Milan

Architectural Review, The, May, 2004

Judging from the locust-like crowds swarming around the showgrounds and showrooms, Milan's insatiable appetite for the elegant (welcome reissues of Charlotte Perriand's oeuvre by Cassina), the fashionably provocative (Arad, Starck, Droog et al) and the plain bizarre (a cuckoo clock covered in feathers) appears undiminished. Discernible trends--green (the colour as opposed to any sensible notions of sustainability), along with a healthy disregard for the orthogonal and the occasional outbreak of material inventiveness. Catherine Slessor presents some edited highlights.

501 PAUL COCKSEDGE

The humble polystyrene cup is melted and transformed into a multicellular lampshade by young British designer Paul Cocksedge. Cocksedge is an RCA protege of Ron Arad and his offbeat invention should take him far

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 501 www.arplus.com/enq.html

502 OFFECT

Flower, a playful, interlocking stool-cumside table in bold colours by Finnish designer Eero Koivisto for Offect.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 502 www.arplus.com/enq.html

503 CASSINA

A welcome re-issue by Cassina for furniture by Charlotte Perriand. Shown here is Ombra, designed in Tokyo in 1953, a simple geometric base and backrest supported by ribbons of bent steel.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 503 www.arplus.com/enq.html

504 MOROSO

The iconoclastic Konstantin Grcic cunningly deconstructs furniture design with Dummy, a single sheet of polyurethane foam rolled into a cone and gently squashed over a supporting structure to create a chubby, chunky armchair. Surprisingly comfortable. From Moroso.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 504 www.arplus.com/enq.html

505 SAWAYA & MORONI

French architects Jakob MacFarlane experiment enthusiastically with lacquered resin to create It, large sculptural seating units for Sawaya & Moront.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 505 www.arplus.com/enq.html

506 HELLER

Frankie Goes to Milano--sleek, sculpted furniture in silver resin by Frank Gehry from Heller, continuing the American firm's fruitful collaboration with leading architects.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 506 www.arplus.com/enq.html

507 KALLEMO

Icelandic designer Sigurdur Gustafsson makes highly inventive use of recycled plastic in Plex, a simple, stackable chair mounted on a steel frame. From Kallemo.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 507 www.arplus.com/enq.html

508 REXITE

Curvy and sensual with a hole in the middle Olivia stacking chair in a range of colouts by Raul Barbiert for Rexite.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 508 www.arplus.com/enq.html

509 SWEDESE

Clean-lined Wind stool in birch or walnut bentwood by Japanese design office Nendo--a new take on Scandinavian Modern distributed by the famous Swedish firm Swedese.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 509 www.arplus.com/enq.html

510 SEGIS

Poppy Star stacking chair by Bartoli Design for Segis, in a range of jolly colours, exploits the latest generation of injection moulding techniques to realize complex, fluid shapes.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 510 www.arplus.com/enq.html

511 IXC

Sofa from the Boomerang range by young French designer Gwenael Nicolas from a designer series by Tokyo-based firm ixc (remarkably, the first time a Japanese furniture company has shown at Milan)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 511 www.arplus.com/enq.html

512 MOROSO

Colourful, florally-inspired Bloomy armchair by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola for Moroso.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 512 www.arplus.com/enq.html

513 DRIADE

Meridiana, by Christophe Pillet for Driade, a lightweight armchair in clear polycarbonate with an exposed faceted grid of stiffening ribs.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Enquiry 513 www.arplus.com/enq.html