The Parapu chair by the Swedish architecture studio Claesson Koivisto Rune was certainly one of the most cheerful green designs of Zona Tortona 2009. The trio designed a children’s chair made with DuraPulp, a fully compostable new paper product created in the PulpLab (a research laboratory based in Sweden). The KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the companies STFI-packforsk and Södra have been collaborating since 2003 to create DuraPulp, which combines paper pulp and PLA (a biodegradable plastic) to create an incredibly resistant paper. Only two millimeters thick, DuraPulp can bear weight, tension, and humidity, as well as temperature changes.
Elisabeth Buecher
May 6, 2009
May 6, 2009
At Milan’s Furniture Fair 2009, the Designersblock show was definitely not to be missed. It’s a world tour of design that showcases not only the freshest, newest designers but also a wide variety of approaches and methods. One of the standout exhibitors this year was Drill Design, a Japanese duo who came up with a collection of amazing products made with laminated wood. We covered their beautiful striped wood-and-veneer stools here, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention their awesome decorative toy cars and trucks, inspired by a traditional and very popular Japanese candy called Kintaro Ame, which roughly means the “sweet of a fairytale hero.”
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May 4, 2009
Among all the great green designs discovered at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair, this beautiful biodegradable moss planter at the Tokyo Fiber Sensware exhibition definitely stood out. Japan-based flower artist Makoto Azuma collaborated with Unitika Ltd. to create an indoor glade, populating the planter with an assortment of mosses. The result is an exquisite organic carpet that runs through the exhibition, passing round the furniture and the poles and stunning visitors with its delightful presence.
April 29, 2009
At Milan’s 2009 furniture fair, Designersblock did not depart from its habit of showing the very best in fresh new design, and ChunWei Liao’s Transformer furniture and lighting collection is the perfect example of the show’s unique and innovative spirit. The Taiwanese designer presented a stellar catalog of work, but the most interesting product in the series was the lamp grandly named “Transformer Lighting Infinity.”
April 29, 2009
The Interni Design Energies exhibition at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair doesn’t open at twilight for no reason. Indeed the exhibition, which features renewable energy–themed installations from designers and planners around the world, reveals its mysterious beauty only at night; it’s an intelligent and inventive commentary on energy and resource efficiency. Located in the buildings and gardens of the majestic Università Degli Studi, the show offers visitors a moment of pure magic!
April 28, 2009
Some of the most exciting discoveries from the Milan Furniture Fair 2009 can be seen at the Designersblock show, an exhibition of some of the edgiest experiments in modern design. That’s where Toby Sanders, from the design studio TOBYhouse, recently launched his brand new range of lighting products: super-colorful Beach Ball Lamps. We spotted Toby’s eye-catching lamps at Designersblock and are charmed by his clever re-use of a cherished childhood icon.
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April 24, 2009
Each year the Designersblock show at the Milan Furniture Fair brings together an incredible assortment of designs by a diverse range of designers, and their 2009 offerings did not disappoint. At this year’s show it’s back to basics with simple, raw and natural materials dominating the exhibition. Some of the designs appear to have come out of an afternoon spent in the woods or countryside. Others look like they were shaped by nature itself. Designers seem to have made it a point to give new value to worn out or overlooked objects and to work locally with traditional makers and manufacturers. Designersblock once again showcases some of the most relevant thoughts on today’s design.
