Archive of April 2007

Last week while Carlo and Alberto here in Italy were going live online with the blog, I was in Moscow for Mosbuild, the most important Russian trade-fair of architecture and interior design. We were present with our stand Refin/DesignTaleStudio, which saw the world premiere of the Pareti d’Autore Gold Limited Edition.

Only 150 hand-made porcelain stoneware slabs in 60×120 cm sizes containing pure 24 carat gold. Yes, true gold. A luxurious product, extreme, avant-garde, with a never before seen visual and tactile impact. Either you love them or hate them: we will deal with this issue on this blog a lot.

The visitors of Mosbuild belonged to the first category for sure, judging by the affluence of people at our stand and the interest aroused by the Pareti d’Autore Gold. We’ll see how the Italian and international public will react when they will be able to touch and feel them for the first time next week at the Triennale in Milan during the event Design On Stage.

I arrived in Chicago a few days ago to follow the setting of the stand DesignTaleStudio/Refin for Coverings trade-fair, and eventually I have found some time to write something on this blog.

It’s the first time I have visited the “windy city“, and I have to say that for those like me who work hand in hand with architects and designers it is really a magical place. It’s exciting walking along the streets where contemporary architecture started through the experimentation of new forms and building materials such as iron and glass, and the building of revolutionary works such as the Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, the apartments on 860 and 880 Lake Shore Drive by Mies van der Rohe, or the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill towers.

Selfishly, I would like more free time to visit the city but the fair is less than a week away and we need to rush around like headless chickens. Our stand is very ambitious and refined, designed by the Bolognese architect Paolo Cermasi, the creator of many concept stores such as Emporio Armani, La Perla, Furla and Mariella Burani. Here is a rendering of the stand supplied by the architect himself:

As always in times like these, we are facing hundreds of problems with the setting of the stand but we are doing our best and the situation is under control. After some initial uncertain moments on which procedure was the best for the assembly, today we have installed the complete structure and part of the base that we’ll finish off tomorrow after we have laid the electrical cables for the neon lighting around the seating area. Obviously, if we compare the rendering with this photo that I took using my mobile phone, the situation does not look promising but as the proverb says….well begun is half done.

DesignTaleStudio is the internal research team of Ceramiche Refin dedicated to the experimentation of new creative and technical uses of porcelain stoneware. DesignTaleStudio was born to overcome the bias associated with ceramic products, suggesting new destinations of fuse and enhancing their creativity and design.

The slabs designed and produced by DesignTaleStudio, the first project actually carried out, answer more to an artistic than an industrial logic: “hand-made ceramic canvases” able to relate visual tales through an original artistic drawing, attention to detail and the marked material imprinting. These products are the fruit of an open-ended discussion within DesignTaleStudio team, where the ceramic company comes face to face with leading figures from the world of art, design and creativity in general such as Elio Fiorucci, Michele De Lucchi, Karim Rashid, Peter Halley. The events and exhibitions organized by DesignTaleStudio are not just an occasion to see the result of this logic, but above all, encounters with many different creative minds, always on the run and always looking for new creative paths.

When we decided to bring DesignTaleStudio onto the web, the blog immediately appeared as the most suitable format. An open place and always under creative development, where the company is not perched on a pedestal performing a public speech to the audience, but where the audience is directly involved, listened to and interactive. In our blog, we will tell you everything that is happening at DesignTaleStudio: new products, events, and the “backstage”, to make you an active part of our team. But we won’t stop there: we will try and involve you in a discussion where you will be the main protagonists, giving your ideas and your proposals for new works.

We will start telling you, through words, images and videos, the planning of the important events of DesignTaleStudio for April 2007: Coverings trade-fair in Chicago and above all the exhibition Design On Stage at the Triennale in Milan. We have many other surprises for you, and the blog will grow and grow over the next few weeks: but the biggest surprise we are waiting for is yours.