FLOW exhibited during Milan Design Week 2012
Milan Design Week or “FuoriSalone” in Italian, is one of the most innovative and highly attended design events in the world. Organized for the first time in 1990 by INTERNI magazine, FuoriSaloni and the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, which in 2013 will celebrate its 52nd anniversary, each year in April make the city of Milan the undisputed design capital of the world.
FuoriSalone and INTERNI LEGACY 2012
The two week-long exhibition during FuoriSalone from 16 – 28 April entitled “INTERNI LEGACY 2012” organized by INTERNI explored the concept of legacy in design as a link between tradition from the past and visions of the future. Some of the world’s most talented and distinguished architects and designers were invited to participate in the exhibition, each creating an original and innovative experimental installation exhibited on the grounds of Milan’s State University.
FLOW Installation as part of the INTERNI LEGACY exhibition
Mac Stopa, chief architect and designer of the corporate interior design firm Massive Design, exhibited his FLOW installation as part of the INTERNI LEGACY exhibition. In the 22 year history of the exhibitions organized by INTERNI during the FuoriSalone, Mac Stopa is the first Polish architect to have taken part in this prestigious event. In his FLOW installation, the curved panels reinterpret the heritage of geometry, reminding us of certain works of architecture by Antoni Gaudi and the world of art and fashion. Each of the twenty thermoformed Staron® panels has a geometric design based on semispherical and organic waves enhanced by contrasting color combinations. Arranged like a meandering river bed on the monumental green corner of the extraordinary Cortile d’Onore in Milan’s State University, FLOW underlines Mac Stopa’s talent for creating innovative and unconventional commercial interiors and products as well as the flexibility of Staron®, a solid surface material composed of natural minerals bonded with acrylic produced by Samsung Cheil Industries Inc.
Mac Stopa about FLOW
About his FLOW installation, Mac Stopa said, “The concept of legacy is rooted in organic forms, designs and colors. I designed FLOW using advanced geometry and a combination of contrasting colors and textures that allowed me to create the impression of a moving geometric composition with changing organic forms, depending on the angle from which one views the installation and the way the light hits it. Each thermoformed panel has a height of 2.5 meters (8 ft. 4 in.) and identical geometry, creating a design that “flows” into different geometric forms. When one walks around the installation, one can see contrasting colors that change into the shape of an “X, an “S,” the shape of an eye, or the feminine shape of a corset, for example. This ‘cheating of the eye’ is achieved at the point where you have the deepest curve in the panel and two different colors and structures connected together. When a panel is turned at any angle, it maximizes or minimizes its perspective. Also, to make use of any leftover materials, I designed a series of modular FLOW stools, which not only provided a welcome place for visitors to sit and relax while viewing the installation, but also allowed them to touch and feel the Staron® material firsthand.“
About his participation in the exhibition, Mac Stopa said
“I think the FuoriSalone and the INTERNI LEGACY exhibition is one of the greatest design events in the world. It allows designers and architects to ‘think outside the box’ – completely outside the box. In our regular life, we are designing things that have to be functional. Often we have limits put on us. But now, in this situation, in this beautiful scenario, we can do whatever we want. However, it must relate to the theme that INTERNI is setting every year. And setting such themes is also a great thing because INTERNI is always thinking about the main topics that are important in design today and in the future. During FuoriSalone, the city becomes one gigantic exhibition of contemporary art and design of great cultural and social significance, which is open to the public and generates enormous interest. I consider the opportunity to participate in this prestigious event to be not only a great professional achievement, but quite an honor as well.”
FLOW in the Press
INTERNI, June 2012 (page 45)
Translation from the Italian courtesy of Massive Design
FLOW
Mac Stopa with Samsung Cheil Industries
‘The concept of legacy is rooted in organic forms so when I was thinking about the project for [Interni] Legacy, it occurred to me that the design itself could resemble an organic form. My installation is like a natural riverbed. The intention was to develop an installation that would be simple to make, as experience has shown me that simplicity of production is important, particularly nowadays. I think I’ve managed to achieve this; the design of FLOW is based on one single form, all panels are identical and only one mold is needed. At the deepest point of the curve you can see a change of colour which helps to maximize perspective.’
(Mac Stopa)
A WALL MODULATED BY CURVES, WITH VIVID CONTRASTING COLORS, REPRESENTS AN ORGANIC FORM AND IS MADE OF STARON THERMOFORMED PANELS LINKED WITH A HINGE. STARON SOLID SURFACE, A HIGHLY FLEXIBLE MATERIAL BY SAMSUNG CHEIL INDUSTRIES, IS MADE OF NATURAL MINERALS BONDED WITH ACRYLIC.
LEFT: MAC STOPA
INTERNI, June 2012 (page 73/76)
Translation from the Italian courtesy of Massive Design
We Are History
The opening of Interni Legacy focused on a comparison of how the protagonists of the exhibition, who all follow a common ideology of respect for the past and heading toward the future, understand the legacy of design.
text by Antonella Galli, photos by Saverio Lombardi Vallauri
On the afternoon of 16 April, the stage of Aula Magna of the University of Milan became an arena of excellence for the press conference which, as usual, inaugurates the Interni exhibition/event. Elegantly moderated by Philippe Daverio, the press conference was an opportunity for a collective presentation and reflection on different ways of understanding the theme proposed by Interni. The variety of backgrounds of the numerous designers who represented different parts of the world (China, Japan, Russia and Poland), allowed for a broader look at unusual issues and visions.
Enrico Decleva, Chancellor of the University of Milan, which was hosting the annual event for the fourth time at the seat of the University, offered his warm welcome. He was followed by Stefano De Alessandri, director general of Mondadori magazines, Stefano Boeri, councillor of the Municipality of Milan and the two principal partners of Interni Legacy; Claudio Carpentieri of Mini, and Gennady Terebkov and Elena Baturina from Be Open. Finally, Michele De Lucchi and Alessandro Mendini celebrated their joint birthday by reading out an extract from their unpublished text titled “Un bosco con la nebbia e una luce in fondo al sentiero” (A foggy wood and a light at the end of the path) to the accompaniment of music by Lorenzo Palmieri and Davide Ferrario.
ABOVE: SOME OF THE MOMENTS DURING THE INTERNI LEGACY PRESS CONFERENCE: THE PROTAGONISTS ON THE STAGE AND THE PUBLIC ENTERING THE AULA MAGNA OF THE UNIVERSITY. INTERNI LEGACY WAS CREATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MINI AND ELENA BATURINA’S BE OPEN CULTURAL FOUNDATION. LEFT: THE CLOSING OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH READINGS BY MICHELE DE LUCCHI AND ALESSANDRO MENDINI, TO THE ACCOMPANIMENT OF MUSIC BY LORENZO PALMIERI. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDRÉS OTERO)
18. Mac Stopa
Architect
The concept of the installation is based on geometry. My intention was to achieve simplicity in production. When choosing a hinge as a means to link the panels, my inspiration was the world of fashion. With a view of saving as much energy as possible, I also wanted my installation to be easy to manufacture and requiring only a few tools.
INTERNI, June 2012 (page 57)
Translation from the Italian courtesy of Massive Design
Design Island
The intriguing spaces of Design Island welcomed visitors, generated involvement and made people dream. They were created for INTERNI LEGACY by designers, artists and architects who took the opportunity to practice the skills of conveying innovative ideas and stories through the use of unusual forms and materials.
SOME OF THE DESIGNERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN DESIGN ISLAND WITH THEIR DESIGNS: CLOCKWISE FROM THE TOP: BRODIE NEILL, MARCO VIGO, JÜRGEN MAYER H., ORA ÏTO, MAC STOPA, MATTEO RAGNI, MARC SADLER E. AND PATRICIA URQUIOLA (CENTER).
Design Island, in the tradition of the Interni exhibition for FuoriSalone, comprises special designs created to welcome visitors and encourage them to share the space and their ideas. They express the concept of public living, inflected by forms, ideas and materials that transmit innovation and creativity. Yet the intention is also for this to be a space where one can have fun, relax and rest from the tour de force that is the week in Milan.
This year, the Design Island collection again delivered a positive surprise with its distinctive, playful and ingenious tone and it successfully welcomed the diverse public of Interni Legacy. The design concepts of reunion and reception were interpreted in terms of architecture and art in astonishing works such as Arrow, a marble chaise longue by Ora Ïto, made in collaboration with GVM; Bush of Iron by Nacho Carbonell for Rossana Orlandi Gallery, or the ethereal Reverb Wire Chair, made of steel rods by Brodie Neill in cooperation with Marzorati Ronchetti. The technology in Quartz spaces, performed with Samsung and designed by Marc Sadler, was an indispensible element, together with its counterpart, a playful and poetic figure of Nuvola Domestica (domestic cloud), a flexible form of a big pet to play with, in Cortile d’Onore.
Photographs and pillows, fine ostrich leather and futuristic carpets, heated towel rails and aperitif bottles: the most disparate elements became a pretext for inventions and stories, enclosed in spaces of serenity and color.
INTERNI, April 2012 (page 209)
Translation from the Italian courtesy of Massive Design
Possible Legacies of Contemporary Design
BELOW: A VIEW FROM ABOVE MAC STOPA’S INSTALLATION WHICH IS MADE OF THERMOFORMED PANELS OF STARON, PRODUCED BY SAMSUNG CHEIL INDUSTRIES. THE PANELS FORM A WAVE-LIKE ORGANIC FIGURE WITH CONTRASTING COLORS THAT EVOKE THE WORLD OF ART AND FASHION.
Fluid and organic forms define the arrangement of Staron panels in the installation created by Polish architect, Mac Stopa, together with Samsung Cheil Industries
FLOW
According to Mac Stopa, founder of Massive Design studio specializing in corporate interior design (e.g. for Coca-Cola, Google and Microsoft), ‘the legacy of the past is one of organic forms, designs and colors’. These are the elements he decided to reproduce and reinterpret in a contemporary way in his installation titled “FLOW”, in which the flow is generated by twenty thermoformed panels of Staron whose wave-like, semi-spherical geometry is brought out by the use of contrasting colors, from chocolate to yellow, orange to white. Such a chromatic combination evokes the Impressionists, as well as the hues of graphics and fashion. Staron Solid Surface is a new generation material composed of natural minerals bonded with acrylic and is noted for its great resistance and flexibility. It is a product of Samsung Cheil Industries, a partner in the development of this installation.
INDESIGN, Issue 50 / 2012
GLOBAL leader in solid surfaces, Staron® delivered innovation when they presented FLOW at this year’s Milan Design Week. Teaming up with award-winning Polish architect and designer Mac Stopa of Massive Design, the installation showcased bold colours, undulating spheres and balanced lineal geometrics.
Set in the monumental green corner of Cortile d’Onore in Milan’s State University, the exhibition was a dual reflection of ‘Mac’ Stopa’s flair for innovative and unconventional design of commercial interiors and the form flexibility of Staron® Solid Surfaces.
FLOW was made up of twenty thermoformed Staron® panels each sharing identical geometry with designs based on semi spherical and organic waves. It flaunted the flexibility and seamless finish of Staron® Solid Surfaces which is made from a blend of natural minerals taken from bauxite and pure acrylic resin. Enhanced by its colour palette of dark Staron® in Onyx against the brighter colours of Sunflower and California Poppy, FLOW became a continuous surface composition of visual contrasts and bright lines which performed like one piece.
At night the installation became illuminated with backlit panels, casting off its flowing designs on to visitors as they relaxed on Staron® seats placed around the design. The exhibition attracted local and international guests with Staron® hosting a cocktail night to celebrate the installation and showcase the flexible design enabled by Staron® Solid Surfaces.
Created by technology leader Samsung, Staron® Solid Surfaces can be applied beyond the extents of the commercial and into applications within the home. As a durable surface and with sustainable design in mind, Samsung has created a product that can be reused and recreated into other projects. With over 80 colours to choose from and the possibility to thermoform surfaces into any shape imaginable, FLOW demonstrates just how unlimited we are when it comes to achieving aesthetically pleasing and yet form functioning design.