By David A. Keeps, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer|April 24, 2008
POINTING OUT features of his lean new coffee table Amerigo, L.A. designer Sami Hayek channeled his inner Armani. "It's lined with suede," he said, caressing the open shelf. "You barely see it, you rarely touch it, but you know it's there."
The same could have been said for truly inspired design at this year's 47th annual Salone Internazionale del Mobile, the world's most prestigious furniture trade show, which ended its six-day run Monday. More than 2,500 exhibitors showcased their latest home furnishings to 250,000 visitors, and though four convention halls were dedicated to over-the-top stuff that looked like Bobby Trendy decorating for Tony Soprano, sophistication could be found elsewhere. Here, the biggest news was the way in which luxury played second fiddle to form and function.
In tune with economic woes in the U.S. and beyond, the gilded looks that ruled Salone last year yielded to spare shapes and modest materials. The Italian firm Plank showed the Myto chair, whose cantilevered design by Konstantin Grcic was made possible by a new synthetic material called Ultradur. Karim Rashid's Isis chair, which anchored a display of cleverly updated ancient Egyptian designs, consisted of a simple, folded metal sheet. Designer François Russo pressed Corian into service for Poltrona Frau, whose chic version of the director's chair came with X-shaped legs made of the countertop material.
Leather transcended its customary bachelor-pad look at MatteoGrassi, where it was cut into a structural fishnet for a chair back reminiscent of Harry Bertoia's classic 1950s wire seating for Knoll.
Other designers made statements with silhouettes. Right angles seemed suddenly wrong, as Alias and other firms built outdoor furniture sets composed of skeletal shapes and irregular grids. Ligne Roset's Lines collection of cabinets featured trapezoidal and rhomboid shelves and doors. The Jirafa floor lamp by the German firm ding3000 stood on slanted legs, like some carefully balanced creature on the savanna.
At the Arco booth, Dutch designer Bertjan Pot fiddled with proportions. He fashioned wooden Arc benches that were shaped like hefty boats but sized to slip under his Slim dining room table, with its skinny legs and an ultra-thin top. Like much of the season's best new pieces, Patricia Urquiola's large beveled wood Log chairs for the French company Artelano had the clean lines of Danish modern and the heft of Brazilian furniture.
