Milan Designersblock: Modern Design with Tradition in Mind

Posted By Jorge Diego Etienne On April 17, 2010 @ 11:00 am In Decorative Objects,Gardening,Green Design Events,green furniture,green gadgets,Green Home 101,Green Home decor,green Interiors,Green Materials,Green Products,Milan Furniture Fair,Sustainable Materials | 1 Comment

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Intrepid Inhabitat reporters ^[6] have been busy bustling around around Milan this week, scouring Milan Design Week ^[7] to bring you the hottest new designs from the Salone del Mobile ^[8]. One event that never fails to pique our interest is Britain's Designersblock ^[9] -- a satellite show featuring up-and-coming British design talent. This year Designersblock returns to Zona Isola for a showcase of over 30 designers, 3 design schools and a special project that revives traditional craftsmanship through woodworking. This amazing exhibit hosts a spectacular collection of projects that approach design in various ways, including two of our faves - creative sustainability and eco-friendly design. Read on for some of the standout projects on show now ^[7]!

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The first thing that catches your eye as soon as you enter the space is Assembly Room ^[10]’s furniture pieces made from eco-friendly materials. The AR line includes a two and three-seater sofa that blend the design styles of the past and present. One particular stunner is the AR004 design, a lightweight stackable chair created with FSC certified wood and 100% pure wool ^[11] that is both renewable and compostable ^[12].

Johan Lindstén’s ^[13] Idyll Concept plays with the bittersweet emotions of dreaming through embroidery ^[14]. Women of older generations used to stitch beautiful scenery that has since been forgotten, thrown away or left under-appreciated. This set of chairs mixes traditional home craft with contemporary design to create a vehicle to bring this art form back into play.

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Light Drop is a clever lighting fixture that makes us conscious about how we use our natural resources. Designed by Studio Mango ^[16], the light coming out of a faucet ^[17] represents how water is energy, and how we must be responsible with its use.

The Subversive Garden from Vanessa Harden ^[18] makes gardening chic and fashionable. This series of objects and clothing accessories makes guerrilla gardening ^[19] possible through designs that allow you execute green assaults on the sly.

Bodging Milano ^[20]is an interesting project that took modern designers back to the days of traditional chair making and production. A group of 10 designers lived for a week in the woods of Herefordshire working together in an outdoor workshop where each designed and fabricated their own greenwood chair. Away from all technology and even electricity ^[21], the designers produced their own variation of the classic English Windsor chair.

The participants of this project were Amos Marchant, Carl Clerkin, Chris Eckersley, Dave Green, Gareth Neal, Gitta Gschwendtner, Matthew Hilton, Rory Dodd, Suzanne Barnes, William Warren and Gudrun Leitz who served as the Bodging teacher.

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Year after year Designersblock ^[23]continues to treat us with a visual feast of fresh design. Amongst the variety of different materials and techniques that have been employed, there is a strong undercurrent of a green techniques that have been applied to projects, bellying a display that is not especially directed at sustainability, but highlighted nonetheless. Although set apart from the main-stage Fuori Salone ^[7], Designersblock should not be missed.

+ Designersblock ^[24]

Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com

URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/designersblock-modern-design-with-tradition-in-mind/

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[1] Tweet: http://twitter.com/share

[2] Share on Tumblr: http://www.tumblr.com/share

[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/designersblock-modern-design-with-tradition-in-mind/

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[5]  : http://inhabitat.com/designersblock-modern-design-with-tradition-in-mind/p1010227/?extend=1

[6] Inhabitat reporters: http://www.inhabitat.com/about/

[7] Milan Design Week: http://www.inhabitat.com/milan-furniture-fair

[8] Salone del Mobile: http://www.cosmit.it/tool/home.php?s=0,2,67,71,75

[9] Designersblock: http://www.verydesignersblock.com/2009/2010/02/02/bodging-milano

[10] Assembly Room: http://www.assemblyroom.co.uk/

[11] wool: http://www.ecouterre.com/15532/meet-the-blankoat-an-icelandic-snuggie-made-from-inbred-viking-wool/

[12] compostable: http://inhabitat.com/2010/02/11/circular-pod-tea-house-is-heated-by-compost/

[13] Johan Lindstén’s: http://www.lindstenform.com/

[14] embroidery: http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/02/06/eco-art-vintage-needlework-upcycled-as-trophy-art/

[15] Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/04/17/designersblock-modern-design-with-tradition-in-mind/studio-mango-faucet-light-drop/

[16] Studio Mango: http://www.studiomango.nl/

[17] faucet: http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/03/31/sleek-rotary-faucet-lets-you-dial-down-wasted-water/

[18] Vanessa Harden: http://www.vanessaharden.com

[19] gardening: http://inhabitat.com/2009/04/27/first-plant-ever-grown-on-the-moon-by-2012/

[20] Bodging Milano : http://www.verydesignersblock.com/2009/2010/02/02/bodging-milano/

[21] electricity: http://inhabitat.com/2010/04/16/copenhagen-hotel-pays-guests-to-generate-electricity-by-biking/

[22] Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/04/17/designersblock-modern-design-with-tradition-in-mind/p1010245/

[23] Designersblock : http://www.verydesignersblock.com/

[24] + Designersblock: http://www.verydesignersblock.com

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