One of main attractions of last year’s Fuorisalone surely was “Kasa Digitalia”, the setting designed by Karim Rahid (a favourite of DTS) for Abet Laminati at the Triennale. An explosion of unusual shapes and colours, in keeping with the style of the Egypitian-American designer, who, without a doubt, is one of the most major trend-setters in modern-day aesthetics in the world. We have taken a look at some of the photos taken during our visit, and have the following thoughts.

This work was designed to have a completely laminated surface, traditionally a more economical solution to a lacquered or ceramic finish, but that thanks to its characteristics of light and un-broken surfaces, can result in very aesthetically pleasing and out of the ordinary finishes. Even for those artists who do work with other materials, the challenge set down by Rashid does not pass un-noticed: in fact, often we are part of “irreverent games” which have the aesthetic finish of a ceramic tile, such as joints and reflections.

One innovative point to remember, therefore, which is, at the same time, urging us to understand the real “quid” of ceramics, that is to say, its elevated and, in certain aspects, its unparalleled complex touch and shine.

Last Tuesday saw the meeting with Krizia at the Cavallerizza Maneggio Chiablese in Turin, at which, on the occasions of the XXIII World Congress of Architecture and of Torino Design Capital, we were present with our space until July 21.

The event, organised in association with Casartarc, saw the participation of the fashion designer, who is the creator of a suggestive porcelain stoneware slab for Design Tale Studio, and who had also been our guest at the recent Trascreativity event at the Triennale in Milan. Krizia took part in an interesting exchange of ideas, chaired by Mao, with many journalists from the industry, talking about fashion, architecture and new trends. All of this took part within the Krizia Lounge, a setting created for the event by Laura Villani and centred around her creation for DesignTaleStudio.

The presence of many Japanese architects, motivated by the “New Horizons of Japanese Architecture” show, organised by ARCASIA, gave a multicultural twist to the evening.

From June 29 to July 12, we will be present at the XXIII Architecture World Congress in Turin with our space in the Cavallerizza pavilion. It will be an exclusive Lounge Bar created by Laura Villani built up around the ceramic composition designed by Kriza for DTS on the occasion of Trascreativity, our event during the Fuorisalone 2008 exhibition. Kriza will be our guest on July 1.

Here is a preview-showing of “Krizia Lounge”, for further information on the event, please visit Refin’s website.

Francesca Donadio is a painter from Oriolo (Cosenza) who works in the field of abstract, figurative and sacred art. The work she sent us, called “Abstract landscape” is suited to adaptation as a ceramic picture, perhaps in spaces that need to be “heated up” by a decorative element of nostalgic yet lively tones. A similar use to that of the first Pareti d’Autore DesignTaleStudio.

A look at Francesca’s website (http://francescadonadiooriolo.spaces.live.com/) has led us to identify two other works which could be very interesting for a hypothetic reproduction on ceramic: Two Kings and Fumatori: il bianco e il nero.

Do you also like the work of Francesca Donadio? Leave a comment and, why not, send us your personal creative project.

Tomorrow, will see, in Rotterdam, the opening of 100% Design, one of the most important design trade-fairs in Europe, a trade-fair at which we will be present with a stand displaying Refin’s new collections along with DesignTaleStudio ceramic projects.

Last year, the protagonist of the event was Michele De Lucchi, while, this year, the chief attraction will be the totem designed by Karim Rashid for the Fuorisalone 2007: six 60×120 cm ceramic slabs, the epitome of the “Karim-style”.

Why Rashid? As you will see in the next few weeks, this choice is not by chance…

Krizia was the guest on the last day of Trascreativity at the Triennale in Milan. The fashion designer told us about the different aspects influencing her style, relating some anecdotes about her career and not holding anything back when she was asked to express her idea on hot design topics.

In this video, Krizia comments on her ceramic prototype created for DesignTaleStudio: a composition of six 60×120 cm ceramic slabs depicting a huge panther and a leopard.

During his appearance at Design On Stage Trascreativity, Alessandro Mendini dedicated much of his discussion to the creativity and innovation of languages. In particular, in this section of the speech, he is talking about transgression, the “fil rouge” of the Trascreativity event, noticing that, to be interesting, a project must “create a nuisance” somehow.

We start publishing the videos of the Trascreativity event with an extract from the first day, in which Elio Fiorucci answers a question posed by the audience, on the risk of homologation associated with department stores selling designer furniture. Fiorucci believes that the Ikea-model must be seen in a positive way because it increases choice and also makes style affordable for the less wealthy.

Footnote: have you noticed anything new? This is the first video published on the brand-new channel YouTube for DesignTaleStudio. We will use this as the archive for all our videos, make a note of the direct address: 
 http://www.youtube.com/designtalestudio.

The meeting with Krizia (Mariuccia Mandelli) was scheduled on Sunday April 20, the last day of the event. The famous Italian fashion designer had an informal chat with Laura Villani on various themes such as style, architecture and interior design, reminiscing on many anecdotes of her life, which has always been “unconventional”.

While you wait for our offering of the chat, you can enjoy the meeting on Ultrafragola.

The Saturday guest at Design On Stage Trascreativity was the architect Mario Bellini, who designed a peculiar vertical system for DesignTaleStudio: six ceramic slabs of 60×120 cm with a black and matt backdrop on which the signature “by M. Bellini”, is reproduced, with a small body-font and smooth finish, following a random pattern. Looking at the composition as a whole, you can note that the frequency of the signatures increases towards the bottom, thus creating a sort of gravitational light effect. Here is the designer photographed in front of his project.

The meeting with Bellini coincided with the party for Ultrafragola web TV and included other important guests: the showman Andrea Pezzi, the journalist Roberto D’Agostino and, last minute surprise, the designer Fabio Novembre. The result was a discussion, sometimes frivolous, sometimes irreverent, on various “hot” topics such as the democratization of design, women and creativity and the role of the city of Milan. Here are some photos of the meeting, of the audience and of backstage (which also saw the presence of Elio Fiorucci and Laura Villani).

See you later this afternoon for the last meeting with Krizia.