After visiting The Milan fair for the past 14 years it has become increasingly clear:
It is a very good place to see what will become important.
Three currents, among the many we saw.
UNO. We are headed for better days – from horse lamp to rabbit armchair
The period of depression and frugality that has dominated for the past 7-8 years has come to an end.
Beautiful but often pretentious design, like that presented by Dutch Mooi, has been replaced by experimenting openness and humour. One brilliant representative of the latter is Giavannoni and his Queeboo rabbits.
The armchair shaped like a rabbit borders on frivolity in its flirtation with our weakness for cute animals. The rabbit armchair is a stark contrast to the classic horse lamp by Mooi ten years ago. The two animal expressions illustrate two different eras perfectly.
DUE. Craftsmanship =3D-printing AND technology ≠ 3D-printing
The next current can, appropriately be portrayed as a Boolean search string. New Craft and others showed that 3D-printing is the craftsmanship of the future. Using simple 3D-programs we can all design and print unique elements we require to live and enhance our lives. Anything from a wooden stool to a bicycle. The Italian angle on three dimensional printing is that it will make our lives more beautiful and personal since we are designing the objects we need ourselves. In the same we that digital technology has given all of us the chance to be photographers design will be democratised. The professional designers role will both be questioned and become more central at the same time.
TRE. Man is not unique
At the triennial Andrea Branzi poetically showed that human evolution could be extracted from 100 verbs and iconic objects, from “exist” with a stone-age axe to “recreate” with an artificial human heart. Artificial intelligence renders human innovation and existence less crucial. Hopes for a better world lie beyond our hands.
Milan defends its position as a place where the aesthetics and innovations of the future first rears their heads. Expressions that will come to influence a great deal of tomorrow’s technology, market trends and political currents. During the year Quattroporte will highlight different aspects and consequences that move us.
