Design Blog

Translated by Silvia — Lately at the Furniture Fair in Milan we have been able to admire the urban trendy touch on one of the most famous pieces in the history of design: a piercing applied on the sensual lips of DARK LADY, the new tainted black version of the Bocca sofa.

The original model in red created by Studio 65 in Turin in 1975 in homage to Salvador Dalì has become so famous as to be included in the permanent collection of New York’s MoMA, Paris’ Louvre, Milan’s Permanent Design Collection of Italian design and Denver’s Museum of Modern Art.

Strong piece in the “I Multipli” collection of about180 pieces, Bocca is indeed one of the most famous along with Pratone, Cactus and Capitello. Made from cold-expanded polyurethane a dressed in stretchy material, Bocca and its new version DARK LADY, produced in limited edition of only 1000 pieces, are produces by Gufram, the historical Italian company which is now a part of the Charme group (with Cappellini, Poltrona Frau and Gebruder Thonet).

Strangely though… in the States, this mythical and sexy sofa is known as MARILYN, a love seat, so-called by Eleanore Stendig from Stendig, Inc. in New York, the first importer of Bocca on American soil. The reference is clear!
More images in the cut below.

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Translated by Silvia — The creativity of the so-called “Reuse Design” lately is forever more appreciate from an earth-friendly and “NON Useless” design point of view, but more importantly even of “RE-useful”.

Here is for you a selection of interesting projects born from the creativity of sensible designers looking for ecologically sustainable solutions, selection which goes to show the fact that reusing is an effective solution and can also be aesthetic. 12 propositions which come, in the most part, from discarded objects, rethought and modelled into a new existence, for a renewed and original desirability.

A source of inspiration and encouragement for our daily recycling.

All details in the link below.

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Translated by Silvia — A touch of moon light for furniture which reminds us of the Thai Full Moon Parties at Ko Phangan down the Haad Rin beach, and of full-moon summer nights from when we were kids, rocked by a story and the hypnotic sound of the sea.

Fullmoon is born from the creativity of the Greek designer Sotirios Papdopoulos for the Italian company EnneZero from Pordenone (the same one that created the furniture collection for Giuseppe Canavese, dedicated to the fascinating and sensual Valentina of Guido Crepax): a 24 piece limited edition piece of furniture with luminous special effects that recreates the luminescence of the full moon thanks to an ecologically safe varnish (ELI: “ecolightinside” created by Papadopoulos himself) of a gelatinous consistency. Thanks to the addition of a special ecological power, it takes on light-in-the-dark properties, to give the home the suggestive lunar influxes to which Man and nature have been attracted since the dead of time.

This novelty will be on show at the temporary SOHO gallery that will be held during Milan’s Furniture and Design week, for the “dEMOsign” exhibition from the 18^th to the 20^th of April 2008.

More pictures in the cut below.

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Translated by Silvia — We bring you the following news that came to us from the Doppiospazio design studio on what you will be seeing in a few weeks at the Milan Fuori Salone at Furniture Fair of 2008 (N.d.DB):

Oppure is a line of contemporary objects and furniture made from cardboard and to be used and lived in: produced by unique and unmistakeable design, all perfectly coordinated between them.

Oppure gives modernity to an already current material, such as cardboard, visibly lightweight but decidedly resistant, the use of which gives multiform creations a complete skill of constructive perfection.

The furniture and objects of the Oppure line distinguish themselves, emerge, surprise: whilst the essentiality of the volumes liberates fantasy, the elegance of the geometric shapes interprets the constant dialogue between art and design, with a definite touch of eclectic energy and affective technique.

Translated by Silvia – After the preview held on February 7^th 2008 at the Secondome design gallery in Rome, the 300 Sudoku bookcases, numbered and signed, designed by Arch. Mario Bellini for Italian company Horm will be the protagonists of the official “Horm for Unicef” event that will be held on the evening of March 13^th at Milan’s Spazio Pontaccio. The audience will be able to buy the pieces of this special edition dedicated to solidarity for African children in Unicef’s “Schools for Africa” project and contribute in a personal way, even through the purchase of the pouch designed by the same Mario Bellini and made with the same materials as the bookcase, black and white wood, polished leather and a mirrored interior.