Salone del Mobile, Milan review
20 - Around the corner, commercial tactility took the form of this celebratory exhibition of Norwegian crafts. Comprising pieces from across the craft disciplines by the likes of Andreas Engesvik, Falke Svatun, Kneip and Vera & Kyte, the show brought together a coherent and contemporary portrayal of some of the nation's finest talent. MF
21 - A two-year project involving 16 international designers and 10 potteries culminated in the launch of some 300 porcelain pieces under the name 2016/. This year marks 400 years of production in Japan's ceramic capital, Arita. The resulting collections by the likes of Scholten & Baijings, Teruhiro Yanagihara, Tomás Alonso, Stefan Diez, Leon Ransmeier and Kueng Caputo were executed to perfection, having been honed with specialist craftsmen during residencies in the town. MF
22 - London-based duo Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay created a performance focused installation that involved them dipping wooden planks into various brightly coloured stains - Herringbones by Raw-Edges. Over time, they built up overlapping layers of congruent stains in a herringbonelike pattern, eventually constructing the planks into simple, slat-like, furniture with distinct appeal. MF
23 - Joe Doucet created this stylish and quirky decanter and glasses with built-in coasters called Camp for Nude. The copper cross is meant to evoke the camp fire. JT
24 - Dutch design couple Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk, creators of high-end collectible pieces, embarked on 30 new works in five new collections.
Working autonomously, both designers tackled the notion of the physical as a counter to the steady influx of digital. All handmade in solid metals, the collections unexpectedly approach subjects such as survival, physical interaction, conversation and spontaneity through objects. MF
25 - Blueprint Awards judge André Fu created a collection of haptic lights for Lasvit as part of his André Fu Living brand, using a method new even to this very experienced glass specialist. Fu took his inspiration from the architectural side of glass, in particular Chinese roof tiles from the East and the glass blocks of Pierre Chareau's Maison de Verre in Paris. The shape is also evocative of New York's Flatiron Building. The pieces are called Tac/Tile. The glass was melted together from many smaller shards but the divisions are still visible, giving it the appearance of frost or ice. One side was left natural and the other was smoothed. JT
Kitchens & bathrooms
26 - Because of its quotidian nature, cutlery can be easily overlooked and ignored (except perhaps when it's cheap and nasty). For this very reason Valerie Traan Gallery curator Veerle Wenes asked a number of designers to look again. Maarten Baas was one designer to take up the challenge and produced this 'sketched cutlery of an almost child-like simplicity'. At first glance you don't really see the details of what's different, but then its subversive nature begins to appear - symmetry is no longer a given, serrations are primitively jagged and tines take on a life of their own. Excellent stuff - would liven up any mealtime. JT
27 - Launched at the Fiera, Barber & Osgerby's bold graphic tiles for Mutina have a strong feel of Italy in the mid-Sixties, with a real sense of confidence, style and a hint of fun. Called Puzzle, the design duo describes the tile collection as a 'game with infinite outcomes'. While they were experimenting with the geometry they saw shapes like maps appearing and as a result decided to name the elements of the collection - split into eight chromatic families - after European Islands: Faroe, Gotland, Åland, Anglesey and Skye (for the neutral colours) and Crete, Milos and Murano (for the warmer ones).
Each of these families includes a composition of six graphic patterns in three colours, a set of two symmetrical patterns in two colours, and three solid-colour variations. The tiles are equally at home in kitchens or bathrooms - and other rooms if you have a more mainland-European bent. They can be used outside as well. B&O also designed another tile range for Mutina called Mistral that was launched at the show. JT
28 - Tom Dixon's installation with Caesarstone, The Restaurant, in Rotunda Besana, was sumptuous. It was like a highly detailed film set from some high art/architecturally minded offering by director Peter Greenaway - all it needed was a castrati chorus to complete it.
The Restaurant centred around four 'extraordinary, sculptural kitchens' set out in a cruciform, taking its cues from the building itself. Each served a different themed course. Diners could eat in one area or try all the cuisines, which to be honest were OK, but you were far better off just drinking in the exquisite setting and admiring the staggering amount of work that had gone into creating The Restaurant. Full marks. JT