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Milan 2015: designjunction’s Edit for Milan

designjunction Edit is Milan’s smaller version of the London Design Festival’s designjunction – this year held in the derelict surroundings of Casa dell’Opera, a former school in Milan’s newest design district, San Babila.

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Crowd Candleholder by David Taylor (first image) and Untitled (Concrete Chair) by Magnus Pettersen (above) were both exhibited as part of Copenhagen-based design house New Works’ space – a delectable display of Danish design.

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Cantili is a tape dispenser available in gold, copper, and silver – part of London studio Poetic Lab’s collection of desktop accessories for design brand Beyond Object. The collection also includes a letter opener, pencil sharpener, and pen pot, all using simple shapes and luxury materials.

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Nyta was founded by three lighting designers: Fabian Maier, architect and lighting planer, Johannes Marmon and Johannes Müller, who have backgrounds in product design. The trio was presenting the Tilt Light, as part of an installation in the show’s corridors, as well as a wider collection in their own space.

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British Trade and Investment body UKTI was showing an “interior design project where design and creativity meet eco-sustainability.” Highlights included the Shake Sideboard by Sebastian Cox for Benchmark and Utopia & Utlity’s Stacking Vessels.

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Case Furniture presented the Cafe Table and a new version of the Loku chair, both by Shin Azumi, as well as their existing collection. Established in 2006, Case works with a range of contemporary designers such as Bethan Grey and Samuel Wilkinson, as well as recreating classics from the archives of Robin Day.

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“More than anything, we want to improve the everyday, bringing imagination and nourishment into people’s lives,” says new furniture company, H. The Pie Chart System is a modular side table system comprising four different units: a quarter circle, a half circle, a three-quarter circle, and a full circle. Each unit comes as a table or storage container.

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Dining Chair No. 1 by We Do Wood is a flat pack moso bamboo chair, inspired by a dustpan: “The seat is rimmed with an abrupt incline inspired by old-fashioned metal dustpans, whose form represents both strength and practical use,” said the designers.

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And finally Colé Italia presented Bricolla-ge by Miki Astori, a corner shelf that doubles up as a desk. “The corner is a mistreated piece of home,” said the designer. “Being in a corner means to be in a blind alley with no way out. In each situation or culture the corner is avoided and never duly considered.” His console table, paired with the Tria wood chair by Lorenz Kaz, provides a useful solution for neglected corners.

Katie Treggiden is a purpose-driven journalist, author and, podcaster championing a circular approach to design – because Planet Earth needs better stories. She is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a program and membership community for designer-makers who want to join the circular economy. With 20 years' experience in the creative industries, she regularly contributes to publications such as The Guardian, Crafts Magazine and Monocle24 – as well as being Editor at Large for Design Milk. She is currently exploring the question ‘can craft save the world?’ through an emerging body of work that includes her fifth book, Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure (Ludion, 2020), and a podcast, Circular with Katie Treggiden.