Karim Rashid for Sancal

Award winning designer Karim Rashid has launched yet another furniture collection, this time with Spainish manufacturer Sancal. The "Float" sofa was launched at this years Milan Furniture Fair in April. The sofa features sensibilty with an element of fun through the use of colour and finishes choosen which are signature to Rashids designs. The "Float" is composed of rounded, colorful modular arms and headrests which intersect into a high back, creating a single composition which appears to be floating above the ground.

Mercedes-Benz Do Furniture

Mercedes-Benz showcased their first collection of furniture at this years Milan Furniture Fair, Salone del Mobile. The furniture designed by Mercedes is part of their “Style” collection designed and produced for Italian design company Formitalia. The various pieces of furniture reflect the progressive, dynamic design of their current show cars and concept vehicles, offering an exclusive, emotional experience outside their vehicles and into seating for the domestic and commercial inetrior sectors.

Lenny Kravitz Interior and Furniture Range

Singer, songwriter and actor Lenny Kravitz has collaborated with Italian furniture company Kartell to create a collection of chairs influenced by the Phillippe Starcks iconic "Mademoiselle" armchair. The Kartell and Kravitz collection was showcased at this years Milan Furniture Fair, Salone del Mobile. The iconic armchair has been given a rockstar edge by using materials such as python, leather and fur highly influenced by Kravitz own style.
Aswell as collaborating with Kartell, Kravitz has also designed a range of black and white tiles inspired by water drops and waves for Lea Ceramiche. These tiles were also showcased at this years Milan Furniture Fair.

Stools shaped by Magnetic Fields

Dutch graduate designer Jólan van der Wiel showcased an incredible set of stools shaped using magnetic fields and the force of gravity at the "Transnatural" exhibition during the Milan furniture Fair. The stools were made by placing a combination of iron and plastic between strong magnets that pull the material into unique and organic shapes.
"The Gravity Stools" take their unique shape thanks to the cooperation between magnetic fields and the power of gravity. Inspired by the idea that everything is influenced by gravitation, a force that has a strong shaping effect, he intended to manipulate this natural phenomenon by exploiting its own power of magnetism. The positioning of the magnetic fields in the machine, opposing eachother, has largely determined the final shape of the Gravity Stool.

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Liquid Wood Furniture

Liquid Wood is a new furniture material promising to be environmentally friendly using readily available raw materials that are renewable and is said to be 100% recyclable. Italian furniture maker Calligaris has introduced a chair made from this Liquid Wood material, a composite biomaterial consisting of polymer and wood which was showcased at last weeks Milan Furniture Design Fair 2012.
The Liquid Wood is moulded like a normal thermoplastic polymer allowing for versatility and high performance in terms of durability, resistance and flexibility within the product. The material is mainly composed of lignin and cellulose, which are found in the cells of plants. SKIN is Calligaris first product made of Liquid Wood. The collection of chairs that make up SKIN feature a simple and minimalist design which are easily stackable and suitable for outdoor use.

Trending in Milan 2012

We are mid way through The Milan Furniture Fair, Salone del Mobile for 2012. Heres an overview of whats been trending the past 3days.

The ‘LygoLamp’ by the Netherlands based company Studio Mango is the latest installation in their collection. The lamp comes in flat pack form, just like boxes of LEGO. The packages come with 12 dozen LEGO blocks and all the necessary electrical equipment to create this elegant new lighting fixture. The hanging circular lamp comes in a variety of different colors to incoporate into any contemporary layout.

"Endless" by Dirk Van Der Kooij is a collection of chairs designed using a robot he trained. Considering the high investments for complicated moulds that have to be made for processes similar to this one, hedeveloped a system which enables automatic production independent from the object’s design. He taught the robot a new craft involving drawing furniture out of one endlessly long plastic string.

Designed by Italian furniture designer Fabio Novembre, 36h and 56h chairs have been created for Driade. Designed around the childhood memory of making home made pasta with his grand mother, Novembre gives these chairs a fluidity which works hand in hand with the natural outdoors. Composed of an aluminium frame and covered in a woven plastic makes this collection of outdoor seating very durable and weather resistant.

British designer Ross Lovegrove has collabirated with Italian lighting company Artemide  for this new collection of lighting designs. The first piece, "Nebula" is generated from advanced parametric scripting.

It is enclosed in a circular painted aluminum LED ring, a diffuser which is sculpted from thermoplastic material, accentuates the organic forms as it captures the surrounding light.
This lighting design can be mounted on the ceiling or the wall, alone or in clusters to create an installation.

"Selvedge" is a collection of armchairs designed by U.K based design studio Raw Edges for Kvadrat. These chairs are designed to celebrate the scraps of fabric normally disgarded by the Danish fabric and textile company Kvadrat. These pieces of fabric known as selvedge are usually found lining the borders of a textile while on a roll, the selvedge is cut and not included as a part of the end product. Using the linear elements of the "Hallingdal 65", they stretch it to dictate the form and structure of an armchair.

Salone Satellite

The Salone Satellite was created in 1998 to bringing together and showcase the most promising young designers from all over the world at the Salone del Mobile. Many of the pieces are presented as prototypes and in the fourteen previous editions many of the designs showcased have gone into production, and many of the participating designers have become important figures in the world of design since.
Each year 700 young designers and students of the most prestigious design schools and universities exhibit and exchange ideas at this unique showcase. The proposed designs are examined and evaluated by a prestigious Committee consisting of top professionals from the world of design, architecture and media including designer James Irvine and design critic Beppe Finessi. This year at Salone Satellite up and coming young designers who will be showcasing their work include Azumi, Big Game, Staffan Holm, Satyendra Pakhale, Donata Paruccini, Studio Juju and Sebastian Wrong.

Stool designed by Shin Azumi

Beanbag Chair designed by Big-Game



Swirl Stool designed by Staffan Holm



Chair designed by Satyendra Pakhole

Coat Hanger designed by Donata Paruccini

Chair designed by Studio Juju

Chest of  Drawers designed by Sebastian Wrong