At Salone del Mobile.Milano during Milan Design Week 2023, four new collections by Mattiazzi in collaboration with Studio OE, Foster + Partners, Marialaura Irvine, and Julie Richoz were showcased. Additionally, two existing collections, ZAMPA by Jasper Morrison and CUGINO by Konstantin Grcic, received updates. Helmed by Salone President Maria Porro, this year’s fair featured a brand new layout with an immersive feel across all installations, including conferences, vertical workshops, thematic exhibitions, and bookshops, in addition to the site-specific installations.

Mattiazzi also introduced a limited-edition color for its iconic OSSO chair, designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. The OSSO chair held its unique position in Mattiazzi’s catalog for 12 years due to its distinct form and construction. Jasper Morrison’s ZAMPA collection, which started as a stool in 2019 and expanded to include a chair in 2021, will now feature an armchair. Meanwhile, the CUGINO collection by Konstantin Grcic will see the addition of an upholstered version of the stool/table, crafted from natural pine and offered in four different upholstery color options.

The OTO collection, marking the first collaboration between Mattiazzi and Studio OE, consists of a side table, two consoles, and a bench made from natural Okoumé wood, with three color finishes available. Foster + Partners, who previously collaborated with Mattiazzi on the LEVA chair in 2019, debuted the SETA collection, featuring a stackable chair with non-removable upholstery, available in natural ash and four color finishes.

The PAF PAF collection, a collaboration between Marialaura Irvine and Mattiazzi, will present a chair in natural ash or walnut-stained ash, complete with removable fabric upholstery. Lastly, the PIPAIO collection, the second collaboration between Julie Richoz and Mattiazzi, will offer a bowl and a side table with a beech frame, available in three finish options.

ZAMPA Armchairs by Jasper Morrison

SETA by Foster + Partners

CUGINO Soft by Konstantin Grcic

PAF PAF by Marialaura Irvine

OSSO chairs by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

PIPIAO by Julie Richoz

OTTO by Studio OE

For more news on Mattiazzi’s launches during Milan Design Week, click here.

Leo Lei translates his passion for minimalism into his daily-updated blog Leibal. In addition, you can find uniquely designed minimalist objects and furniture at the Leibal Store.

Veneto-based Materica landed at Milan Design Week 2023 and made quite the impression with their INTERNA_MENTE being one of the most visited installations in Alcova. The company, best known for their wire metallization of surfaces, turned a former cold storage room into a mesmerizing chamber of mirrors designed to encourage visitors to reflect, self-reflect, and listen.

Materica transformed the space lining it with recycled MDF sheets they metallized to create mirror-like surfaces that were treated with oxidation and coloration processes. The multi-step process resulted in refractions that bent light on every surface throughout the room. Protruding from the floors and ceilings were a series of three-dimensional golden faces pushing through the flat surfaces, almost like they were coming up for air after being underwater. Topped off with additional color effects and the space turned into an array of optical illusions that felt otherworldly.

“We wanted to create a place outside of space and time, where you can find yourself welcomed and heard. A temple where we can take a moment to feel like “ourselves,” outside of the pressures of society, the superficial, appearances and absences,” says Tiziano Guardini and Luigi Ciuffreda of GuardiniCiuffredaStudio, creative directors of the INTERNA_MENTE installation.

The mirrored surfaces that reflect us make us the central characters of our own being, here in the present. Face to face with a figure that in turn acts as our mirror. The interior becomes exterior, because that image is the materialization of our intimate dialogue with ourselves.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

The options available today when it comes to portable audio are seemingly endless, with many portable audio designs taking an abstract approach to the concept in order to stand out from the crowd. But Bang & Olufsen’s new pair of Beosound A5 speaker designs wear their function and features with refreshing clarity, requiring only a brief glance to communicate its portable purpose.

Designed in partnership with Danish architect Stine Gam and Italian architect Enrico Fratesi, the design duo known collectively as GamFratesi have given both versions of the Beosound A5 distinct personalities with small, yet noticeable differences. In natural aluminum with a woven paper fiber front and light oak handle, the feeling is of “laid-back Scandinavian summers spent at the beach.” And in this lighter iteration it is near impossible not to imagine the speaker as another object equated with portability and recreation, the picnic basket.

Conversely, the Beosound A5 in black anthracite aluminum with a dark oak wood speaker cover and handle communicates a moodier architectural presence.

The Beosound A5 is designed to be taken around the house or even outdoors, with a IP65 water and dust-proof rating and more than 12 hours of playtime.

The A5 isn’t just a wireless audio speaker, but a portable backup power source for compatible phones, with a wireless phone charger integrated into the top panel of the speaker.

GamFratesi cites nature and Scandinavia’s rich design history as muse, choosing materials, colors, and textures reflective of an analog crafted object rather than one housing a variety of modern technologies. This isn’t to say the design pair did not look at B&O’s archives, with their approach to the speaker’s design referencing the soft organic curves and natural materials of the Beolit 607 launched in 1961.

Like many of the finest designs associated with Bang & Olufsen, the Beosound A5 draws inspiration from the work of the designer most associated with the brand, Jacob Jensen. The wooden teak finish of the Beolit 800 and Beolit 1000 originally designed by Jensen between the late 60’s and early 70’s lives on in spirit in this new speaker.

Our inspiration for Beosound A5 came from many places including the iconic Beolit series as well as natural materials synonymous with the colours and textures found in Scandinavian nature. From the traditional Panama straw hats worn on beaches, to the hand-woven leather accents of Danish chairs from the 1960s, blends of natural materials applied in experimental ways guided our design journey.

– GamFratesi

The portable speaker’s compact size belies the technology within, housing a four-way driver powered by four individual digital amplifiers for an impressively robust combined 280 watts of power, while also equipped with beamforming technology originally innovated for the brand’s flagship Beolab range of loudspeakers.

Engineered to be easily serviced, repaired, and upgraded, the A5 is designed as a modular design incorporating longevity as a feature rather than an add-on option. Noting tastes do change with time, there will be swappable front covers in new materials and colorways in the future to further extend the speaker’s lifespan.

If you’re someone who subscribes to more is more, one doesn’t need to settle for just one A5, as the Bang & Olufsen’s Mozart software platform invites pairing two Beosound A5s using a Proximity Pairing feature to enhance output into an immersive stereo experience (or with any other Mozart-enabled speaker in Bang & Olufsen’s portfolio).

Beosound A5 is compatible with Beolink Multiroom, Airplay 2, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth 5.2, and other wireless audio options.

The Beosound A5 is available today for $1,049 in Nordic Weave or for a small premium at $1,149 in its Dark Oak edition, both selling in stores or online.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Ukrainain design brand Joyf is on a mission to make your life happier – who can say no to that? In collaboration with designer Rostyslav Sorokovyi, the brand has released its first outdoor furniture collection: Tube. Entirely sustainable, the series consists of six pieces: a chair, a coffee table, a dining table, a bench, a bar table, and a bar stool. Tube embodies clean, concise design, with a fun color palette and playfully rounded shapes – each aluminum tube is bent at the same radius – that emphasize Joyf’s philosophy that focuses on leisure.

Joyf looks for a balance of function, design, and durability in their products. Frugal production – in the case of this collection, a single aluminum tube – allows for eco-consciously created furniture that allows you to relax, set your worries aside, and enjoy your spare time. Chosen for its practicality, aluminum is lightweight, resistant to weather conditions, and able to be recycled at the end of its product life.

“I prefer clean and aesthetic design,” Sorokovyi said. “The main principles of my work are simplicity, utility, and the emotionality that design can provide. I’m convinced that the designer should give a sense to everything he creates, maintain a responsible, sustainable approach in production, and look for inspiration in everyday life.”

The element that unites all of Tube’s elements is a lowered central module, which allows you to easily move the furniture. This feature will be especially practical for commercial spaces. Available in four colors, customization is available for the B2B segment and wholesale orders. The collection can be made in any other colors upon request.

To learn more about the Tube outdoor furniture collection, visit joyf.design.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

Located in a 1962 building in São Paulo, the Terrace Apartment is designed for modern times by Estudio Guto Requena. The Brazilian firm redesigned the apartment into one filled with flexible and reconfigurable spaces that adapt for different uses. To meet the owner’s request of having a balcony in a building without them, they transformed the whole apartment to feel like an indoor/outdoor space with plants throughout, even hanging from the ceiling.

Along with the physical transformation, the designers incorporated new digital technologies, like a house management system that can be controlled via smartphone, smart keypads, or voice commands. Everything from access to the apartment, lighting, irrigation, audio/video, curtains, etc. is automated for convenience.

The kitchen is access through large pivoting doors that can either open the two spaces up or keep them separate.

Each room incorporates biophilic design with an array of plants in each space. In addition to plants cascading down from the hanging pot rack and in the windows in the kitchen, a tiled plant bed with herbs resides in the corner.

A two-sided sofa creates two sitting areas in the main living room. Along the window side of the space is a variety of potted and hanging plants, while on the other side, a suspended plant box houses greenery that spreads across the ceiling over the living space. The amount and variety of plants creates a specific microclimate which helps reduce high temperatures and improves air quality.

In the living room, a projector and 120″ screen doubles as a workspace meeting room with integrated camera and microphone for work calls. When used for pleasure, the wall acts as a digital gallery displaying NFTs the residents own. On party days, some of the furniture moves to create a dance floor with reactive audio lighting attached to the planter boxes.

The furnishings are an eclectic mix from iconic designers, such as Maarten Baas, Antonio Citterio, Yrjo Kukkapuro, Le Corbusier, Jasper Morrison, and Frank Gehry, along with noted Brazilian designers, including Sérgio Rodrigues, Jean Gillon, Irmãos Campana, Zanine Caldas, and Lina Bo Bardi, and finally up-and-coming Brazilian designers, like Guilherme Wentz, Ronald Sasson, Daniel Jorge, Lucas Neves, Carol Gay, Jacqueline Terpins, Ovo Design, PAX Arq, and Alva Design. To top things off, the architects, Estudio Guto Requena, created a number of pieces used in the design.

A flexible floor plan allows for the living room, dining room, office, and bedroom spaces, which are all aligned, to be all open to each other, all closed off, or a mix as desired for the day’s activities. Acoustic glass sliding doors and automated curtains section off the spaces when needing more privacy.

To complement the wooden panels on the exterior for the building, the firm acquired original drawings from the Botti and Rubin office, the original designers of the building. They scanned them and with the help of algorithms, they were able to recreate the graphic pattern on wood surfaces on the interior. The patterned wood surfaces mark transitions where spaces go from the public areas to the more private ones.

A flex space in between the dining room and bedroom acts as a home office and seating area. An elongated table and lamp, which pivot, are made from the old wood floors removed from the apartment. The setup allows for better views out the window or for DJs that play at their parties.

The main bedroom can be closed off for privacy or watching movies on the projector.

More pivoting, patterned wood doors open the main bedroom up to the closet and bathroom.

Photography by Maíra Acayaba.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

“Is repair the future of design?” That’s the question that our very own Editor at Large, author, podcaster, and keynote speaker Katie Treggiden is asking as she launches her sixth book, Broken: Mending & Repair in a Throwaway World (published by Ludion and available in the US from May 29). “The linear “take-make-waste” model is no longer working,” she says. “The design industry needs to embrace the circular economy, and fast.”

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation website: “In our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste – the process is linear. In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop waste being produced in the first place.” Describing the circular economy as “driven by design,” the organization proposes three principles: “eliminate waste and pollution”, “keep materials and objects in use”, and “regenerate nature”.

Bouke de Vries featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

Treggiden’s previous book, Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure (Ludion, 2020) explores the idea of keeping materials in use – i.e. using waste rather than raw materials to create new products. She has continued to explore this idea in her monthly column for Design Milk, Circular by Design, in the three years since then.

Second Sitters featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

Her new book takes that idea one step further and suggests that we don’t need to make new products at all – but instead can keep objects in use by repairing them to extend their lifespan and evolve their use case.

Paul Scott featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

“The design industry – and the media in particular – is obsessed with the new,” says Treggiden. “As a design journalist, I’m guilty of it myself. The first thing I have historically asked brands when covering design festivals for Design Milk is “what’s new?” But a linear economy is simply not sustainable on a finite planet. If we’re going to find genuine solutions for the climate crisis, we need to embrace reuse and repair.”

Aya Haidar featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

“We live in a throwaway society in which is it usually cheaper and easier to replace than repair, and yet people still mend things,” she continues. “In this book, I was interested to find out why. What cultural and societal roles do mending and repair play? By understanding that, I hope to inspire the whole industry to let go of its “veneration of newness” and instead embrace the patina of use, the stories of age, and the longevity of care and repair.”

Bouke de Vries featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

Alongside five in-depth essays exploring these roles – which Treggiden proposes include storytelling, activism, and healing – the book includes profiles of 28 artists, curators, menders, and re-makers who use repair techniques in their work.

Celia Pym featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

The book includes a foreword by Jay Blades, who British readers will be familiar with as the presenter of the BBC’s Repair Shop – credited with increasing the popularity of repair in the UK. Blades describes Treggiden as his “fairy godmother,” crediting her as one his earliest champions, and says “Broken is fundamentally a book about community. Every one of the makers, menders, artists, and craftspeople featured – whether they’re using repair to fix something physically broken or as a way to process profound emotional trauma – understands that repair is a conversation with the past, and an act of care for the future.”

Ekta Kaul featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

And it’s this act of care for the future that inspired the book. Treggiden’s own introduction provides an accessible, erudite, and fresh perspective on the topic of repair, connecting the personal to the systemic, and calling for change.

Fernando Laposse featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

To align with the topics explored in the book, Treggiden’s Circular by Design column for Design Milk will conclude its exploration of waste as a raw material and pivot towards an investigation into the role that mending can play in a much-needed shift towards a more circular economy – arguing that repair is indeed the future of design.

Second Sitters featured in Broken (Ludion, 2023)

Last month during Milan Design Week 2023, furniture design studio BUDDE and SolidNature, the leading global curator and purveyor of fine natural stone, unveiled a collaboration at Rossana Orlandi Galleria. Using marble off-cuts, the exclusive furniture collection – two side tables, a console composed of three high tables, and two small coffee tables – was carved from the earth and resurrected as FIVE x SEVEN.

The collaboration seemed an obvious one to the two brands. SolidNature faces a growing inventory of stone off-cuts that are marked unusable and invited BUDDE to explore the potential of using the leftovers to create unique contemporary designs. Each of the five, one-of-a-kind pieces that comprise FIVE x SEVEN use seven different types of marble that have been carefully selected and sourced from around the world. Hence the collection’s name.

Vibrant yet refined, FIVE x SEVEN tells a different story through unique colors, textures, and characteristics found in each type of marble. Each matte finished piece requires 15 slabs, carved out on four sides for a captivating shape that reveals the inner beauty of the natural stone.

To learn more about FIVE x SEVEN, visit johannesbudde.com.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

Drag And Drop is a Romanian design and manufacturing studio, co-founded by Madalin Gheorghe and Dragos Sabareanu in 2019, living at the point where technology and artisanal processes converge. The studio’s ceramic collection falls in line with the search to reimagine the function and aesthetics of commonplace items – in this case, vases. A large 3D-ceramic printer was used to create intricate patterns that were developed using advanced software for algorithmic modeling. And all the while sustainability, aesthetics, and quality were kept front of mind. Check out more about the five designs.

Intertwined was given its name from the organic, interwoven geometric pattern creating the vase. Inspired by growth patterns found in tree bark and root systems, the one-of-a-kind design was 3D printed in 100% natural clay. The vase’s interior is hand glazed and the exterior features a matte finish – a constant throughout the entirety of the ceramic collection.

Intertwined Vase

Intertwined Vase

Bulky Vase

Choose between three sizes of Bulky, each with a textile-like pattern that’s highlighted in different ways throughout the course of the day. Observers are encouraged to explore the geometric vases with their hands for a firsthand experience of their texture.

Bulky Vase

Bulky Vase

Bulky Vase

Ripple Vase

A wave-like pattern adorns the Ripple vase, demonstrating how mathematical formulae can be used to create patterns eerily similar to those found in nature. The resulting appearance mimics rippling liquid, perhaps from a stone being dropped into a creek.

Ripple Vase

Ripple Vase

Kilim Vase

Kilim honors the manufacturing methods used to make tapestry-woven carpets made in nations that once belonged to the Persian Empire. This modern take in clay demonstrates how traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge industrial design can work together.

Kilim Vase

Kilim Vase

Kilim Vase

Melting Vase

Melting makes use of its manufacturing process. When depositing the layers of the vase throughout printing, it plays off of the wet clay’s suppleness. The hard end product juxtaposes with the appearance of a soft object that appears to be melting.

Melting Vase

To learn more about the ceramic collection, visit draganddrop.design.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

UK tile brand Domus has enlisted color-driven, multidisciplinary designer Yinka Ilori on a brand-new tile collaboration set to debut at this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week in London later this month. The Yinka Ilori x Domus tile collection takes the London-based designer’s signature use of patterns and colors and translates them into ceramic and porcelain tiles that will definitely elevate any mood. The collection includes two ranges – Glaze and Screen – that aim to bring a bit of playfulness and happiness in their own way, as they “capture the dynamic, geometric lines and shapes used across traditional African patterns and architecture.”

Whether in spaces, home furnishings, graphic design, or textiles, Ilori is known to create designs that celebrate “optimism through vibrant use of color in tandem with abstract forms and patterns.” His debut tile collection is no exception as he draws inspiration from nature, sunlight, and his British-Nigerian heritage. “Working closely with the workshop in Portugal, we have been able to develop two beautiful tile ranges that center around the idea of being present, whilst celebrating nature,” says Ilori, “Featuring a mix of patterns with rich and soothing colours, the versatile collection encourages individuals and designers to create their own rules. I’m excited to see how people adapt my work in their own personal way.” Both ranges are designed to allow an endless array of combinations and possibilities with the only limit being your imagination.

Domus CEO Jon Newey says: “We were drawn to working with Yinka after seeing his wondrous style applied across numerous architectural and design projects in London and beyond over the last few years. His unique application of color and pattern which aims to improve the everyday seemed a perfect fit with tile design, an enduring addition to any interior space.”

The first series, Glaze, is a range of handmade glazed ceramic tiles offered in 16 very happy colors and in five modular shapes. With so many options, the tiles can be used solo in one shape and color or in any variety of endless combinations. The smooth gloss finish bounces light creating depth and dimension in any space. No matter what colors used or patterns created, the results are bound to add life and vibrancy to any space.

The second option is Screen, porcelain tiles available in four patterns with three colorways of each. The abstract designs are screen-printed by hand in a selection of bold colors. The patterns can be used solo or mixed and matched for a dramatic result.

The Yinka Ilori x Domus tile collection will launch May 23, 2003 at Domus Clerkenwell during Clerkenwell Design Week.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

A marriage of marked minimalism with the imprint of human craft come together with LUME, a new table light designed by Filippo Mambretti for Enrico Pellizzoni. Revealed at Milan Design Week 2023, Mambretti’s simple, yet sophisticated combination of perforated and stitched leatherwork frames a linear LED light. Paired with a milk-white glass diffuser, the resulting softened illumination conjures a subtle interplay between light and shadow.

Mambretti’s design is defined by scores of alternating incisions across the front and back of a stitched flattened circular or ovular leather shade, a feature intended to attenuate the illumination. The leather lampshade itself influences the color of the light shining through, especially in its warmer tanned leather iteration.

The form and scale evokes designs of a nautical light signal, or with the thinner lampshade, a vintage microphone.

The lampshade itself is designed to slide off easily, allowing alterations and customizations over the lamp’s lifetime.

Additional information about the LUME is available over at Filippo Mambretti’s website.

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.