TOarchitect and designer, Cristina Celestino he is also involved in art direction, like many of his colleagues. And like them in these days he is preparing for the Salone del Mobile 2022, which opens at Fiera Milano Rho on 7 June. “The restart creates great expectations, even if in fact our world has never stopped” He says.
Cristina Celestino, designer and art director. Credits: Chiara Cadeddu.
“After the initial bewilderment, everything has somehow started working again. The companies, to launch the new collections, have focused on digital. Many have had excellent results, but now we have realized that it is not enough ». For design, he reiterates, the physical dimension is vital. «If you want to understand what a sofa is like, you have to try it.
Padded bench “Girandola” by Celestino for Etel.
And in fact, e-commerce in our world is struggling to take off. But it’s not just this: no virtual showcase has the strength of exhibition at the fair. And of one thing I am sure: I would continue to organize it once a year, not every two as some assume ». In addition to presenting his novelties, ranging from upholstery to ceramics, Celestino for the Design Week set up the installation “Florilegio”
Celestino “Abaco Celeste” ceramics for De Maio.
in the historic Radaelli flower shop in via Manzoni 16: a boutique designed in ’45 by Guglielmo Ulrich, an architect she loves very much. «The Salone is also this, an opportunity to rediscover the city. Of course, it is true, the amount of collateral events risks turning it into a huge event, where it can be difficult to recognize the quality ».
Salone del Mobile 2022: Restarting from sustainability
Francesco Meda talks about “Fomo”, the “fear of missing out“, fear of being left out: «Everyone wants to use the design week to do something, there are those who call you at the last minute because they want to create an event and they need an idea. Obviously, in these cases I say no ».
Francesco Meda.
Designer and art director, Meda believes that the forced break has been an opportunity for companies and designers to rethink. «We used to work according to the appointment with the Salone, but we understood that there could be another way. You can launch a product at any time.
“Bridge” lamp by Francesco Meda for Foscarini.
For us, it is a completely different way of designing. You give yourself the deadline, based on the physiological time it takes to mature an idea ». However, he remains a staunch supporter of the fair: “On a commercial level, without a Salone it is tough. The emergency is one thing, but now we need buyers to arrive“.
“Offset” table for Mdf Italia by Francesco Meda and David Lopez Quincoces.
Such an impressive event inevitably raises the issue of sustainability. «If we talk about fittings, many companies already conceive them to be able to reuse them in other fairs or in showrooms. For an installation with Acerbis we will use industrial components which will then be put back into circulation. There is also more attention on the product side. And the bulimia of doing, as I see it, has subsided very much“.
A moment of sharing
Enrico Fratesi and Stine Gam of Studio GamFratesi.
The designer is in the same vein Enrico Fratesi of Studio Gam Fratesi: «A lot has changed over the past two years. We had more time to devote to projects, without the urgency to hurry, and the companies did the same thing. The goals, on the other hand, are no longer what they used to be. Before, people came to the fair with a lot of prototypes, to probe the market. Today we prefer to concentrate on a few models and present them only when they are perfect, ready for production ».
The new “Lido” sofa by GamFratesi for Minotti.
In the difficult days of Covid, he says, the relationship has strengthened
“Miau” armchair by GamFratesi for Koyori.
with entrepreneurs, who have historically made the fortune of Italian design: «It was important from a human point of view, not only from a professional point of view. Ours is a somewhat introverted profession, if you compare it for example to architecture. You are not part of a system, most of the time you spend in the studio alone “. Design Weeks help: «They are a moment of sharing, a week full of unwritten appointments. We all find ourselves there. Many designers live in Milan, but for us in Copenhagen it also becomes an opportunity to experience the city. Otherwise if we come to Italy it is to see customers, we go directly to Brianza ».
There is a new creative impetus
For the Design Week, Elena Salmistraro has created many new projects: carpets, ceramics, jewels, tables, a washbasin … As part of the exhibition-event of Interior at the State University of Milan, he will set up a five-meter-high fountain in the shape of a Hydra in the courtyard of honor: “One of my monsters,” he jokes. «They say I have a dreamy style, in fact for me emotion is a function that the object must have».
Elena Salmistraro.
A vision that has strengthened over the past two years. “In the pandemic, we re-evaluated the house and its power to make us feel good. Today, more than ever, design must be a friendly presence. I hope it will be the same for the Salone.
Bracelet and ring from the “Venusia” collection by Salmistraro for Alessi.
In my world I see a lot of desire to leave, you can breathe a good energy“. The forced pause nourished her creativity: «Paradoxically, in lockdown I felt freer to experiment, I felt like pushing the accelerator».
A carpet by Elena Salmistraro for Illulian.
More with less
Martino Gamper. Photo: Angus Mill.
Getting off the merry-go-round for a while was also good for Martino Gamper, which the Salone has been attending for twenty-five years. He returns to Milan with an installation by Nilufar Depot, a reference address for collectible design. “Slowing down wasn’t a waste of time, you can do more by doing less. There are those who jump from plane to plane and at a certain point he realizes that he lives better if he takes the train.
Gamper for the “Reborn Projects” collection by GInori 1735.
This too is a question of sustainability, of what is sustainable for you “. At Nilufar, Gamper will present a reinterpretation of the curved steel furniture: «I found these old English furniture inspired by the Bauhaus that intrigued me a lot. I was simply thinking of restoring them and covering them with new fabrics, but then I decided to make some grafts, as if new branches had sprouted for a while ».
A detail of the “Innesto” furnishings that Gamper presents at Niufar Depot.
His is a very sui generis design since the days of the “One hundred chairs in a hundred days”, the project that made him famous. «Today this type of research has taken up space. There are so many different ways of doing design, and it is this pluralism that makes it interesting. If not, it would all be the same“.
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