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 MACEF 2006: SIX SIGNATURE STORIES


Macef, the international exhibition dedicated to the world of the home, has found its ideal home in the new halls of the Fiera Milano exhibition centre (Rho-Pero) designed by Massimiliano Fuksas.
Macef has been a point of reference for over forty years for all those in the sectors it serves. This is true not just for wholesalers, buyers, mass distributors and retailers but also for architects, interior designers, furnishers and journalists. Its success over such a span of years is the product of always having been able to interpret changes and to react to them with new ideas for the differing needs of the Italian and international markets.

To the inside of the exposition, great storees inspire you to the tendencies of the living, in order an idea of like introducing the products is made and interpreting the large ones trend of living. The young talents of the international design have they space, Design Inn, a village planned from the students of the University of Paris, Tallin and Zurigo.

The project has been christened Sei storie d'autore (Six Signature Stories) and in it six young and creative designers have been twinned with the same number of manufacturing districts with a view to their jointly creating innovative and winning products. The district-designer combinations - in collaboration with Oblique Design magazine - will produce new product ideas that will be presented at the January 2006 show and promoted by Macef all round the world as an expression and demonstration of the capacity of Italy's manufacturing districts to regenerate themselves.
The six districts taking part in this initiative (co-ordinated by the architect Marco Migliari) are Murano glass, Scarperia knives, Vicenza ceramics, Faenza bomboniere, Veneto silver, Bergamo leather and paper.
The young designers who have been "twinned" with the districts are Fabio Bortolani, Lorenzo Damiani, Giulio Iacchetti, Setsu e Shinobu Ito, Matteo Ragni and Lucy Salamanca.
The aim of the exercise is to stimulate the manufacturing culture of the districts through a dialogue with the world of design and to spark a process of transformation not just in terms of product but also of the local business culture. Macef will then be the ideal stage for them to present their new ideas to the Italian and international market.

"We compared two cultures," says Migliari, "the culture of doing (that belongs to the districts) and the culture of thinking, that belongs to the designers. Comparing these two cultures helps review the company."
"We did take some risk," continues Migliari, "perhaps also a challenge, because design boasts a one-century old tradition in Italy and the districts too, i.e. the territorial economies, have psychological and social roots that were hardly suited to cope with such an impact. On the other hand, we went beyond all expectations, because the products that turned out of this match are already being produced and sold, rather than just prototypes.

At the stand of Coltelleria Berti, for example, the product born from this project - an original corkscrew - goes with the phrase 'thank-you Giulio'. Giulio is designer Giulio Iacchetti. In this case a product evolution took place, because Coltelleria Berti had never manufactured a corkscrew. Iacchetti named this product Centodieci (one-hundred and ten), this being the number of years the corkscrew by Coltelleria Berti had to wait before being created. Since its foundation in 1895, in fact, the company had remained strictly and solely true to its name, producing knives only (Coltelleria is the Italian world for knife factory).
The design for Novissimo Convivio knife, always by Giulio Iacchetti for Coltelleria Berti, was sparked by an in-depth survey of the knives from the various Italian regions produced by the Coltelleria Berti, and that Italian knives are traditionally curved. The knife dubbed Novissimo Convivio restates traditional designs, enhancing the relationship between the object and the hand that holds it.

In some cases the product remained unchanged, but its use was changed: a decorated glass developed into a flower-pot. In another case, truly innovative decorating items were created, such as the glasses with the skylines of different cities (including Venice), that go underwater when you pour water or wine and "resurface" as the glass is emptied. In another case yet, the outcome was decorative: starting from the theme of the pleasure of drinking (thus using the clown as a symbol for laughing), we designed glasses with a nose, a red-glass bead half-way between a knob and an aesthetic sign.

In the pottery field, too, outstanding results were achieved. The match between Dal Pra from Nove (Vicenza) and the Japanese designers Setsu e Shinobu Ito turned one of the company's most classical products (a garden-shaped composite centrepiece, designed for the British Royal Court) into a family of items that make up the table landscape and perform different functions according to the occasions. It's called Ozen garden: in Japan, Ozen describes a family of objects for food consumption, but the term also reminds of Zen, i.e. a landscape representing the spirit. And the spirit, in this case, is conviviality.

We also achieved innovative material applications. An outstanding case is corion, used by Matteo Ragni with Pinetti for the very original clasp of the Core diary, a sort of button exploiting leather's flexibility and the friction of the fixed parts to open and close the pack. We then created Silver message, an unusual box designed by Lucy Salamanca, which contains the moments of the day, a case for complementary objects made of stainless silver and titanium. It responds to a current strong need for self-care through details and during breaks, including occasional and informal ones. The set, in fact, contains cutlery, a glass, a plate - ordinary but "domestic" objects, whose strength is their "portability".

An interesting case is the bonbonničre, a true "wedding merchandising" product, occasions and objects to be remembered. To develop this concept, Lorenzo Damiani started a very interesting review of the bonbonničre, which resulted into unique products or product projects that, once launched, can live a life of their own: these include the bonbonničre that changes from a container to its contents (Cioccobombo; a porcelain cup with a chocolate lid or the souvenir soap: when the soap is exhausted, a ceramic tile remains telling about the wedding, or any other possible gadget - especially recommended for the hotel sector).
Artist hand-print: featuring the hand-print and autograph of an artist-testimonial for the Milan-based contemporary art show MiArt, this ceramic block can be used as a promotional item. Since the artist-testimonials change every year, visitors could be encouraged to start building a collection of the blocks year upon year.

For the NasonMoretti company Fabio Bortolani designed a decorative motif for the company's drinking vessels called Volo. The design is etched into the upper section of the glass, above the water-line, so to speak. This creates a backdrop to the surroundings.
After he adapted the company's design for production drinking vessels to create Green glass, which can also be used as a container for small plants.
Working with Maria Pitau who has, for many years, been carrying forward a family tradition and creating crystal ornaments, he designed a product that would complement the company's product portfolio. The outcome was the Joke cup collection: midway between an ornament and a container.
For the Mandruzzato company, a company whose origins go way back, he created Rock; a drinking glass that evokes the natural forms of nature, such as ice and rock.

In short, says Migliari, these 'six stories' went far beyond their baseline concept. Not only did we achieve interesting reviews of existing objects, but in most cases we also obtained true type innovations; products that did not exist. A conclusion can be drawn: the project was a training opportunity for both parties - companies and designers. And this also enhanced the role of Macef acting as a director between doing and thinking, that is responding to this match".




Macef
www.macef.biz

Oblique Design
Rivista di connessione tra progettisti e aziende
Via Podesti 54, 60122
tel +39 071 2071 514
fax +39 071 2077 183
bsidecomunicazione@libero.it

Fabio Bortolani
www.fabio-bortolani.com
Lorenzo Damiani
Via Segantini 55 - 20035 Lissone - Milano
Giulio Iacchetti
www.giulioiacchetti.com
www.aroundesign.it
Setsu + Shinobu Ito
www.studioito.com
Matteo Ragni
www.matteoragni.com
www.aroundesign.it
Lucy Salamanca
www.salamancadesign.it

NasonMoretti
www.nasonmoretti.it
PGM F.lli Pitau
Calle miotti 15
50141 Murano - Venezia
tel / fax +39 041 739 863
Mandruzzato Alessandro
www.mandruzzato.ve.it
F.lli Calegaro
www.calegaro.it
Coltellerie Berti
www.coltellerieberti.it
Cesare Boschi
www.ceramicheboschi.it
Ceramiche Dal Prŕ
www.ceramichedalpra.com
Pinetti
www.pinetti.it

edited by: 
Federica Capoduri 
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