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Milan Design Week 2017: Ventura Lambrate, Sunshine & Gelato

04.20.17 | By
Milan Design Week 2017: Ventura Lambrate, Sunshine & Gelato

Smaller than usual, but no less perfectly formed, the 8th edition of Ventura Lambrate saw 128 exhibitors from all over the world flock to this undeveloped corner of Milan to showcase their wares. There was sunshine, there was gelato, and there were new designers – Ventura Lambrate is Milan Design Week at its best. (Above: concrete vases by Studio Amanda Lilholt)

In Progress by Petter Fjellman-Lätt was part of the HDK – Academy of Design and Crafts exhibition entitled Almost Complete – it highlights every stage of the making process within the finished object.

Function… Is In The Eye of the Beholder by Lydia Kumlien was part of the same exhibition, and shone a light on the interface between object and user, where the user defines the function of the piece.

And the final collection from the same show was called Together Stools, in which Helen Johannesson has designed three stools to explore the form and function of seating.

Shipwreck is the latest collection from design brand Tom Pigeon. Inspired by the flotsam and jetsam that washes up on their shores near their studio on the east coast of Scotland, the collection comprises three art prints, a wall hanging, a rug, a mobile, a collection of stationery and a small wooden boat made by local craftsman Edward Smith as part of the brand’s Sourced offering.

The Capa Chair by AtMa inc. is entirely customizable, encouraging users to create the chair that suits their lifestyle. The basic chair is made from wood and powder-coated steel with brass fixings and people can then choose to add lighting, seat covers, a basket, an arm rest, and/or a handy tray for mugs, pens, the remote control, etc. And of course you can specify the color – from a palette inspired by the Japanese kimono.

Form & Seek is a collective of young designers founded by Ruben de la Rive Box, Bilge Nur Saltik and Golnar Roshan, and the show they curate each year for Ventura Lambrate is always a highlight. 2017’s show, entitled Age of Man, was no exception. The simple forms above, inspired by “the elegance of classical antiquity” are by London-based ceramicist Melina Xenaki.

Another Form & Seek pick is Water Tower Pour Over by furniture designer and ceramicist Eny Lee Parker and designer and engineer Levi Brandon Gordy. As well as making very good coffee, the handcrafted Kaolin clay construction is designed to make us pause and consider our all-too-often mindless consumption of water.

And finally, Ara Levon Thorose designed the Tubular Group as “a three dimensional line drawing of a chair.” 7M, the blue chair in the background was created from seven “curving moments,” 3M, the yellow chair from three moments, and 6M the red chair in the foreground from six.

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.