Stories
To Sense is Human
From touch to time, craft takes on a sensory approach at this year’s Homo Faber: Living Treasures of Europe and Japan.
Traditional Futures
A rewilded crater where Japanese knotweed is being turned into paper, traditional mushroom hats, and firewood exhibition furniture feature at BIO27 in Ljubljana.
Milan Diaries: Day Three
Day three of Salone del Mobile includes the Disegno dispatch on Loewe’s luxe approach to refurbishment, Formafantasma’s contemporary take on Mario Bellini, and Konstantin Grcic’s new collection for Plank.
Milan Diaries: Day Two
A second day at the Salone del Mobile brings a trip to ECAL’s collaboration with Yamaha, Aldo Bakker’s objects for marijuana, and Front’s nature-infused installation with Moroso and Kvadrat.
Milan Diaries: Day One
This week the Disegno team is on the ground in Milan for the Salone del Mobile. Over the coming days we’ll be sharing our reflections from the festival and picking out some of the installations, exhibitions and launches that stood out.
Design for the Real World ᵥ
Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg of Space Popular zoom with David Chalmers to philosophise about virtual architecture and the challenge of designing civic spaces in a privatised metaverse.
Blocks, Each Exactly One Cubic Metre
Minecraft is raising a new generation of young gamers applying their design skills to real-world issues, but its first foray into mobile AR gaming raises questions about surveillance technology.
A Meeting of Waste Streams
From Disegno #26, Attua Aparicio Torinos creates emoji plates out of discarded porcelain from Jingdezhen and glass remnants.
The Biodegradable Aphrodite
Fresh lipstick and fat bacteria; Oli Stratford tours the studio of Shellworks, an experimental company making biodegradable beauty packaging.
Who’s Afraid of the Metaverse?
Natalie Kane, Keiichi Matsuda and Florian Dussopt explore the design significance of the metaverse as part of a live event hosted at Molteni&C.
Pottery Heads
Weed’d head of design Simone Bonanni talks to Disegno about ceramic bongs and developing a made in Italy cannabis culture.
The Space Between
Roland Lamb, founder of Roli and creator of the Seaboard Rise 2, sits down with Disegno to discuss the philosophy of designing new musical instruments.
Counterpoints
From Disegno #30, Peter Kapos reviews the Vitra Design Museum exhibition and book, German Design 1949-1989, and asks if romanticising the past poses a risk in the present.
Springtime in Paris
Joe Lloyd reviews the return of Maison&Objet design fair, as an unseasonal heatwave bathes Paris in sunshine and a distinctly bon vivant atmosphere.
A room within a room
A recreation of Ettore Sottsass’s 1960s Casa Lana in the Triennale Milano offers a compelling portrait of the designer mid-career.
The Spicy Present
Disegno meets with MSCHF to talk how product design can be performance art, and whether a discipline entwined with commerce can still offer consumerist satire.
Learning from Åke
A new exhibition at Sven-Harrys Konstmuseum looks at the work of interior architect Åke Axelsson and how his 20th- and 21st-century furniture designs and architecture anticipated the need for responsible, sustainable design.
Vinyl Made Easy
Yuri Suzuki shares Easy Vinyl Maker, the only affordable record cutter on the market.