Cool Hunting
| 25 April 2009view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
Milan Design Week 2009: ECAL
by Brian Fichtner
The University of Art and Design Lausanne, or ECAL, has been consistently turning out some intriguing talent under the directorship of Martin Schgaguler. While the curriculum teaches students to each hone their own identity, there remains a distinct style that sets the school's program apart from that of, say Design Academy Eindhoven or the RCA in London.
An attention to detail and a poetic simplicity that is in keeping with the Swiss craft tradition, largely characterized the works on view in Milan this week. In particular, I was taken with Charlotte Talbot's collection, "Le cours des choses," (right) an elegant distillation of the age-old form vs. function dialogue.
In addition to projects from the Industrial Design Department, ECAL showed two fascinating works by students in the Media & Interaction Design Unit featured in the Rough Cut video below. Camille Scherrer and Vincent Jacquier's "Cashback" is a cheeky project that translates various denominations of the Euro into a motion video striptease. The larger the denomination, the more tantalizing the content. Florian Pittet's "Light my fire" transforms the ignition of a match into a wild fireworks display projection. These two concepts might be harbingers of things to come in future design fairs, as interactive media challenges established notions of product design.
Milan Design Week 2009: 10 Anni con Ettore
by Brian Fichtner
Although it has been nearly 16 months since Ettore Sottsass passed at the age of 90, the late maestro's presence continues to be felt during the Salone del Mobile. Galleria Clio Calvi Rudi Volpi mounted a moving exhibition of work produced by Sottsass under collaboration with the gallery during the last ten years of his life. Displayed throughout the upper floors of the Palazzo Crivelli, "10 Anni con Ettore," shows the astonishing breadth, irrepressible creativity and intellectual curiosity that continued so late into Sottsass' life.
To quote from the pamphlet printed on occasion of the show, according to Volpi and and Calvi, "it is not really an exhibition, but a notice, the expounding of a teaching." "Speaking of Ettore is complicated," says Rudi. "To me, besides being an architect or artist, he was first of all a master of life. He had a profound sense of inner measure and a disinterest for mercantile values. Ettore teaches what not to do." (Comments gathered by writer Barbara Radice.)
See the slideshow below for a brief tour of "10 Years with Ettore."
Milan Design Week 2009: Gaetano Pesce x Meritalia
by Brian Fichtner
A rogue practitioner, Gaetano Pesce has made a career out of challenging the status quo. This year, with no less than three new collections for the furniture producer Meritalia, he proves his mastery once again. All week I had been waiting for the moment of astonishment that strikes when one is confronted with the inexplicable power of a moving design. Pesce's new creations—Colorado (top image), Gli Amici and Montanara—drew from me an emotional applause that has yet to fade.
The following quote from Pesce, while written explicitly in regards to his Montanara collection, best summarizes these sensational designs. "At the risk of boring my readers, I would like to reaffirm my belief that the image is this era's most appropriate means of expression. But at the same time I must admit that architects and product designers are lagging behind in recognizing this opportunity for renewal. The finest professionals in the industry, both architects and designers alike, are still expressing their creativity through geometric abstractions for which their "creations" adhere more strictly to their respective disciplines of building (not architecture) and decoration than changing climates."
See the slideshow above for more images of a true renewal of expression.
