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Alias partners with David Lopez Quincoces and Francesco Meda for 'Something Else'
(L) Spaghetti chair installation, (C ) Chairs as part of the Something Else showcase, (R ) Wayfinding installation
Video: (L) Courtesy of STIR, (C ) Courtesy of Alias, (R ) Courtesy of STIR
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Alias partners with David Lopez Quincoces and Francesco Meda for 'Something Else'

At Salone del Mobile, the Italian brand unveiled special curations, and revitalised visual identity by the duo as an extension and re-edition of their existing collections.

by STIRpad
Published on : May 30, 2023

Motivated by the ambition to refresh its place in the modern landscape, renowned Italian brand Alias is now joined by a new team of creatives to help create the brand's future vision. The brand employs diverse designers, technicians, and graphic designers in its ongoing search for multidisciplinary synergy. Alias exhibited an immersive installation at the now concluded Salone del Mobile 2023 that examined its present alongside its core value. Touted 'Something Else' curated by architects and designers David Lopez Quincoces and Francesco Meda alongside the graphic design Studio Temp transforming the visual identity. Alias' initial ambition for the installation at the design exhibition was to define a new language based on aesthetic expressions, experiment with technical advancement and rewrite the principles of design culture beginning with the project's ideas. “We have formulated an evolution, rather than a revolution that once again discovers our original idiosyncratic spirit. In its understanding of the present and concurrent willingness to break from it, Alias has always been a deeply contemporary brand,” shares Beat Zaugg, Owner and President of Alias. We caught up with the designer duo at Salone del Mobile to discuss the redesign, immersive curation and probed into what's NEXT for their partnership.

“We have always appreciated the brand’s dual essence. A brave understanding of creation, generating products that express inventiveness in their functionality, always in an original form. This is Alias' uniqueness today as it was in the past. Its approach has always been bold in spirit while comprehending the contemporary. Instead of starting over, we are continuing the journey to perpetuate such a distinctive language,” said Francesco Meda to STIR. The new team revived the original non-conformist spirit of Alias, declining it in the perfect fusion of formality and irony, a gesture to extravagance in its execution. “Our work translated in a visual language the spirit of Alias, bringing even further out something else in a way that naturally continued what was first begun by the brand. In a sense, we have simply reorganized the company’s thoughts,” affirms Fausto Giliberti from Studio Temp.

A quick glance at the booth reveals the devoted to the display of its product range, while the remaining third took visitors on a tour of three projects that have symbolised the company's history and avant-garde design. The latter gives ‘LaLeggera’, ‘Spaghetti’, and ‘Frame’ three rooms each; these installations, which are emblematic of the avant-garde spirit and of ‘Something Else’, metaphorically narrated the ideas, vocations, methods, and ideals underlying these items. The first room was dedicated to Riccardo Blumer's ‘LaLeggera’, suspended between panels and dematerialized in a video that showcased the transparent chair penetrated by coloured smoke: a semi-performance that narrates the high technology of the object, winner of the 1998 Compasso d’Oro. The room dedicated to ‘Spaghetti’ by Giandomenico Belotti follows, presented in a completely mirrored and dark room, occupied by hollow filaments illuminated by Wood's light; at the end of the path, the ‘Spaghetti’ was revealed on a pedestal in fluorescent colour, between purple and orange, telling its strength in the elasticity of the filaments that composed it. The tunnel in the room is devoted to Alberto Meda's Frame, which recollected its journey in lightness and dynamism and in the capacity to start with a design concept or a shape and turn it into many uses. A nearly aseptic white space, lit by orange lights, with various silhouettes of chairs on the walls and a lone bench that encourages us to pause and consider the 'Something Else' can be found in the tunnel.

The wayfinding and graphic elements of the space were created by Studio Temp, who is also in charge of the recently unveiled new Alias' visual identity. The other two-thirds of Alias' booth, which is located outside of the third and final area devoted to 'Something Else', is made up of designs from the current collection. The immersive installation shows off the adaptability of Alias' products by not presenting them in the traditional divisions between rooms in the house, like the office, indoors and out, but rather by re-proposing them harmoniously as a whole, reflecting modern living in a more fluid understanding of spaces.

On the occasion of Milan Design Week 2023, Alias presented four new products: ‘Robot’ and ‘Prima’ two exclusive Mario Botta’s re-editions, ‘Spaghetti’ and ‘LaLeggera Hide’, two pieces with new finishes that enhance two of Alias’ most iconic collections: Spaghetti by Giandomenico Belotti and LaLeggera by Riccardo Blumer.

Robot , Mario Botta x Alias

Robot is a drawer unit that adheres to the original concept created in 1989 by architect Mario Botta. It resurfaced as a part of Alias' collection during Milan Design Week 2023. Robot has a stack of drawers on top of one another that are joined by a metal support framework, giving the impression that it is a column. Its upper portion can be opened to transform into a writing desk. Robot depicts the idea of an object without a fixed shape similar to a series of drawers stacked one on top of the other with its ash solid wood construction and lacquered open-pore finish.

Prima, Mario Botta x Alias

The archetypal shapes of architectural geometry serve as inspiration for this vintage chair design. Having been created in 1982, it is a true design icon. Prima, a chair without armrests that was created by renowned Swiss architect Mario Botta for the interior decoration of some of his most well-known projects, is back in Alias' inventory in both its traditional black embossed finish and several other more modern polished finishes. Prima maintains the same steel framework and a seat in steel-pierced foil constructed of its distinctive cylindrical parts in black polyurethane as in its original project.

LaLeggera Hide Leather, Riccardo Blumer x Alias

The Laleggera Hide Leather collection, which comes in editions chair and chair +, is a stacking variation of the renowned Laleggera series created by Riccardo Blumer in 1996. A chair that is designed to be comfortable, ergonomic, and practical all at once. Its leather seat, which comes in three colours — black, dark brown, and natural, distinguishes it from the original seat, which has a structure made of solid maple or ash with durmast veneer in several finishes. An important addition to the Laleggera collection.

New Finishes

The most iconic products in Alias' history have been given fresh finishes, the 'Something Else' team at Alias, along with architects and designers David Lopez Quincoces and Francesco Meda, at the forefront of the brand's new creative vision, have chosen new colours and finishes to give a timeless appeal while highlighting their formal, aesthetic, and conceptual richness. “In the beginning, Alias products used a lot of black and white; we wanted to introduce new colours to further emphasise the technological, avant-garde and materiality of the products. Colours immediately accentuate the shape, organic nature and fusions of the metal. Among the new finishes, we have also introduced shiny varnishing; it was certainly a brave choice, as it goes against the trend of the more usual and comfortable choice of opacity. But Alias has never been a brand that follows the fashions of the moment or easy choices; it has always looked for Something Else. We wanted to pay homage to its avant-garde soul in the proposal of objects that live in a timeless dimension and application. The new colours and finishes enhance the iconic nature of Alias’ products, almost as if they were little jewels for living spaces” declare Francesco Meda and David Lopez Quincoces.

Since 1979, the guiding principles of Alias have been experimental innovations, technological lightness, versatility, and the desire to be distinctive. According to the brand, such a strategy is valued in our day as a crucial virtue because it recognises the ways in which diverse cultural manifestations engage in fruitful conversations that influence the modern living. Today Alias reverts to its original form as a creative force, an experimental laboratory, and a gathering place for honourable minds manifested through 'Something Else'.

STIR’s coverage of Milan Design Week 2023 showcases the best exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands, and special projects to look out for. Explore Euroluce 2023 and all the design districts—5Vie Art and Design, Brera Design District, Fuorisalone, Isola Design District, Tortona District, and Milano Design District—with us.

Text by Ria Jha

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