Powder-coated tables were all the rage in Milan. I like this one, Grand Ecart, from Pallucco. It slides to form a larger table. Kind of a different take on the traditional table leaves.

I was interested to see if the sliding it would scratch the finish, so I tried it out at the exhibit. It slid open easily without scratching the surface.

It’s a simple table and looks sharp. I like the colors.

Lime Studio is an up and coming trio of designers based in the UK. The team is comprised of UK born Matthew Dabbs, half Swiss-half Japanese Oscar Tange, and Cypriot born Panos Vasiliou. I met them at the Satellite Salone show in Milan. They’re very passionate about their work and took a lot of time to the concepts behind their work.

Their Milan collection included a unique, leaning shelving unit that requires no screws or fixings.  They came up with the idea from their own experience living in rental properties, where you aren’t allowed to do much to the walls - like hang shelves. The unit comes with 5 shelves in different colors that slide in and snap into place. I particularly like the fact that the shelves run only half way across the unit so that taller books and objects fit comfortably in place. It was a well thought out concept.

I liked the other projects, mostly tables, that Lime Studio has developed. They’re definitely a team to watch. 

While rushing through the aisles of Milan’s Salone Satellite this year (there wasn’t enough time to see everything!) I came across the nice and simple display space of an up and coming Japanese designer named Takashi Sato.

There were numerous displays this year, as always, that were simple and straightforward however something made me stop and look at his work a little more closely. That something was a pair of beautiful lamps called “Tongs” that are made from a single and elegantly formed piece of aluminium.

There was one black and one yellow, and while yellow is a color that usually turns me off I was so drawn in by the details and execution that I found that I actually preferred it in such a bright color…it went beyond the archetypal “white or black” color palette of many modernist designers (although the black one was very sexy too).

These turned out to be one of my top 5 picks of Milan 2008 and illustrate a good point about doing more with less. Executing simplicity the right way is difficult and Takashi’s work is a perfect example of this.

After marvelling at his lamps I noticed a few other great pieces, including his Coat Hanger which was nominated for a 2008 Design Report award and a beautiful felt folding stool.

I took note of his website which is definitely worth a visit.

Going to the Salone del Mobile was a wonderful experience. As I said earlier in the week, the most inspiring aspect were the kitchens. Of everything I saw, kitchen design was the one things that’s taking the largest step forward. The rule of the kitchen triangle principle is a thing of the past. And once the rules have been broken, everything becomes open to change.

Here’s a peek at some of the innovative things I saw.

In-line cooktops are a huge trend. The improvement in ergonomics is obvious - no more reaching for pots behind pots.

Smeg (more about them later) has introduced a horizontal dishwasher that opens with a touch. It sits higher in the cabinet, making access easier.

Miele has a built-in pressure cooker. For busy families, it’s a great thing to have. I use mine (not built-in) all the time. It makes perfect risotto in 9 minutes.

You might think there isn’t a thing anyone could do to improve a simple sink, but I saw a lot that were integrated into stainless steel countertops. A slope drains the water into the sink. Colanders and cutting boards were also built-in design elements.

Archlinea offered up a couple of nice ideas. One is a greenhouse designed for growing herbs and such - this one suspended from the ceiling. The other is a countertop warming tray.

Elica had a large display of artistic vent hoods. They’re designed to resemble light fixtures. Some looked a bit strange to me, but it’s an interesting idea and one that kicks the idea of kitchen as living space up a notch.

Finally, I fell in love with these tempered glass counters and backsplashes. Loaded with color, which you know I love, they broaden the creative aspects of kitchen design. Above are examples from Valcucine and DADA.

Now some bad news. Not all of these products are currently available in the states. But fear not, the US is such an enormous market that many are coming our way. We just have to wait a couple of years.

Continuing with the idea of kitchens and family rooms living as one, here’s a photo essay of kitchens from Milan. (Did you know that Italy ranks number two in the world when it comes to kitchen sales?) Notice how the dining tables are creatively integrated into the workspace. I also love the new way cabinet doors are opening and their larger widths.

Archlinea used larch for their table.

One of Snaidero’s kitchens with a more furniture-like look to it. I like the way the upper cabinet doors open.

Not such a great photo, but this was an interesting way to incorporate a cooktop with a dining table.

Another Snaidero kitchen. I like the way the shelving runs across the wall - moving from kitchen utility to decorative space.

See more after the jump.

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It seems ironic that families have less and less time to sit down together for a meal, yet kitchens are rapidly becoming the heart of the home. Their reason for being is expanding from a room set aside solely for food preparation into one that incorporates the needs of everyday life.

Kitchens are becoming a social hub, fully integrated with a larger living space. In the United States (where houses are comparatively larger) that typically means kitchens are combined with family rooms.

The kitchen designs I saw at this year’s Salone del Mobile, in Milan, reflect this change. The trend is strong and is clearly moving toward designs that allow kitchen components to flow seamlessly from the food preparation area directly into the living space.

I spent my kitchen time in Milan checking out the contemporary designers. With 160 different vendors and more than 39,000 square meters devoted solely to kitchens, I just couldn’t get to every building. But the trend applies across the design board. Here’s just one example of how the new trend is being applied.

The exhibiter, in my opinion, that did the best job of visualizing the kitchen/living trend was Valcucine. Their unique glass-covered cabinets (2mm thick) can be printed with customized graphics, photographs, or simply a solid hue. The sink and hob were creatively integrated into the lower cabinets and fit beautifully into the open shelving.

Directly across from the workspace, a cabinet with LED-lit, glass shelving hangs on the wall. The cabinet not only looks like a work of art, the extra-large, sliding doors allow for greater visibility and access to tableware or pantry items.

Another wall holds the oven and refrigerator (behind the right-hand door). Again, the doors are wide and slide to open. When closed, the wall becomes a solid block of color – pink in this case.

Around the corner from the pink wall, Valcucine installed a family room. A red built-in cabinet sits below a wall cabinet. The same playful graphic is incorporated in the upper cabinet thereby unifying the overall space. A table for dining blended perfectly with the lounge seating.

Aside from the exposed sink and hob, one could barely tell this all about a kitchen. Whether or not you like the childlike graphic (personally, not for me), I think Valcucine did a nice job of demonstrating how kitchen and family space can live as one.

My first trip to the Salone del Mobile was in 2005, and as product design student I was blown away by the sheer amount of creativity, colors, forms, ideas and energy that came from every which way you looked. I felt both inspired and humbled upon my return to school. It all seemed new and different and on the cutting edge of what was coming.

This year I returned as a design professional, and while I knew I would be even more critical than before I likewise anticipated something that went beyond just another chair or lamp. I expected there to be something different…something unique and meaningful that would somehow underly the work at the Salone itself and the surrounding events in Milan.

To cut straight to the point, I certainly expected there to be more than just a handful of designers, companies, schools and manufacturers that gave a damn about the environment and how they were conducting themselves as designers. I also felt there would have to be some new way of thinking that went beyond the object itself; how did it get there, what was it made of, who made it and with what process, and where if anywhere does it belong?

Now that our world is an ever changing landscape of converging technology, and communication is instantaneous and permeating, I thought there would be some thread of enlightenment that would be picked up and explored by the mass collective of creative minds that converges upon Milan once a year.

What did I discover? Tired themes and cliched ideas that have been re-hashed into bad copies of themselves. Phillipe Starck’s XO exhibit looked like a yard sale put on by a Las Vegas based lawn-furniture manufacturer that was going out of business…however you knew it was his stuff because there was a 25-foot picture of him looking at himself in the mirror plastered on the wall above.

Kartell, as always, made me feel like I was having a bad acid trip, and Moroso which had some very nice pieces also had some very not-nice pieces, and a claustrophobic exhibit that was no where near as beautiful as it was in 2005. The Satellite, which I was the most excited to see, had a rather large sign saying GO GREEN! as you walked in, yet this seemed to simply mean they would paint all the walls green and hope you didn’t notice the lack of sustainable content.

I was left pondering the meaning of the whole thing. It seemed like a social event rather than a celebration of good design…an event with quite a massive carbon footprint to say the very least.

However now that some of that is off my chest, I will be able to share with you some good things that I discovered while there and the things that made the trip more than worth it.

Here’s another look at Cappellini’s Stitch Chair (yesterday’s Chair of the Day). I think it’s so great I thought I’d share my photos of it from the show.

Multi-colored Stitch chairs.

Stitch all folded up.

I’ll be busy this weekend, sitting outside, putting my thoughts together on the kitchen trends from Milan. I have to say, I was really excited about what I saw. The beautiful, innovative materials and new ways of thinking about  kitchen design were the most forward-thinking aspects of the Fair. 

Marc Newson showing off his new designs for SMEG. 

As I said earlier, I’m kind of swamped today. It’s Friday - official goof-off day. Alas, not for me. But if you’re looking for further reading on the trends from Milan in general, (and need a break from playing Peggle) I’d like to suggest you check out Architonic’s excellent write-up.

One thing I wish there had been more of  in Milan was accessories. I’m rather partial to them.

That’s why I was happy to spend some time in the Paola C. booth. The company makes beautiful tabletop pieces, as well as some lighting and a couple of little end tables.

The line includes glassware, teapots, candlesticks and trays. I especially liked their aluminum trays.

Paola C. designs beautiful ceramics as well. The Mouse teapot is new this year.

Check their website for store locations around the world. You can buy Paola C. online at Table Art.

Nils Holger Moormann showed a nifty chair in Milan created for book lovers and design enthusiasts. Or just book lovers and just design enthusiasts. The Bookinist has plenty of storage for books, and a self contained illumination device. (A lamp)

By the way, the lousy photo I took doesn’t show the additional book storage spaces on the sides of the chair.

As for the wheel, I don’t really think the chair is meant as a sort of sit-down Segway, but I like it anyway.

p.s. I’ve got a birthday coming up…

The Nine-0 is Ettore Sottsass’ last chair design. Fittingly, it’s for Emeco.

It was Sottsass, after all, who “rescued” the original Emeco chair from a kind of obscurity. In case you don’t know the story, the original Emeco chair was designed by an anonymous US Government employee for the US Navy during WWII. The Navy needed a light, comfortable, and tough chair for sea going duty. Sottsass, one of the greatest designers, championed the Emeco chair, recognizing the purity of its design. He met the chairman of Emeco, and said he wished he had designed it. That lead to this collaboration.

Because the original is all metal, people think it must not be comfortable. The truth is, they’re very comfortable. (I have two in my office, and they’re great.) To address the perceptual issue, Sottsass added padding - in an number of nifty colors - and made the seat wider.

The second “problem” Sottsass solved was the need for a new armed, wheeled, desk version. He managed to do so and simultaneously kept the integrity of the original design - while at the same time redesigning the original. Other versions are available.

How important was designing this chair for Mr. Sottsass? Here’s how he put it:

“A chair must be really important as an object, because my mother always told me to offer my chair to a lady”