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April 17, 2015
2011 Milan Salone Latest Report | nendo
nendo
Feature: Milan Salone International Furniture Fair 2011
Notable New Work: The "Transparent Wood" Table
During the Milan Salone, design office nendo will hold a solo exhibition at the gallery "Galleria Antonia Jannone" in Milan, unveiling four new pieces including the "transparent table."
Photo by Masayuki Hayashi
Beyond Solo Exhibitions: New Product Launches and Venue Design
The solo exhibition "textured transparencies" presents a collection of furniture exploring the gradient of "translucency" that exists between transparency and opacity, and the "subtle differences" born from variations in clarity. While imbued with transparency, the use of materials with distinct characteristics evokes new possibilities in functionality and visual effects.
The "transparent table," created by molding and joining transparent acrylic using wood grain-patterned molds, faithfully reproduces the wood grain on the edges, which are finished with a C-curve like flooring material. Furthermore, the wood used for the legs matches the grain and dimensions of the "transparent wood," creating a unified presence.
The black table is presented as "wood at first glance, but transparent upon closer inspection," while the clear table conveys the impression of "transparent at first glance, but wood upon closer inspection," highlighting their distinct characteristics.
Solo Exhibition "textured transparencies"
Date: April 12 (Tue) - 16 (Sat), 2011
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM (Last day until 5:00 PM)
Venue: Galleria Antonia Jannone
Corso Garibaldi 125 Milan 20121 Italy
In addition to the solo exhibition, nendo is responsible for new product launches and exhibition space designs for many leading Italian brands such as "cappellini," "Moroso," "Driade," and "Foscarini." For the Taiwanese brand "Yii," they are presenting the "bamboo-steel chair" and designing the exhibition space at the Triennale Design Museum.
The "bamboo-steel chair" was designed for "Yii," a project led by the National Taiwan Craft Research Institute to revitalize and develop traditional Taiwanese craft techniques, with Barty Bakker as art director.
Through research into Taiwanese bamboo crafts and furniture, the design source was discovered. Instead of focusing on bamboo itself, the project concentrated on the "processing techniques" used for bamboo. By applying these techniques to "steel pipes," which are tubular and mass-produced with stable quality, unique joints where components wrap around or interlock were developed. Additionally, by thinly slicing and weaving the material, it became possible to impart "flexibility" to the rigid metal.
This chair, born from numerous discussions with bamboo artisans frequently present at the metalworking factory, suggests a new future for traditional crafts through the cross-pollination of different processing techniques and materials.
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