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Taking the stage at Baranzate Ateliers during the ongoing edition of Milan Design Week, the three objects Case, Corps, and State transcend to achieve perfect harmony between contemporary innovation, functionality, and tradition. Designed by interior designer Noro Khachatryan, the founder of Belgium-based studiokhachatryan, the functional design pieces take cues from Armenian monumental architecture and everyday objects—melding artistry and utility, and the past and present. “I could easily consider the resulting sculptures without adding any function. However, the inspiration behind it was dynamic and functional. Hence, I found it fascinating to add functionality and consider it a form of performance,” says Khachatryan.
Serving as a showcasing space for the Milan Design Week 2024, Baranzate Ateliers is an initiative that transforms industrial wastelands around European cities into vibrant design showcases. Conceived by Lionel Jadot in 2019 as a brainchild of Zaventem Ateliers, Baranzate Ateliers returns to Milan with another anticipated edition. The presentation sets up camp at a residence at Via Gaudenzio Fantoli 16/3, a monumental 1950s industrial building of 7,300 square metres near Linate. This year's programme traverses art, collectible design and performances—emerging as a major highlight of the design week.
Hailing from Armenia, Khachatryan integrates design elements and characteristics from his native land. His eponymous studio has a diverse portfolio involving sculptures, interiors, architecture, and elements for public and residential display. The design principle of the studio revolves around infusing natural materials with analytical gestures built using traditional craftsmanship. The designer’s ideology is to bridge objects and product design with architecture in a way that each piece of art can seamlessly blend in an architectural space whilst having its own personality. With a minimalistic approach and a blank canvas as the origin for each project, Khachatryan explores new and diverse ideas. The material palette for most of the studio’s projects includes natural materials such as stone and wood, and industrial materials such as concrete and semi-precious metals. A similar design approach is conspicuous in their newly unveiled creations: Case, Corps, and State.
Case
Serving as a testament to both Armenian tradition and contemporary design, the Case collection invites visitors to an immersive experience involving lighting candles or arranging bouquets. Made of sand-casting bronze and finished manually, these vases and candle holders are decorative and functional in tandem. Some of the pieces are also silver-plated, further enhancing the aesthetics. Celebrating an intersection of beauty, innovation and heritage, the collection is a cumulation of abstract yet elegant forms.
Corps
The second piece of furniture design presented at the design festival is Corps, a black solid hardwood table built on the principle of proportions. The legs of the table design are large and angled to equalise the massive surface of the table top. On the inside, the feet feature curved lines that seamlessly blend with the rectangular top. The straight lines defining the shell of the table gradually transform into a carefully sculpted underside.
State
Inspired by classical urban architecture and the role of public seating in the urban design of cities, State is a bench made from solid blocks of natural stone and wood. Conforming to the tenets of brutalist design, the designer translates his fascination with the structural elements of city benches into functional objects that embrace raw materiality. The bench has been hand-sculpted from Belgian blue stone and solid hardwood.
Stay tuned to STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2024 which showcases the best of exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands and events to look out for. Explore EuroCucina and all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5vie Design Week, Isola Design Week, Brera Design District and Porta Venezia Design District.
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