Simply Sofas - So Fa So Good

As our yearly travels to Milan Design Week attest, the biggest architects, interior designers, and design houses do all agree that choosing the perfect luxury sofa is not just about finding a piece of furniture that looks great. It's about finding a sofa that fits the space, complements the overall design aesthetic of the individual/ the family, and meets needs – physiological, social and emotional. In this article, we'll explore five key points that the industry’s most seasoned design professionals consider while choosing a luxury sofa for their client, and their homes. What’s the Space that We’re Looking at? Is it a grand living room, a family room, a transitional space, a recreational room or a cosy niche? Factors such as the size and shape of the room are key to determining the size, shape, and functionality of the sofa to be. What’s the Overall Aesthetic? The style of the sofa should complement the overall aesthetic of the home. Whether you prefer classic eleg...

Superdesign Show is the most visited and renowned exhibition which takes place every year at Superstudio Più laterally during the main exhibition - Salone Internazionale del Mobile. Located in Tortona Design District, over 60,000 people visited the exhibition this year. The exhibition is dedicated completely to interactions and promotion of design, art, fashion, technology, entertainment, innovation and to all other fields of contemporaneity bridging gaps between Italy and the rest of the world. Under the supervision of Gisella Bporioli and artistic direction by Giulio Cappellini, the show added buzz to the design capital of the world.  The theme for the overall exhibit was entitled 'Looking ahead'. A deeper insight into the concept suggests distancing ourselves from the belief that "everything will be as before" and anticipating a future that has to be reformulated in all its expressions, in this fashion, the designers and companies were invited to align themselves w...

 For any given year, the Triennale Design Museum has always been an unmissable part of our itinerary during Milan Design Week . Located inside the Palace of Art building, the Triennale allows visitors to explore excellence in design through various points of view – all part of a program that interweaves permanent exhibitions with ad hoc exhibition events. Changing the topics covered every year; thereby renewing and transforming itself.  This year, we got to see, among others, Driade by Fabio Novembre, Memphis Again by Ettore Sottsass, and Mathieu Lehanneur’s State of the World. Driade on stage at Triennale. Art directed by Fabio Novembre, the Italian architect and designer uses furniture design here to tell intense and fascinating stories in which the protagonist is often the human figure. Featuring Marcelo Burlon, Sfera Ebbasta, Omar Hassan, and Pow3R alongside their designs.   Forest Tales is an exhibition presented by the American Hardwood Export Council and curated by...

 Fuorisalone, which coincides with the Salone Internazionale del Mobile at Rho Fiera, is a set of events and exhibitions spread across the city’s design districts. This year, we visited two of its most significant ones - Brera and Tortona. Interestingly, although Fuorisalone started in the early 1980s by companies working in the furnishing and industrial design sectors, it does not have a central organisation and is not managed by any Institution. Today, it has expanded into many related sectors including automotive, technology, telecommunications, art, fashion, and food. Drawing a lot of designers, architects, students, and professionals from all over the world. Here are a few of the many exhibits that caught our imagination at Fuorisalone 2022. The Art of Dreams by Porsche The Porsche installation at Brera Design District. A courtyard, nature, summertime and a classic car. Celebrating timeless design. Another piece by Porsche, The Art of Dreams incorporates a dozen piloted drones...

 On Monday morning, we travelled a short distance away from the old city centre of Milan and got to see CityLife – an ambitious and futuristic residential, commercial, and business project designed by eminent architects such as Zaha Hadid, Arata Isozaki, and Daniel Libeskind.   At the centre of the 90-acre site are three commercial towers surrounded by residential buildings and public green spaces. Generali Tower, known as Lo Storto or "the Twisted One", was designed by Zaha Hadid. The geometry of the building is such that the dimension of the floors and their orientation vary along the tower axis. Libeskind Tower or PwC Tower, also called Il Curvo or "the Curved One", was designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. The facade of this tower is made of sustainable, state-of-the-art glass that reflects the public space below and vistas around.   Allianz Tower, locally nicknamed Il Dritto or "the Straight One", was designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki and...

 I've been a curious, excited visitor to Milan Design Week since 2011, and every year thereon till the pandemic paused things. The first couple of years were nothing short of astonishing. Picture a hundred-odd football fields of furniture and interior concepts, all newly designed and produced in a span of 10 months. That's the real scale of the week, which has two sides. At the core is Salone del Mobile , or the Milan Furniture Fair, where the world's most innovative furniture makers vie for a place to display their latest, at great expense and effort. Every booth of every brand in every hall at the Rho fairgrounds is designed to impress. And it hits you with such force, till perhaps around year six, when you have finally raised your expectations even before you walk in on day one. In the body language of many of the architects, designers and buyers from across the world, concern is easy to spot. Numerous new textures, finishes, patterns, materials, mechanisms. New cutting...

 To begin with, two events make the prestigious Milan Design Week. Salone del Mobile – the Milan Furniture Fair, and Fuorisalone – a set of events and exhibitions spread across the city’s design districts. While the former attracts 300,000 of the world’s finest minds in design, architecture, interiors and furniture converge, the latter also draws a lot of designers, architects, students and professionals from all over the world. The contemporary version of the iconic 'Dali's Lips' sofa, as seen in the movie 'House of Gucci'. industry. Salone del Mobile has always been a point of reference for the entire design community. A place of bustling creativity and healthy dialogue, this is where crucial global trends in the world of interior design and furniture are born. Trends that provide direction to the rest of the world, including China, as the world's biggest furniture makers look upon the event as the main testing ground for their new ideas, especially in the ...