Superlatives Welcomed: Tom Dixon’s MOST Exhibition Is a Milan Salone Highlight

Thanks to <a title="Tom Dixon" href="http://www.tomdixon.net/">Tom Dixon</a>'s expert curation of the <a title="MOST" href="http://most.tomdixon.net/">MOST</a> at the <a title="National Museum of Science and Technology" href="http://www.museoscienza.org/">National Museum of Science and Technology</a>, this year's Salone set can be overheard discussing everything from the laser cutting prowess of German mechanical engineering company <a title="TRUMPF" href="http://www.trumpf.com">TRUMPF</a> to Yves Behar's updated eco-interpretation of the <a href="http://www.sodastream.com/">SodaStream</a> home carbonation system. Billing itself as 'an epicenter for the freshest ideas in communication, food, culture, design and the digital industrial revolution,' MOST draws together an inspired group of leading designers, curators and global brands to highlight innovative design and manufacturing. Through it all, MOST inspires us to consider the process as much as the product, and how our designs impact and improve our world. See the show's highlights ahead.

<strong>DEZEEN STUDIO</strong> Following their successful collaboration on the experimental audio installation <a title="JamScape" href="http://www.dezeen.com/2011/04/15/jamscape-photographed-by-luke-hayes/">JamScape</a> at the Salone last year, <a title="Dezeen" href="http://www.dezeen.com/">Deezeen</a> has again teamed up with <a title="Jawbone" href="http://www.jawbone.com">Jawbone </a>on the <a title="Dezeen Studio" href="http://www.dezeen.com/dezeenstudio/">Dezeen Studio Powered by Jambox</a>.The studio will record and broadcast interviews, as well as <a title="Dezeen Music Project" href="http://www.dezeen.com/musicproject/">deejay soundtracks</a> throughout the week.

<strong>TOM DIXON'S FIN LIGHT</strong> With <a href="http://www.tomdixon.net/news/fin-light">Fin Light</a>, Dixon uses cutting edge technology to highlight form as function. The heat sink, an external aluminum component used to cool electrical equipment, serves at once as both shade and light. Rounding out the bottom, an acrylic lens diffuses 6 LEDs into a scallop-edged broad beam of light. Displayed here as part of Dixon's <a title="Luminosity" href="http://www.tomdixon.net/news/2012/03/luminosity-at-milan-design-week">Luminosity</a> exhibition in MOST, Fin Light is as forward thinking as it is fashionable.

<strong>TOM DIXON'S ETCH LIGHT WEB</strong> Inspired by both science and nature, <a title="Etch Light Web" href="http://www.tomdixon.net/news/etch-light-web">Dixon's Etch Light Web</a> uses digital photo-acid etching to create a spherical web of irregular pentagrams. Suspended within the 65cm wide shade, an oversized LED bulb casts dancing patterns of light and further highlights the beauty to be achieved in the collaboration of nature and technology.

<strong>TOM DIXON DIGITAL FORMING LIGHTS</strong> At <a title="Co-Design Bar" href="http://www.digitalforming.com/blog.html">Digital Forming's Co-Design Bar</a>, visitors get to play designer by customizing one of a number of Dixon designs for lamps and speakers through the use of 3D software. Once ordered, the customized design is manufactured and delivered within two weeks, making the Dixon designing experience virtually seamless.

<strong>JOLAN VAN DER WIEL - GRAVITY STOOLS</strong> <p> One of the most curiously fascinating designs in the show, the <a title="Gravity Stool" href="http://jolanvanderwiel.nl/?p=179">Gravity Stool</a> is <a href="http://vimeo.com/34773498">shaped through magnetism and gravity</a>. Made of a mixture of iron and plastic, the magnetic material is poured into a basin and placed inbetween strong magnets which pull the material into its unique shape and highlight the intricate relationship between nature and nurture. Designed by <a href="http://www.jolanvanderwiel.nl">Jolan van der Wiel</a>, the Gravity Stool is one of several designs presented in the Dutch<a href="http://transnatural.org/"> Transnatural Art &amp; Design Collection</a> that celebrate nature and technology in unison.

<strong>GIONATA GATTO AND MIKE THOMPSON TRAP LIGHT</strong> <div> <p> The Trap Light is one of two lamp series presented by <a href="http://www.traplightsaveenergy.com/">Gionata Gatto and Mike Thompson</a> within the <a href="transnatural.org">Transnatural Art &amp; Design Collection</a>. Using the <a href="http://www.muranoglass.com/">Murano glass</a> blowing technique, the designers embed photoliminescent pigments into the body of the glass. Through this process, recycled light becomes both shade and light source. With just 30 minutes of exposure to a traditional incandescent or LED light bulb, the glass shade provides up to eight hours of ambient lighting.

<strong>GIONATA GATTO AND MIKE THOMPSON TRACE LIGHT SERIES</strong> Like bioluminescent jellyfish, the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3fKHaIuSNg">Gatto and Thompson's second collaboration</a> produces a magical ghostly presence with the <a href="http://transnatural.org/collection/trace-light/#more-2135">Trace Light series</a>. Combining photoluminescent pigments with polyurthane rubbers, the lampshades serve as photoluminescent skins that convert waste energy back into visible light.

<strong>TOM DIXON'S STAMP CHAIR</strong> <p> Dixon reveals the production process by collaborating with the German engineering giant <a title="TRUMPF" href="http://www.trumpf.com/">TRUMPF</a> to install two industrial steel sheet machines within the dramatic setting of the Museum's 19th Century Railway Station. Designed exclusively for MOST, the machines will produce 400 <a href="http://www.tomdixon.net/news/the-great-stamp-giveaway">Stamp Lamps and 5 Stamp Chairs</a> throughout the week that will be given away to visitors on a first come, first served basis. The giveaway starts at 2pm on Saturday, the 21st of April.

<strong>MATTHIEU LEHANNEUR- STRATES DESK FOR OBJEKTEN</strong> <div> <p> Made of sustainable birch plywood, this smart interlocking design packs flat and is easy to assemble. The Strates Desk is designed by <a href="http://www.mathieulehanneur.fr/">Matthieu Lehanneur</a> for <a href="http://www.objekten.com/">Objekten</a> of Belgium.

<strong>DOUWE JACOBS AND TOM SCHOUTEN FLUX CHAIR</strong> <div> <p> The award winning Dutch <a href="http://store.fluxfurniture.com/">Flux Chair</a> is made from a single folded sheet of polypropylene. Assembled from one durable piece of material using the largest injection molding machine in the Netherlands, Flux is available in a rainbow of colors.

<strong>YVES BEHAR SODASTREAM</strong> <a href="http://www.fuseproject.com/yves_behar.php">Yves Behar</a> puts his 'reduce and refine' mantra to work with his redesign of the home carbonation system for <a href="http://inhabitat.com/yves-behars-refreshing-new-design-for-sodastream-source-on-show-at-most-in-milan/">SodaStream</a>. The designer's hanging installation of 550 plastic bottles at MOST's Soda Bar represents the amount of plastic bottles that an average household would save per year by using SodaStream.