Our London studio’s talented Interior Designer, Louise Rae, had the wonderful opportunity to attend Milan Design Week with Iris Ceramica.
Salone del Mobile 2023 and Milan Design Week offered a rich and comprehensive programme of events, installations and launches. From 18 to 23 April, the fair returned to its traditional Spring dates for the first time in three years.
We spoke to Louise about her highlights of the week…
1. Visiting the incredible Iris Group factory and its showrooms.
The Luce tile by Guillermo Mariotto & Iris Ceramica – Re-thinking ceramics in a whole new light…
This tile transforms a space. By reflecting the light, it constantly changes as you walk past, creating dynamic shadows which conveys the product like a beautiful fabric.
Iris Ceramica had so many amazing tiles, but this was my favourite!
2. ‘Apacheta’ Loro Piana
Inspired by the rocky piles of the Andes mountain landscape, the furniture collection celebrates soft profiles and curved tactile pieces; handcrafted to reflect the desert sand.
Organic sculptural furniture is definitely still at the forefront of design, and I love it…
3. Kasthall showroom
Kasthall is a 135-year-old Swedish sustainable rug company solely producing made-to-order. They only use natural wool and linen, and they don’t use bleach. Furthermore, they dry their linen naturally without chemicals which are often used by others to speed up the process.
(We had a go using their rug tufting gun… which was difficult to use but a lot of fun!)
I love the ongoing popularity of boucle fabrics. It’s great to see a rug company join the trend by offering its take on a boucle rug!
4. Salvatori
The Salvatori showroom had a vast array of stunning natural stone finishes shown through ribbed and fabric-like textures.
Beautiful detailing was everywhere!
5. SolidNature Immersive Exhibition ‘Beyond The Surface’
SolidNature commissioned OMA to design an installation for the second time at Milan Design Week. This year they explored the journey of natural stone from its geological formation to the finished product.
The exhibition celebrates the stone’s imperfections, from fossils to shifting non-symmetrical patterns formed by earthquakes.
The exhibition educated us on the stone’s journey from the quarry to the varied finishing processes. It demonstrated how stones change colour due to their minerals under UV light (and what it smells of!).
Until next time, Milan!
Featured image by: Interni Magazine