Happenings
Transcription
Happenings
Year 1 no.1 16 January 2006 Happenings PRODUCTION THE MEETING Noveltiestrends in Cologne and Paris Roberto Barbieri: a style The designer who has signed some From 16 January Zanotta items will of the firm’s be displayed in two “best sellers” for over 10 years of Europe’s most prestigious windows p.2 p.1 FROM DESIGN TO PRODUCT Dora’s secret An unedited mix of innovation and tradition p.3 LIFESTYLE WORLD Living in Malmö An interview Joe with Colombo Martino A tribute to the architect who Zanotta Home Exhibitions, cinema events and and authors furnishings Appointments Research, quality and culture to win foreign markets and lead the same in the design world Wide screens require appropriate you can not miss p.8 space to ensure optimal vision Santiago Calatrava’s new building offers social entertainment and high quality services p.4 p.5 DEDICATED TO FOCUS invented the future p.6 p.7 NEWS Happenings PRODUCTION n.1/06 p.2 Novelties-trends in Cologne and Paris From 16 January Zanotta items will be displayed in two of Europe’s most prestigious events O n 16-22 January Zanotta will be at the Imm Cologne, for the International Furniture Fair/Koelnmesse held at the Cologne Fair’s renovated pavilions and on 27-31 January they will be at the Now! Design à vivre (concurrently with Maison & Objet, the yearly appointment in Villepinte, Paris North). Besides a new area for furnishing products, lighting and household fabrics, Imm will dedicate an area for young talents with the awards “Interior Design Award” and “Inspired by Cologne Award”. Imm Cuisinale instead will provide extensive information on the theme of kitchen furnishings and domestic appliances. The “Interior Design Trends Manual” developed by six experts in the field will be published for the first time this year. Topics developed will be: transformation, multiple identity, emotion and time as a value. At the Now! in Paris: innovation and design trends with the best proposals of metropolitan artists and contemporary designers in the world of multiform and eclectic living with an eye for new decoration methods and latest patterns. At these two important international appointments Zanotta will present some novelties that will be added to the firm’s new 2006 catalogue. IN MILAN Appointment with Zanotta on 5-10 April for the 45th edition of the International Furniture Fair to be held in the new “Fieramilano” district in Rho-Pero. COVER. A new ‘loose’ cover for Lia and Lea chairs, for Lella armchair and for Lio and Leo stools: a white cotton seat cover to be put on without fixing, can be short or long covering legs too. LEALTA/LIALTA by Roberto Barbieri/2006. Chair. Aluminium alloy frame, upholstery in polyurethane. Removable cover in fabric, leather or cowhide. TIME by Prospero Rasulo/2006 Occasional table. Stiff polyurethane base, steel stem, medium density fiberboard top, brushed glossy lacquer in various colours. The top is also available with white Carrara marble, or with black Marquinia marble. COLORS by Ilkka Suppanen/2004 Co-Edition Zanotta-E&Y. Armchair. Steel frame, painted graphite colour. Cushions upholstery in polyurethane/Dacron Du Pont. Removable cover in fabric or leather; also available in Stelvio fabric with multicoloured cushions on request. Happenings THE MEETING n.1/06 p.3 Designing a best seller Roberto Barbieri, one of the Zanotta collection’s most significant contemporary designers reveals episodes, projects and secret wishes. A Architect Roberto Barbieri and two products designed for Zanotta: the table Uni (1999) and the chair Zilli (2002). ctively involved in the field of design, architecture and graphics, Roberto Barbieri has long concentrated on design and artistic management in the furniture sector. He has created fittings for exhibitions and events on international design. He has been collaborating with Zanotta since 1994 designing products that have become the firm’s best sellers: from the coffee table Grillo to the chairs Lia, Lea and Zilli and the table Orione. Q. Once Aurelio Zanotta said: “It is not the designer but the item that counts: if the item is right it creates the market”. Which was the ‘right’ item that triggered the understanding between your work as a designer and the firm in Nova? A. My first meeting with Aurelio Zanotta concerning the project for a wooden chair was a memorable moment for me: we spoke for hours about the concept of chair and how much the relationship between function and design counted. At the time my name was not famous but the item I introduced counted a little more, hence the production of its prototypes began. That chair was not manufactured, but I think that very lost opportunity established with the firm the atmosphere, which encouraged later collaborations. Among the projects implemented from my designs, I consider the chair Lia the right object, which created a market. Die-cast aluminium alloy ensures lightness and a gentle profile, as well as fine polyurethane padding and lastly the upholstery. Lia was appreciated by the public and thousands of pieces are sold even today. I recall my admiration at the time for a chair that Zanotta had already been producing for about ten years: Tonietta by Enzo Mari. The shape, inspired by the historical Thonet chairs, was modernised with aluminium and black leather… This too is still in production and does not fail to meet with consents. Q. Passion, enjoyment, research and the observation of lifestyles. What counts for a designer who wants to test his skills with new products designed for contemporary homes? A. Passion is the moving force of the entire story. I certainly enjoy myself (most of the time) as the consequence of what is substantial, in other words moments spent on designing and on comparing notes with the group that will handle the implementation. Working in close contact with the industry’s technicians is what most fascinates and stimulates me. This is what enables us to obtain high quality and better product adherence to the real market. It does not mean adapting to the current taste... An example I like to mention concerning the synergy between the designer and a good furniture firm’s technical office is an episode I experienced with Zanotta. They were moving towards the implementation of the coffee table Grillo two years ago and my drawing clearly highlighted the relevance of the central bracket with three spokes for the base. It was simple and certainly not revolutionary, but what made it special was the construction method: the high pressure water jet cutting of the metal sheet meant that a 15 mm metal sheet was cut with water with just one gesture that was virtually sculptural. And that bracket became weightless and graceful. These are highly satisfying moments. Q. Do the projects you have on the go for Zanotta also number a material you hope will be invented at an industrial level? A. How do you know that I dream of a low cost material like plastic, which is as resistant as aluminium, is neither too cold nor too hot like metals and which can be produced with less costly moulds than those required for injection plastic? Happenings FROM DESIGN TO PRODUCT Dora’s secret A n.1/06 p.4 An unedited mix of innovation and tradition very special piece, which merges innovative research and tradition revisited in a new key: the shape inspired by design in the ’50s and ’60s - is combined with an advanced technology, which enables the creation of its contemporary ‘skin’. It is both industrial and centred on matter, sinuous and linear. We are speaking of Dora, the armchair designed by Ludovica and Roberto Palomba for Zanotta for the International Furniture Fair 2005. Press and experts have spoken of it with curiosity and interest since it made its appearance. The warm harmonious shape is striking, while the surface on which light highlights delicate floral designs is intriguing. Dora is produced in rotation moulded polyethylene, in the versions: matt decorated or glossy lacquered. The processing method consists of hollow moulds on which resin polymers are placed; these polymers merge to form the ROBERTO AND LUDOVICA PALOMBA, architects and designers, formed the architectural practice Palomba Serafini Associati (architecture, industrial design, exhibit design, communication and marketing) in 1994. Roberto Palomba is Professor at the Milan Polytechnic’s Department of Industrial Design. desired shape and thickness. Its special feature lies in the surface pattern: a floral motif inspired by the silk of Japanese kimonos and engraved first on the mould and then on resin to play on a glossyopaque effect. Comfortable, resistant and large, Dora is ideal to furnish outdoor environments, living areas and public premises. Designers define this project a hybrid: “Dora was designed to express ambiguity in style and use - not to increase consensus - and because it results from the ambiguity and eclecticism of this age. Hence the decoration of a precious Chinese silk becomes a phantom plastic skin on a product that can be exposed to bad weather; the typical style, which echoes classical models, merges into the monoblock item with proportions that verge on the limit of eros”. In a single processing phase Dora takes on its formal identity and the decorative pattern through the new method combined with rotational moulding: the polymer traces the mould’s internal shape and its surface too. Extreme care for the finish and the perfection of the very mould is of vital relevance. It is natural to wonder how a similar aesthetical and formal result can be obtained by focusing on a different production process. We asked designers Ludovica and Roberto Palomba the question. “If Dora were produced with the traditional furniture production methods (frame made of metal and polyurethane foam with a textile cover, even in Chinese silk) it would have another cost. The use of plastic material and research focused on achieving a more culturally complex decoration prove that proportionately Dora is all but an expensive product. This item is the result of temporal eclecticism: Dora could have been called Dolly like the sheep Dolly. The very fact that it belongs to the Zanotta collection means that it is an item that can mirror the age that generated it. And the Zanotta firm’s greatness lies in having always succeeded in reading the contemporary features of design in the past 50 years of history”. The discussion between the industry and the designers is essential; it is a real ‘double bond’ that weaves ideas, technology and lifestyles. Hence we asked Ludovica and Roberto Palomba how to create a product that, besides giving emotions, must also be reproducible and suited to contemporary living requirements. “Everything can inspire us and suggest new stimuli. We experience an intense dialogue with our surroundings: it is as if the world constantly asked us questions and we answered with our creations. When you reach success and your products start having a certain influence, a sort of Q&A is triggered and you become part of an unceasing dialogue till, by some remote chance, you are inspired by yourself”. From the left: the designers with the prototype of Dora; the chair’s mould and the completed piece. Happenings T he first removals, which will enable Malmö’s inhabitants to live inside a sculpture, have begun. The largest inhabitable sculpture ever designed: 190 metres high on the banks of one of the most beautiful Scandinavian bays. Sailing enthusiasts and night birds will have seen it in the background of Malmö bay in Sweden in television broadcasts when Luna Rossa was a match for the invincible Alinghi. Malmö is a seaside town, which numbers many parks. Already during its construction the building is a visual landmark that marks the horizon of this city, which is one of the most beautiful and socially innovative in Northern Europe. Commissioned by HSB and designed by Santiago Calatrava the “Turning Torso” will show us how people can live vertically at a limited cost and with many neighbours in a space moulded in the air and enriched with relations, services and light. A short walk takes you to the city centre, the Ribersborg beach and the dynamic district. Nine cubes slightly twist and overlap to form five floors: the last one has a 90 degree rotation compared to the first one. Floors three to nine house residences: 400 square metres per floor, square shaped (anchored to the centre of the building) and with a triangle supported by a daring treelike structure. Each floor’s section recalls the elementary shape of a ship as if the boats, which dot the bay, had started flying. In total: 13,500 sq. mt. of apartments. Apartment dimensions range between 45 and 190 sq. mt. with 33 different layouts, whose common factor is the idea of open space: large sitting-rooms, often with a dual view, the evident ceiling elevation, the intense use of oak wood (floors, doors and windows and kitchens), full length doors to enhance the feeling of space and verticality. The project for the interior was designed by architect Stefan Bergkvist. The kitchen (delivered furnished with domestic appliances) reminds us that Malmö is the cradle of food and social life: it is a large bright fully equipped space. The tenants of “Turning Torso”, besides paying rents that are kept down (750 - 2000 Euros), will enjoy services for a pleasanter and richer life. Let us mention a small thermocontrolled wine cellar, a concierge service open 24 hours, three rooms with bath on the 43rd floor for visiting friends (for those who cannot accommodate guests at home), a gym, two saunas and two exhibition areas for exhibitions, conferences and meetings. Residents may also rent one or more of the eight equipped office spaces on the first floor. Every apartment’s energy consumption (hot water, heating and electricity) is monitored and paid individually. Cars are parked in a building adjacent to the tower and linked to it by a private tunnel. The rent is inclusive of window cleaning for the large windows. Welcome to Malmö. VERTICAL LIVING LIFESTYLE n.1/06 p.5 Santiago Calatrava’s new building in the Swedish Malmö offers high quality services at competitive prices. It is an exemplary project for modern lifestyles, which are dynamic and inclined to simplicity without renouncing elegance and comfort. The Turning Torso, interior view and view of Malmö Bay. 8 ZANOTTA RETAILERS IN SWEDEN n n n Olsson&Gerthel in Malmö Nordiska Galleriet in Stockholm Six authorised stores in Helsingborg, Kullavik, Växjö, Ekerö and Göteborg. Happenings WORLD n.1/06 p.6 Research, quality, and culture An interview with Martino Zanotta M. Zanotta on Joy by A. Castiglioni (1989) Q. In this difficult economic situation furnishing firms look towards international markets with great expectations. What are the tools the design industry should acquire to win foreign markets? A. Made-in-Italy is a synonym of quality and innovation. In the scene of Italian design, Zanotta is a historical trademark, which has founded its growth on research and experimentation both in the stylistic and technological framework - and on the concept that a firm can produce profit and culture at the same time. I believe that even today this set of factors can make the difference, thus enabling leading Italian firms to distinguish themselves in the world and to lead the market. MARTINO ZANOTTA In ’93, after achieving a Master in Business Management, he entered the family’s firm. He has reshaped the distribution network since ’96. He is the CEO of Zanotta Spa. Q. Which countries guarantee the furniture sector’s greatest growth opportunities? And which will Zanotta back in the future? A. The new frontiers of exports in our sector are East European countries, Asia and the Persian Gulf: areas that give us a glimpse of the greatest development opportunities for the furniture industry. But not all these countries are ready from a taste-based perspective to appreciate the style of contemporary Italian design. Hence Zanotta will still focus on more traditional and mature markets like Spain, Scandinavia and Russia, to mention an emerging country. Q. China’s promise seems to be enormous. What do you think are the real advantages and what are the possible risks? A. Looking ahead China is an interesting market for high quality designer furniture as it can offer a high development potential. Let us not forget that Beijing is an excellent base to reach all other Asian markets. But we must hope that, besides economic growth, China will promptly implement cultural growth too. It is essential to enable the more developed social strata to appreciate the added value of the made-in-Italy factor and to draw the new emerging classes close to the taste and lifestyle promoted by Italian furniture in the world. The greatest risks we can come across in this country are those resulting from the lack of ‘rules’ and from the attitude of permissiveness towards copies and counterfeiting. Q. International rules for exports, quality certifications and other regulations are increasingly necessary to protect both producers and consumers. How does Zanotta face these challenges? A. Zanotta has long been active in this framework. In particular, we are focusing on two themes that are important for the current consumer: ‘quality’ and ‘ecology’. Concerning quality, we were one of the first Italian furniture firms to introduce systematic testing to ensure that products comply with international safety, resistance and duration regulations in the early ’90s. Since ’93 we have worked on quality system as per the ISO 9004 regulation. Concerning ecology we are committed to minimising the environmental impact of our production activities and to offering the market environment-friendly products made of non toxic recyclable material. Q. An efficient and widespread distribution network seems to be an unavoidable ‘must’ for the international success of madein-Italy products. What criteria does your firm adopt to select the stores, which will represent and sell its products abroad? A. Our ideal retailer is culturally sensitive and watchful. He can understand when a product has a high added value both in terms of design and of the quality of materials and finishes. In other words he must skilfully create culture by applying the best possible methods to propose the elements of this remarkable heritage of products for homes and offices in individual territorial frameworks. We try to establish an intense and on-going dialogue with these retailers in order to make basic decisions together concerning the catalogue’s product assortment and the best customer service. Happenings n.1/06 p.7 DEDICATED TO Joe Colombo Colombo and Zanotta’s cooperation dates back to the period between ’68 and ’71. They are two dynamic protagonists of the country’s cultural and industrial history. Joe Colombo: painter, architect and designer who loved shapes and ultramodern materials. He had the traits of both the scientist and the poet. Aurelio Zanotta and his firm in Nova: already advanced in research and technological experimentation with laminates, fibreglass and stainless steel. The first designer gaming table and the first ‘futuristic’ stool were created, as witnessed by the recent exhibition “Inventing the future” held at the Triennale in Milan. IN ZANOTTA’S CATALOGUE Poker table (’68) and Birillo stool (’71), designed by Joe Colombo for Zanotta and still in production today, bear the unmistakable design typical of the legendary ’60s. Happenings n.1/06 p.8 FOCUS Wide screens require appropriate space to ensure optimal vision In the picture, sofa Alfa by Zanotta W e are all aware that watching television is not like going to the cinema: we are often disappointed when the film is beautiful (either those who are nostalgic for black and white movies or Angelina Jolie’s fans). There remains a certain nostalgic feeling for the theatre experience: a large screen and a very large image with intense colours and dynamic movements; to say it in one word, an ‘enveloping’ experience. It is this very nostalgia that explains the success met by wide screens. But which are the best conditions to enjoy a pleasant TV experience? furniture and the weight. This system is still the best concerning lateral vision and colour rendering. By multiplying the screen’s diagonal by 3 - 5 we obtain the optimal distance for a good vision. In other words: a large 30” screen requires the first seat to be placed at a distance of about 3 m. When the distance increases the vision remains constant till a certain point is reached. Then we start losing the details of the image generated by television technology and placed in a rectangle, whose base is 1.33 times its height with a 4:3 ratio (4:3 screen). This format is used to produce variety light. Our eyes accept a compromise (we (LCD) and in plasma screens but there shows, news broadcasts, talk shows, ELECTRONIC BRUSHES The technology perceive one point and not three points) remains the mosaic, the construction sitcoms, soap operas and many films. we must overcome is really known to few and perform a synthesis (not three but based on lines, the image frequency: 25 And what about blockbusters produced in though it is used by all: the cathode ray one resulting shade of colour). In the PAL times a second. Various devices have been Cinemascope, Vistavision or Panavision? television. This large glass ‘bottle’ with system the brushes trace 625 lines 25 applied to overcome these limitations And DVDs with anamorphic images? A vacuum created inside generates colour times a second. This is the television, achieving only relative success. The first research conducted by NHK - the leading images by means of three ‘electronic baby: a mosaic with a limited number of ‘trick’ involves doubling the number of Japanese broadcaster - revealed that the times the brush traces the 625 lines. brushes’, which run along the surface; this elements. Hence the unarguable axiom: public most appreciates a very large good vision is only ensured at a distance Hence the ‘100 Hertz’ TVs, which are free screen, which maintains the proportions surface is coated with a phosphorescent of the flickering effect, and ‘progressive material that releases red, green and blue that is proportionate to the size of the of the theatre. Since human beings’ visual screen. Below this distance we see lines scanning’ TVs, which improve detail field has a precise vertical limit (30 and above it we lose details. Try this on a rendering. But the real revolution will degrees) and a wider horizontal extension, FURNISHING OPTIONS mosaic: from a distance you will perceive only come from ‘high definition TVs’, the feeling large screens offer of a The distance from the screen is calculated by it as a crude painting and at close sight which only the broadcasters of pay TVs complete visual field is another good multiplying the TV’s diagonal by 3 in the 16:9 you will see its elements. If we want to have the means to produce. reason, which motivates the purchase of formats and by 3 - 5 in 4:3 formats. increase the size of TV screens we are also wide screens (16:9). There should be Armchairs and sofas must be placed frontally obliged to increase the size of the mosaic NORMAL OR WIDE SCREEN? In greater focus for lateral vision: clear in an open semicircle. Plasma screens are so tesserae. ‘The bottle with the electronic traditional TVs a larger screen entails the vision fails in the most extreme positions. thin and light that they can be hung like brush’ disappears in liquid crystal screens increase of both the depth of the piece of Flavio Vida contributed to the story pictures. They also allow extreme angle seats as they minimise image distortion. Home cinema Happenings NEWS n.1/06 p.9 Don’t miss it! Exhibitions, events, authors MOLLINO FRAGMENTS After the Triennale of Milan, it is now the Darc of Rome’s turn to celebrate the centenary of Carlo Mollino’s birth from 28th January to 28th February. Carlo Mollino is the historical protagonist of Zanotta’s design. Fragments stretches in a display module of six parallelepipeds with fragments of creative and productive work by Mollino. Displayed items range from furnishing designs to memoirs of interiors, correspondence and architectural works. Designed by Cecilia Bolognesi & Maurizio Navone, Mollino Fragments will later be held at the Biglietteria Molo Beverello, Naples, from 5th to 30th March and between April and May in Piazza San Carlo, Turin. THE ZANOTTA’S AD Computerised graphics and images of high quality design items mark the trend in Zanotta’s advertisement. Zanotta Design for Passion (duration: 30 secs.) has been broadcasted on Mediolanum Channel, Banca Mediolanum’s satellite channel. The profiles, which run on the screen, are the furnishing elements that have formed the ‘living’ style the whole world envies us. It is a series of success stories, which can be recognised by the profiles: the ‘cult’ mirror Milo by Carlo Mollino is flushed with colour to introduce the flight of the armchair Fly. And then the adroit transformation of the furniture items Speed and the bookcase Joy with a funky-music style. The whole is flavoured with Flower Power for dreamers and deep passion for design. DESIGN AND CONTEMPORARY LUXURY Following the success met with in Miami, Chicago and London, the event “Luxury in living - Italian Designers for Italian Industries” will open in Phoenix, Arizona, on 14th January with 140 items belonging to the living sector such as furnishings, tiles, fabrics, marble, silver and tapware: the creative product of 80 designers ranging from the most famous to young emerging talents. Whether mass produced or famous re-editions, the products retrace the Italian creativity from the ‘50s to date with pieces that are already considered as Modern Classic and others, which belong to the prestigious New Classics category. Exhibited Zanotta items number the chair Tonietta by Enzo Mari and the coffee table Tempo by Prospero Rasulo. CULTURE IN DESIGN Presented for the first time in Berlin in 2002, “Zanotta Cultura del Design” is a travelling event, which visits leading European cities. It is not to be found in museums but rather in showcases designed for the extensive public that loves high quality design. In 2004 the exhibition was displayed at the Cologne Furniture Fair to celebrate the firm’s 50th anniversary and later in Belgium and in Holland. It is a non-stop journey to the most specialised furnishing stores following a historical and tradition-oriented track organised in decades and starting from the ‘30s. Today it is held in Fügen, Austria, and then from 9th to 30th March it will be held in the prestigious Vincents Inspira premises ([email protected]) in Riga, Latvia, with meetings and workshops for the public, architects and designers. AULENTI FOR HUMAN SCIENCES An architect’s greatness lies in his care for details. Gae Aulenti’s renovation works of the Fondazione Amici Istituto italiano di Scienze umane’s new Milanese branch are exemplary. The same care is given to the quality of details in the three design items created by Aulenti for Zanotta: Appia console table, Sanmarco table and April chair (which was also chosen for the Foundation). The Friulian architect’s most famous works also number: the conversion of the Parisian Gare d’Orsay into the namesake museum and the transformation of Palazzo Grassi in Venice. Her recent works number renovation works of the Papal Stables in Rome and the design of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum. ZANOTTA NEW CLASSIC Schöner Wohnen’s New Classic prize was awarded to Zanotta and to the designer Tom Kühne. The famous German furnishing magazine considered Acca table one of the 100 21st century items which can mark the standard for the future. The monthly magazine’s team, backed by a jury of architects and designers, selected the winners from over one thousand participants in the ‘living’ market. Schöner Wohnen will present the winners during the Cologne Furniture Fair, from January 16th to 22th, 2006. Editorial project Giuliana Zoppis Graphic design Stefania Giarlotta Supervision Zanotta spa Pictures (page 5) Pierre Mens/HSB Turning Torso, (page 7) Archive Ignazia Favata/Joe Colombo Studio, Milan Copyright C Zanotta spa The use of texts and images are subject to Zanotta authorization Press office Zanotta tel. 0362.4981 www.zanotta.it [email protected] 1