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Salone del Mobile 2014

Source Material
Kaleidoscope Project Space
Via Macedonio Melloni, 33

At Kaleidoscope Project Space, Source Material, a small show co-curated by industrial-designer Jonathan Olivares, Apartamento magazine co-founder Marco Velardi, and designer Jasper Morrison, asked 40 people (architects, graphic designers, chefs, film directors, artists) to submit an object of affection to them that somehow regularly suggests a direction or produces an effect on their production and work.

The exhibition catalogs a starting point for each constitutor's creative process. The result—a precise and beautifully presented grouping of largely mundane objects that have either been a means of production, as Erwan Bouroullec's sewing machine, or a tool for inspiration, like Marco Velardi's books on Italian designer Bruno Munari. My favorite is Mike Meire's submission, a vinyl copy of Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark's 1981 Architecture and Morality, which is in regular rotation in my own studio. 

Image courtesy of Source Material

Josephine Choquet and Virgile Thevoz 
Milan Fairgrounds

Josephine Choquet and Virgile Thevoz, two recent ECAL graduates of the esteemed luxury and craftsmanship program, have a small booth in the Satellite Section of the Salone del Mobile fair, where they are presenting a tight collection of precision craft-oriented objects and accessories, all beautifully crafted in tortoise-like resins and delicate brass fittings. Equally as impressive were the seductive images the duo produced for their range of items. I couldn't resist picking up a pair of these sunglasses.  

Image courtesy of Josephine Choquet and Virgile Thevoz 

Merci Pop-Up Shop
Via Tortona, 31

Taking over part of Paola Novone's ground floor studio in Milan's industrial Tortona district, Merci, the trendy Marais-based design concept store, brought its namesake products along with like-minded brands such as Aesop and Moleskine to Milan's design-conscious audience. When I stopped by on Tuesday, Merci's director Jean Luc Colonna was still setting up the outdoor garden installation he designed with the use of Gervasoni outdoor furniture and rosemary-planted steel drums deployed effortlessly like potted plants in a garden. I picked up some Aesop hand cream from the specially designed Aesop station and some baby-blue sheets to add to my Merci bedding collection. 

Image courtesy of Merci 

Nilufar
Via della Spiga, 32

My favorite stop in Milan is always Nilufar gallery on Via della Spiga. Though in sharp contrast to the product oriented nature of Milan design week's anchor event, the Salone del Mobile, Nina Yashar's gallery is always the most exquisite combination of rare European mid-century pieces by the likes of Ponti, Royere, and Borsani blended effortlessly with limited-edition furniture and lighting by Lindsay Adelman, Giacomo Ravagli, Martino Gamper... you get the picture. My pick this time was hand-blown, layered "plate" sconces by Laura Bethan Wood. They seemed neither vintage nor contemporary and threw subtle veils of color on the walls behind them. Not too shabby coupled with a Royere club chair. 

Image courtesy of Ruy Teixeira  

Dzek
Via Maroncelli, 7

Brent Dzekciorius' new venture Dzek finally launched its first project this week. Collaborating with British designer Max Lamb, the friends presented a family of furniture in varying scales composed of a new material Brent calls Marmoreal, or "real marble." With a camouflage-like surface, it is produced with chunks of actual Veronese marble. A timely fetishization of terrazzo! Unlike terrazzo, Marmoreal can be used on floors, walls, as furniture, shelving, and on and on. 

Image courtesy of Frank Hülsbömer