Leading Italian design company Tacchini is pleased to announce the launch of its inspiring new furniture collection, on show for the first time in the UK in a unique exhibition entitled, ‘Giving space to ideas and ideas to space’.

It’s an eye-catching collection that has been created with the design flair of many international names including PearsonLloyd, Monica Förster, Christophe Pillet and Claesson Koivisto Rune. The event also marks the unveiling of the Mull chair by Ben Addy, founding director of Moxon Architects, and will be complemented by an exhibition of Matteo Piazza’s photographs from the recently published ‘Design City Milan’ by Cecilia Bolognesi.

Amongst the many innovative designs, the Misura armchair by Claesson Koivisto Rune takes its inspiration from the fashion world’s ‘design to fit’ concept. It comes in four sizes - small, medium, large and extra large - and will suit any space or setting from a dining room to a meeting area.

PearsonLloyd’s iconic Polar collection, launched to great acclaim last year, has now been developed to include a new addition – the Polar table. Sharing the characteristic organic form, great proportions and versatility of the original collection, it can also be used as a stool when reversed.

Renowned Swedish designer Monica Förster’s Kimono occasional table is modelled on the traditional Japanese kimono sleeve with its flowing form and shape. This unique idea is the basis for a table that is both simple and functional, with legs carved from compact polyurethane in a painted finish and mounted with a round glass top.

Architect Ben Addy’s brainchild - the Mull armchair - won the international ‘Something to sit on’ competition held in partnership with The Architect’s Journal. His design is a total re-evaluation of the traditional armchair, emphasising both comfort and contrasting surface qualities. Ben considered what makes an armchair distinctive and indeed his design transcends conventional approaches. Mull envelops the user and can be configured in two distinct ways: the detachable base section can act separately as a footrest or miniature stool, or may instead be integrated to complete a singular and highly innovative piece.

The collection will be on show at the Italian Cultural Institute from 10am to 5pm from Thursday 20th September to Sunday 23rd September, with opening hours extended to 9pm on Friday and 6pm on Saturday.

A special press breakfast will be held from 10am to 11.30am on Friday 21st September, at which Ben Addy and acclaimed British designers Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd will be presenting their thoughts on the Tacchini theme ‘Giving ideas to space and space to ideas’. This unique event promises to provide an exclusive opportunity to see the collection and spend time discussing it with the designers themselves. Spaces are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Press Contact:
Sarah Natkins / Dan Schwartz
Susan Grant Lewin Associates
212-947-4557
sarah@susangrantlewin.com / dan@susangrantlewin.com

New York – Friedman Benda will inaugurate the opening of its gallery with a seminal exhibition of new work by celebrated architect Ettore Sottsass. Created over the last three years, this body of work has never been shown publicly in its entirety. It marks the culmination of a series of limited edition furniture and glass works that Sottsass has spent the last fifteen years designing which have rarely been shown outside of museums. The exhibition will be on view from September 19 – October 27, 2007. An opening reception will be held on September 19th at Friedman Benda, located at 515 West 26th Street.

Recognized for his uniquely subversive and counterintuitive vision, at 90 years of age, Ettore Sottsass continues to be one of the most influential architects working today. This vision, expressed in the upcoming exhibition of new studio pieces, brings together a lifetime exploration of material, color and form into their most elegant and seductive application yet.

The cabinets, constructed with highly architectural properties yet seemingly unfettered by structural constraints, feel like intimate buildings. Some focus on the smooth surface of a single tropical wood, while others combine materials such as polished or patinated aluminum. With legs made of huge slabs of seamless acrylic, some appear suspended in air. Up to ten feet high, some are monumental in size. Out of scale proportions and off-kilter details endow each design with a sculptural quality that entreats the viewer to explore every side. Even those that seem symmetrical at first glance, reveal elements askew when taken in at every angle.

The glassworks, Sottsass’ first in five years, combine various shapes and colors into his most intricate and dynamic exploration of the material. Sottsass first began working with glass in the early 1970s on Murano. Fascinated by its pre-formed fluid nature, glass became his most artistic vehicle for experimentation with color and form, and remains so today. Contradicting prevailing modernist conventions, he began using wire and glue to assemble pieces together in the mid-1980s. This now iconic method is employed in many of the works in the new collection.

Earlier this year, a retrospective at the Design Museum London, Work in Progress, previewed three of the cabinets included in this exhibition. Not since MoMA’s influential exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape (1972) and the first exhibition of Memphis (1981) has Sottsass created an exhibition of this scale.

About Ettore Sottsass:
One of the most significant counter-forces to modernism in the history of design, Ettore Sottsass has made monumental artistic contributions to every decade since his life in design began in Italy in 1945. His remarkable career has produced a provocative body of work, including architecture, furniture, industrial design, glass, ceramics, painting, photography and a wealth of writings. With this work he has consistently intellectually and aesthetically challenged the conventional wisdom of forms and proportions for over 65 years.

Sottsass has been continually driven by what Penny Sparke aptly described in her essay for LACMA’s 2006 Sottsass retrospective as “a personal search for a new language of modern design.” His rigorous pursuit has led to the creation of such groundbreaking movements as radical design, anti-design, and post-modernist architecture, which led to his founding Memphis in the early 1980s.

A central concern of much of Sottsass’ work has been the social, cultural and technical implications of architecture and design on the way people live and interact. He has been particularly affected by the new materials and technologies introduced during his lifetime. His exploration of these elements has led him to apply both newfangled and historical materials in non-traditional ways. Color and form have played a role of equal importance in Sottsass’ work and he is well-known for embracing them with a similarly radical approach. Throughout the entirety of his career, from early paintings of the 1930s to later works of architecture during the 1980s, Sottsass has used color to determine shapes within a composition and the relationship of exterior surface to interior function.

Sottsass’ remarkable career has produced a diverse array of commissions that have transformed architecture and design. Iconic built architectural works include Wolf House (1989) in Colorado and Milan’s Malpensa Airport (2000). Objects he designed for Alessi and electronic products for Olivetti, including his iconic Valentine typewriter, have changed the landscape of industrial design. The Memphis movement, for which he is most popularly known, set the style for an entire decade. Celebrating his 90th birthday in September, Sottsass continues to produce work through Sottsass Associati, the architecture and design practice he founded in Milan in 1985.

About Friedman Benda:
Friedman Benda was founded in 2007 by Barry Friedman and Marc Benda as a venue for established and emerging designers and artists who push the boundaries of their mediums. The gallery features a program of rotating exhibitions of contemporary work by some of the world’s leading artists, architects, and designers. Friedman Benda is located at 515 West 26th Street in the Chelsea area of New York City. For more information please visit www.friedmanbenda.com

Press Contact:
Sarah Natkins / Dan Schwartz
Susan Grant Lewin Associates
212-947-4557
sarah@susangrantlewin.com / dan@susangrantlewin.com

The TransPlastic series tells a fictional story: in a world made of plastic and synthetic matter, a fertile ground is laid for transgenic creations. Natural fibres recover the plastic as in an immunological response: nature grows from the plastic and overpowers it.

This collection encapsulates many concepts explored throughout the Campana’s trajectory; revisiting material clashes with a more mature approach. It refers back to the premise, used in 2000 with the Shark Chair, to challenge contrasts: of nature and plastic, cold and warm, textured and smooth surfaces.

At the end of 2005, the preceding years of research evolved in an organic fashion by transforming into a collection of 31 prototypes that are to be displayed for the first time at ALBION in London.

Regular chairs, multiple-seating chairs, lamps, illuminated meteors, clouds and islands have been created by taking advantage of the elasticity of natural fibre. Taking as a starting point plastic chairs, water containers and rudimentary wood stools, natural fibre extensions were added, altering the original form. The pieces subsequently took on a geographic dimension through organic shapes, adding value and comfort to the original base material.

All the pieces are handcrafted with a very typical Brazilian fibre, Apuí. The extraction of this fibre helps preserve and control the biodiversity of the forests as Apuí suffocates and kills the trees from which they grow. These fibres are removed manually, without any tools or processes that may harm the trees. The fibre is an analogy for this series of work; the wicker begins to grow from the plastic, suffocating and drawing nourishment from it, reinforcing the original theses of the fictional story Fernando and Humberto have chosen to tell.


In the past, all the Brazilian terraces and semi-outdoor cafes were furnished with wicker pieces. Over time, these were gradually substituted for the more practical and long-lasting plastic ones. The Campana Brothers have chosen to play with this idea and bring back the old tradition of wicker furniture in a hybrid, playful manner.

“When I go to the workshop where part of the TransPlastic collection is being manufactured, I feel passionate with the possibilities of this material. I am discovering an elasticity in this project that is very fulfilling. And to me it has a special meaning because when I left law school, I used to make wicker baskets. It has taken me 20 years to mature this idea and to take back on this material that appealed to me in my first steps as a designer.” HUMBERTO


ALBION
8 Hester Road, London, SW11 4AX
www.albion-gallery.com

By tube: South Kensington, Sloane Square
By bus: Numbers 19, 49, 345
By rail: Clapham Junction
Easy access from Waterloo International


PRESS CONTACT

HQ
International communications for the arts

Ashley Eldridge-Ford
t +44 (0)20 7287 3070
m+44 (0)7900 253 137
e ashley@hqcommunications.com

The Campana Brothers have also been invited by the V&A to design their garden, which will run parallel to the Campana’s exhibition at ALBION. The installation at the V&A will open on the 21 July and run until 14 October 2007.

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Copper, more than any other building material, is brought to life by specific applications. It reflects the entire range of architectural issues: historical and futuristic, manual trade skills and technological progress – convention and innovation, technology and art, tradition and avant-garde.

This year’s TECU® ARCHITECTURE AWARD 2007 will again distinguish architecturally outstanding buildings that make use of TECU® building materials and were completed since 2005. Non-completed student works will also be taken into consideration in a separate prize category. For the purposes of adjudication, the overall architectural concept will be just as decisive as the specific use to which the material is put.

Architects, planning offices and plan designers in Europe and students of architecture registered at an European university or college of technology are entitled to participate in the award contest. Works already submitted for an earlier TECU® Architecture Award competition will not be accepted.

Contestants can submit their works for adjudication in one of the categories Completed Buildings or Project Prize for Students. Application forms are available now on request; the final deadline for submissions is 15 October 2007.

All relevant information is available at www.kme.com/award

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