A professional resource for the design curious
How was Milan from the perspective of architects and designers? This question is the basis of our Milan Q+A series with the A+D community. After all, personal opinion fuels conversation.
April 23rd, 2015
Name: Nikolai Kotlarczyk
Occupation: Product Designer
Location (where are you based): Copenhagen, Denmark
Company: CZYK
Position: Founder/Designer
How would you describe the 2015 Milan Design Fair in one sentence?
Milan is just full of great energy. Especially showing for the first time, I met so many talented, driven people doing amazing things.
Structural Skin by Officina Jorges Penadės
What has/have been your favourite:
Three products this year? Clerici Bench by Konstantin Grcic for Matiazzi, Experiments in Polyester by Tijmen Smeulders, Structural Skin by Officina Jorges Penadės.
Exhibitor/stand? With all the elaborate stands at the fair, the simplicity of Matiazzi was refreshing and beautiful.
Party/event? Dutch Invertuals, Body Langauge. Laid back but with a great backdrop.
Newcomer’s stand? The Department Store by Lee Broom. For a young designer, the scale and quality was very high.
Clerici Bench by Konstantin Grcic for Matiazzi
What is the 2015 Milan:
Colour? I was surprised to see a little neon creep back into some of the big players, but I think natural tones still ruled. Timber, marble, brass all dictated the colour palettes.
Texture? For me, Milan is about presenting new ideas, so the alternative use of natural waste materials was interesting.
What product and/or trend at Milan do see being most relevant to the Australian market?
I think overall its an honesty in material and production. Australia has everything it needs, and Milan proved to me Australia can do all of this locally!!!
The Department Store by Lee Broom
What did you personally take from and/or learn at the fair?
I took a lot of confidence from the things that drew me in. I work with natural materials and simple objects, and through the chaos and scale of Milan, these qualities still shone through.
What has been the highlight of your time in Milan?
The coming together of all the global industry is a great experience. Meeting other young designers with similar paths and goals was eye opening and motivating.
CZYK
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Jasper Morrison, the Bouroullec Brothers, Konstantin Grcic – you are no doubt already familiar with these names. All have designed for Italian timber furniture company Mattiazzi. What you may not realise is that behind the scenes, Mattiazzi is ensuring that its products and company culture embody a truly sustainable practice – right now and into the future. We get the lowdown from Nevio Mattiazzi, one of the founding brothers.
