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On the occasion of the highly anticipated design festival Milan Design Week 2023, Italian designer Cristina Celestino unveiled a series of works her studio designed and produced. From product design to exhibition design, the repository included Clay Court Club, Celestino's special project—an immersive installation that pays a tribute to Giovanni Muzio's Tennis Club Milano Bonacossa—and in this set the Raquette armchair and sofa designed for Billiani. Along with that Cretto is the new terracotta cladding designed for Fornace Brioni and the one that was showcased for the first time at the design event.
With the booth Velario, the studio continued its research by adopting Pianca's deep ties to the city of Venice as a fundamental concept. And in collaboration with Fendi Casa, the new Ottavia chair and Domino Mirror were showcased.
Clay Court Club
Celestino’s research, which began in 2018 with Tram Corallo, Caffè Concerto Cucchi in 2019, and Florilegio in 2022, sets out to provide an evocative perspective on several iconic yet hidden locations in the city of Milan, Italy. The wide range of interventions manifests itself in a complex design approach, involving the entire space, reinterpreting the genius loci, and generating new, unexpected relationships.
Through the simplification of the existing architectural language, the designer staged a role-play, overturning the perception of indoor spaces and generating a chromatic connection with the outdoors. The research on the geometric connection between a line and a semicircle, one of Muzio’s favourite composition themes, becomes the connecting feature of the objects set out in space, for which the use of materials is always constituent and never decorative. Engaging in a detailed graphic rigour, the new flooring becomes a reference for the red clay courts, emphasising the rich decorations of the original marble flooring. Furniture elements are arranged according to an out-of-scale logic, generating a new perspective order, that seeks to generate new identities and focus, thus pursuing the Muzio’s long yearn for asymmetry.
Raquette collection
The new Raquette collection designed for Billiani pays homage to the ancient technique of intertwining wooden slats. Taking inspiration from the world of tennis, Raquette's sides comprise textured lattice work within a frame. The seat is on a wooden platform that raises it up like an island; it houses a soft and organic padded shell that evokes the plant world. The seat is on a wooden platform which raises it up like an island; it houses a soft and organic padded shell which evokes the plant world. The relationship between these two constituent parts of the armchair forms the very heart of the project, assuring comfort in domestic settings whilst also being suited to hospitality installations.
Cretto
Paths and maps, grooves, tracks and backgrounds: this is how the new terracotta cladding designed by Celestino for Fornace Brioni presents itself. Cretto is the result of exhaustive research on the acknowledgement of the territory, on the stratification of marks on the earth, and on the iconography of natural elements. Cretto is a constituent and dynamic bas-relief that breaks apart in search of new tracks to share. The tiles come together to form organic silhouettes and extended plots of space, for an unconfined world without borders.
Velario
Inspired by the studio’s deep ties to the city of Venice, Celestino’s project for Pianca at Salone del Mobile.Milano 2023 was a continuation of the research started a year prior with Villa Palladiana, adopting the Venetian palace as a fundamental concept. A melting-pot of experimentation and innovative design, the Venetian palace represents the favoured field of artistic investigation. It houses rich collections of artwork and eclectic sources of inspiration, while demonstrating its presence on the international artistic and intellectual scene. The Venetian palace, a living space distinguished by luxury fittings, bright tones, and fabric on the walls, therefore becomes the point of reference for the staging of a fluid and ever-changing project. Pianca’s décor presented itself through the articulation of chromatic oases and hints of material, its finishes calling back to the refined stratifications of the Venetian tradition. Velario is at once classic and timeless, where interweaving partitions and glowing geometric solids give form to a harmonious metaphysical theatre in which décor is the star actor.
Ottavia chair
Drawing from a craftsmanship background, the new chair design by Celestino for Fendi Casa is focused on marrying a contemporary vision to a historical-layered tradition. Its purpose is comfort, as the chair’s backrest seems to unfold around the back naturally. The dominant sign is inspired by the curving shape of an arch, which distinctly recalls the Roman archetypal signature signs, and Palazzo delle Civiltà, home to Fendi. Sculptural art and furniture design merge into simple and experimental shapes that can blend to create unique new typologies, while still offering comfort and sophistication in the home space.
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.
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