other top designers like Hayon Studio, Gustavo Martini and Lara Bohinc for this unmissable celebration of working together.

Robin Grasby at Wallpaper* Handmade X

What else in Milan has got our hearts racing? Check out our best of the rest.