At Fuorisalone in Milan, Pianca & Partners contract hub is set to promote the creativity of the future with the “Emerging lines” event – a setting dedicated to the work of 3 Italian young talents: Giuseppe Arezzi, Maddalena Selvini and Flatwig Studio.
This is the first event of “Emerging lines” exhibition format: the project conceived to make it easier for young designers to access the market and the public. The display space for their work will be the large display window of the Pianca & Partners showroom, with a setting designed by Italian firm Calvi Brambilla.
We talked to the designers about the project, their design process and practices and the future of design.
GIUSEPPE AREZZI
How would you describe your design process?
I always prefer to start with a brief because I believe that the projects that are requested are the truest ones (as they probably arise from a specific need). Then I begin with a conceptual research that does not necessarily investigate the world of design but anthropology, photography, sociology, art, geography and various disciplines that humanity has always studied.
What do you expect from your participation in the “Emerging Lines”?
I think that it is very generous from Pianca & Partners to believe in the work of the young designers.
In Italy, as a creative, it is always difficult to take the first steps in the design industry: I would like to demonstrate, together with the other designers involved in the project, that also young professionals are capable of good projects.
What are the sustainability practices you implement in your work?
When we produce a piece of furniture, it is essential for me that it is timeless and designed to last as long as possible. Simplicity and quality are certainly two aspects that cannot be missed and able to make the products highly sustainable.
How do you see the future of design in Milan?
I hope to see more and more smart, fresh and educational projects.
What is your advice for fellow young creatives looking to work in the design industry?
This is a job that may seem fun on the surface and in some aspects it is, but it also requires great seriousness. It is no longer just a question of curiosity but also of tenacity and dedication. Cultivate the resistance!
MADDALENA SELVINI
How would you describe your design process?
I would define my design process “slow and practical”. First, I always take a long time to observe, then I like to immerse myself into the material and its context with practical experimentations, to obtain something new (mostly a technique), some kind of hidden beauty. I don’t stop until I find myself positively surprised and then I start thinking where that result can be meaningfully applied… only then I start designing. That is why it’s never about one single product, but a whole collection which uses that new potential as a sort of “new craft”.
What do you expect from your participation in the “Emerging Lines”?
With my participation to “Emering Lines” I hope to open new interesting discussions and to make new human relationships. These two new projects (Feel-Felt and Chest) can be brought further into unexpected contexts and that is why it’s necessary to be part of initiatives like this.
What are the sustainability practices you implement in your work?
Sustainability is a very complicated and abused word which nowadays has become trendy and sells more. I think everything I design is sustainable in its process, which is never forced, but rather naturally developed as it is in nature… I believe it is sustainable to have healthy relationships with those who are part of that process, and not only the material and the technique themselves, which nowadays should be essential prerogatives to start with.
What is your advice for fellow young creatives looking to work in the design industry?
I think that now young creatives should seriously look at the whole cycle to be able to come up with new systems that include various professional figures and a collective participation… it should go back to being political first. The role of a creative mind should not limit itself into giving birth to new esthetic possibilities, but it should be much more critical while proposing innovative solutions from the roots.
FLATWIG STUDIO
How would you describe your design process?
We believe the ingredients of our work to be essentiality, functionality and sustainability. Our projects always start with a substantial research that draws from different sources and various cultural fields, both when we design interiors and when we design objects.
What do you expect from your participation in the “Emerging Lines”?
We are honored to be part of “Emerging Lines” together with other talented designers. The exhibition is a great occasion of exchange and networking after almost two years of Instagram lives and video calls.
What are the sustainability practices you implement in your work?
Our approach is often characterized by the research for pre-existing elements reinterpreted in a new light. This is the example of Ondula, a series of free-standing furnishings designed starting from corrugated metal sheets, one of the project presented at Emerging Lines. Recently we launched a new project, Insieme, fabric napkins designed from fabric leftovers.
How do you see the future of design in Milan?
We launched our practice in London, where we spent four years. Then we deliberately decided to come back to Milan. In Milan you can smell the spirit of design; it is everywhere. It has been the city of design in the past and it will probably be the city of design in the future. Despite this, sometimes Milan looks more “open” of what it actually is. Our hope is that the design system could become more receptive towards new generations of designers.
What is your advice for fellow young creatives looking to work in the design industry?
Our advice is always: never give up! If you work hard you will be able to make it!
Emerging Lines will be on display from 04 September – 30 September 2021 Monday – Friday, from 10am to 9pm at the Pianca & Partners contract hub Via Porta Tenaglia 7N3, Milan
