Agape - Rigo by Patricia Urquiola - elegant customization

This new bathroom series is a perfect example of the trend of bathroom customization,  elevated at a high sophistication and luxury level. As usually Patricia Urquiola has an elegant and practical feminine approach that allows users to have the most beautiful modern bathroom created according to their own requirements.

"Rigo is a bathroom furniture system closely inspired by architecture."

"Refinement" @ Agape12 – Milan Design Week 2019  design Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola creates a personalizable cocoonlike working environment

With her new collection Cabana Lounge system for Haworth presented at NeoCon 2019 Patricia Urquiola creates a personalizable cocoonlike working environment:

Cabana Lounge can be configured with tables for added functionality

source: Spencer + Company

Cabana Lounge system by Urquiola with padded privacy panels and power outlets for Haworth

Office workers can find calm and quiet in Cabana’s highly configurable modules, which are debuting at NeoCon 2019. “The office is no longer thought of as a division of space, but rather a landscape of places for possible moments,” explains Urquiola. source: Metrolis

Haworth showroom in Chicago, source: Wallpaper

 Trend alert: softness and comfort, blurring the line between the work and home environments - this is how the modern office feels today.

Highlights and Trends from Salone del Mobile 2019*

Milan continues to establish its leadership position as the world's capital of design - every spring in April Milan Design Week is the place where to showcase for the first time the world's newest ideas, concepts and products for the interior. And this year, too,  behind the doors of almost every palace, every yard and gallery there was a new discovery. During the week, global technology companies compete for attention with world-renowned fashion houses, and design worshipers from all over the world fill the city's streets and cafes with incredible vibrant energy. Whether you're an architect and design professional or an amateur, Salone del Mobile is always worth the trip, and its 58th edition was no exception.

The focus of the week was, of course, the historic Rho Fiera Milano International Furniture and Design Fair , the largest scale and the most influential fair in the world. Among the abundance of the fair and its numerous satellite exhibitions, debuts, installations, parties and meetings, one can hardly pick and see much of this variety of ideas and good taste. But this year's Design Week in Milan was different - the world marks 500 years since the death of the genius Leonardo da Vinci. 

Of all the cities he lived in, Leonardo spends most of his time in Milan - a twenty-year relationship that Leonardo explores all areas of knowledge and gives the city the best of hiscreative achievements.The 58th edition of Salone del Mobile celebrated Leonardo da Vinci's anniversary with two massive installations and numerous events. One of the installations visited by thousands queuing to see it was "Aqua, Leonardo's Vision", dedicated to his amazing research, especially those related to water. Located in the heart of Milan, at the beginning of the Conca dell'Incoronata, designed by Leonardo da Vinci himself, with a single LED screen with a constantly changing city silhouette, it acted as a window to the future of Milan, seen by the artist Marko Balic. 

The other installation in honor of Leonardo is De-Signo , located within the fair in Pavilion 24. It literally links Leonardo's achievements, his approach to the design and achievements of the Renaissance workshops with the achievements of modern Italian designers.

With many photos, documentaries and lighting effects, the installation of David Rampelo and Alessandro Colombo on an area of ​​400 square meters is witnessing much of what Leonardo's modern descendants are proud of - from the time of the great master to the present day. 

Long queues of patiently waiting visitors were in many places. Like at the entrance to the Palazzo Serbelloni, where Louis Vuitton presents one of the annual highlights - Objets Nomades , travel-inspired items. The collection includes a selection of products resulting from Louis Vuitton's collaboration with renowned designers over the years, as well as new things. Like the impressive Campana brothers' Bulbo Armchair  which looks like a cozy nest of multitude of colorful petals.

The famous British designer Tom Dixondecided this year to try a new way to present his collections by opening a restaurant in the heart of Milan. The Manzoni is both a showroom and allows visitors to get acquainted with the designer's products in an "active setting". Guests dine under smooth translucent globes Opal of Dixon, while sitting on elegant chairs of the new range Fat . 

A common trend demonstrated in most new products at the show is combinations, often unexpected, of different materials and textures.

... The new series of furniture Meeting Point of Italian designer Luca Nichetto for Sancal was inspired by the Milan subway station Turatiand is really a convenient place for conversation and rest. 
The interesting sofa Gogan of Patricia Urquiola for Moroso is inspired by the soft form of stones, put ashore in Japan - hence the name. The company explains that they have found the textile for the upholstery in their archives from the 70-s, which have the characteristic of the embossed fabrics with a boucle effect at the time. This seems to be a tremendous trend in upholstery in general because most of the new sofas presented at the exhibition were with a similar type of upholstery. 

A visit of the famous designer gallery Spazio Rossana Orlandi is an obligatory element of every trip to Milan Design Week. In this small space, the courtyard is not only a green oasis among the noise and vanity of the event, but also a background for sharing interesting design solutions. 

Inside, the surprise is even greater, because the most interesting and original author's furniture and interior products - unique, hand-made, surprising with the choice and use of materials - are displayed on several levels. Many designers have gained international visibility due to the fact that they have been spotted by the founder of the gallery and shown first there.

photo T. Zaharieva

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*This is part of my article published in Capital LIGHT. A detailed report on the trends and interesting new designs from Milan Design Week 2019 is available on request.

Euroluce 2019 - the Magic of Lighting

Every other year Euroluce replaces kitchens and bathrooms at Salone. And we again enter into the magic of lighting design. The area of Euroluce was the place where I spent most of my time on the grounds of the fair. Have a look at some of the most inspiring designs I saw there:

Serip

Paolo Castelli

Melogranoblu

Myo

Foscarini

Simone Sendese Vetro Milano

Fascinated? These are just a few. More about trends in lighting design will come soon. And a report about Trends from Milan Design Week 2019 is available on request.

Milan 2019 - the new bathroom is cozy and colourful like a livingroom

It combines colours, materials and different extures to make the space not just useful and comfortable, but as cozy as your livingroom:

Wall&decò - Havens installation with Agape in S.Project

Wall&decò - Havens installation with Agape in S.Project

Devon & Devon

My favourite - the colourful basins by Antonio Lupi - I wish i had one in my bathroom! :)

I like very much this trend. Although not completely new, it develops more and more - obviously its popularity among users inspires new interesting design solutions.
More about design news and trends from Milan Design Week 2019 will follow soon - come visit regularly. A detailed report is available on request.

Any Trends You Are Tired of?

Is there anything in today's interior design that you think is obsolete, outworn and ready to go away?
I will agree with Marie Claire Maison that we have had enough of the glamour of Art Deco, especially its false glitter. But still, we will continue to use some of its feel-good elements like the rich textiles - especially in winter we need the coziness of velvet and plush.
I can see its way of transformation into something modern, elegant and at the same time cozy - like this beautiful sofa that Sebastian Herkner has designed and that we are going to see at the coming this January IMM Cologne:

Miles sofa, design Sebastian Herkner for Wittmann

But I doubt their expectation that the so popular Scandinavian style will lose its influence will prove to be true. May be for a part of us who are really fed up with its a little boring uniformity, but, still, we can take a lot from thier love for natural wood and craftsmanship. From the photo above I would take away only the dried flowers, but would happily add some more colour :) - what do you think?

Interior Design Trends for 2019 - Part 1: Materials

It is always interesting to know what is coming - in life in general, but also in our professional life, too. Interior design is an inspiring profession - we create the spaces we live, work and entertain in and we do our best to make them in such a way that everything there is much easier, more beautiful and fun to use. And that is a good reason to look for inspiration in the coming new trends and be informed for the best possibilities we can offer to our clients.

So, I expect that part of the trends that will be popular in the coming 2019 are based on classic, well-known materials and ideas and many other - on the new materials and ideas that we have discovered this year.

arch. Aviram Kushmirski 

Brass is one of the materials that we rediscovered in the past few years and especially its new applications and, like copper earlier, we are going to use it more extensively in our interior design projects. 

Porcelain stoneware can now look like real onyx! And like other natural stones, too. My favourite is ULTRA ONICI:

"The extremely reduced 6mm thickness, together with the advanced Ultra technology, allows an appropriately powerful band of light to travel through the Onice Ultra slabs and backlight the material."!!!‎ source: archiproducts.com

 From the earlier discoveries in the field of interior design materials, I expect that we are going to continue to use extensively the terrazzo and discover more ways to do that.
And another one, very suitable especially for the cold winter days, is plush mohair velvet - it is one of the new materials that Tom Dixon studio  introduced in their production line this year along with high-textured materials like hand tufted wool: