Our friends in Milan

CULDESAC
Where Moooi stand, Superstudio, Wednesday 16 April
Who CuldeSac, design practice
Likes The best space was Rosanna Orlandi´s gallery where a true spirit of design and creativity could be felt: interesting exhibitions and interesting people in a relaxed ambience reminiscent of the early days of Superstudio Più. We also loved the Boffi exhibit within a great warehouse close to the Porta Genova station. More than the products, which are amazing, the entire feeling and experience was smooth, refreshing and welcoming. Another highlight of our tour was the Triennale with the museum collection of Cassina [pictured is the “Tramonto a New York” sofa]. The exhibition of Bernhardt Design was sleek and elegant (we showed a piece there… so,
of course).
Dislikes Overall we found that the level of design and innovation within the traditional spaces such as the Superstudio Più was not as high as in previous years. The weather and the lack of transportation options at night make it complicated to really enjoy and move around easily.

LIME STUDIO
Where Satellite, Wednesday 16 April
Who Lime Studio, design practice
Likes We had the chance to meet Giulio Cappellini [pictured], so let’s wait and see what happens there!
Dislikes The parties finished too early, maybe because we had to be at our exhibition far too early. Lime Studio
Where Satellite, Wednesday 16 April
Who Lime Studio, design practice
Likes We had the chance to meet Giulio Cappellini [pictured], so let’s wait and see what happens there!
Dislikes The parties finished too early, maybe because we had to be at our exhibition far too early.

Suited and booted in pink, with big purple glasses on his nose and white varnish on his nails, Karim Rashid sails through the Milan furniture fair. At six foot four, towering above the usual Milan posse, he can’t be missed. Like a being from another planet, everyone’s eyes are on him. I’ve been waiting to interview him for an hour now, but when I finally see him coming, I’m struck dumb. As soon as we sit, people start running up to him, wanting to take pictures and trying to shake his hand. Rashid gets annoyed by the invasion of his space. “I’m in an interview,” he says. He seems tired of being polite. “The thing with Milan is people don’t respect the etiquette. I’m from New York, you don’t invade personal space.” Then he leans into me, so close his face becomes out of focus, and with a fuzzy smile, he says, “Ok, sorry, now I’m all yours!”

Rashid is in fact half Egyptian, half British, raised in Canada, based in New York and known all over the world for his funky designs. More to the point, Karim Rashid is a design star. Come to think of it, he is like his designs: sleek, styled, high-impact, possibly injection moulded, an almost surreal experience. His famous signature adorns each of his products; he’s the ultimate “signature designer”.

“My Zero desk for Della Rovere is my best product at the show. I wanted to break the vernacular of the office, it’s such a contrived world!” The white sculptural office table does indeed break with the straight lines and angular shapes in the office halls at Milan this year, but when Rashid says, “It’s not loud”, I can’t help but think in a standard office the desk would scream style. “My aim was to break down the uniform of the office. It’s like men still wearing ties or women still wearing high heels, although…” he trails off in thought, “I guess they’re keeping each other in bondage.”

Rashid talks of a new frontier and Zero is a good example of that: “In this digital age the interface of physical product is losing importance – the technological world is where it’s happening.” He concludes that design should pick up where the physical world meets the virtual – fluid forms, futuristic visions. His other products at the show – such as the partitioning screens for Zerodisegno, wall panels for Offecct and a brand new reception desk for Frezza – show that Rashid will put his mind to anything, even less show-stopping commissions.

“I believe in democratising design. I’m doing a chair for five dollars. The low-end segment of the design market has become so sophisticated, smart design doesn’t need to be expensive.” Rashid wants to see good design on every level – he has never been one to be retrospective or elitist, contrary to his appearance. What he really wants is to make the world a better place. This heroic statement has never been well received by European media, as the declamatory nature of such expression often diminishes the credibility. But what Rashid actually means to say is: let’s design where design is needed and not just for the cream of the crop.

His advice for aspiring designers is to go and work for companies lacking quality design. “Why knock on Cappellini’s door when there are so many companies out there in desperate need of good design. It’s easy going for the big names, but it’s more effective to re-brand and change a company’s image through good design.”

After all, that’s how Rashid went about it. He has never been too good to turn his talent to tiles or packaging for laundry detergents, for instance. “When I started in New York 15 years ago, no one knew my name. Now I’ll still work for anyone as long as there’s something to do. There is still so much design required, for example for light switches, door handles, bikes and cars.” Rashid gets all fired up about poor design, moving in even closer to me and saying, “Here’s something I’d like you to write: furniture is not design! It can be but it’s really about the entire built environment.” He sees a shift on the horizon, a design evolution that in itself will drive the democratisation of clever design. “Luxury goods will need to change their tune. Extra diamonds on a Rolex won’t do, they need to add value like a watch that is also a mobile phone or something.” Rashid himself wears the plastic Alessi watch he designed, in pink of course. His days of only wearing white (after handing all his black suits to charity at the turn of the century) are now tinted pink. “Aesthetics are not subjective – I don’t believe in taste.”

Rashid rants about Milan and unnecessary designs to the point where he stops and asks: “Do I sounds bitter? It’s just that I believe design means making a better life. With the US population soon having 600 million retired folk, who is designing for these ageing people?” Rashid will – there’s nothing he wouldn’t do. But right now, he just needs a coffee.