Milan Design Week: Spotlight on Asia Pacific
Our editors round up their highlights from the Asia Pacific presence at Milan Design Week 2023
Designers and brands from the Asia Pacific region seemed to be out in force at Milan Design Week. While they may not be on par with their European counterparts yet in terms of representation, there is no doubt that the contingent from Asia, Australia and New Zealand is growing year on year. At SaloneSatellite alone — Salone del Mobile;s platform for emerging designers — a substantial portion of the 550 designers from 31 countries hailed from the region.
The creative output from Asia Pacific at this year’s outing stood out for its strong conceptual, formal and material qualities. What follows are but some of the highlights from the Asia Pacific talent on show during the week.
Hong Kong- and Turkey-based Yellowdot showed their Millstone collection at Rossana Orlandi Gallery
AB Concept unveiled its first collaboration with Gebrüder Thonet Vienna at Salone del Mobile. Image by Margherita Bonetti
Designer Teruhiro Yanagihara and Japanese heritage tile brand Danto soft launched Alternative Artefacts Danto with an exhibition titled Archaeology of Tiles. The brand’s first collection is set to launch in 2024. Image by Guglielmo G C Profeti
Australian designer Tom Fereday collaborated with London-based stone studio Agglomerati on the Cor collection of lights, shown at Alcova. Image by Nicola Gnesi
Milan-based Japanese designer Takeda Katsuya launched his new Brace collection
Japanese designer Atsushi Shindo showed his HAORI lights at SaloneSatellite. Image by Ryohei Maehara
Helsinki-based Korean designer Daein Kang showed the Siipi chair at SaloneSatellite
Helsinki-based Hong Kong designer Didi Ng Wing Yin showed his handcrafted Wood Pleats collection at Alcova. Image by Agnese Bedini and Piercarlo Quecchia, DSL Studio
Vietnamese brand District Eight launched the Collette chair by Australian designer Adam Goodrum at Salone del Mobile
Danish brand Gubi invited ten designers to reinvent the iconic Beetle chair. Among them was Thai architect Rachaporn Choochuey of all(zone), who designed the Flying Beetle chair
Jaeha Lee showed the Boolean collection as part of the Korea Craft & Design Foundation’s <Shift Craft> exhibition at Rossana Orlandi Gallery
Under the creative direction of architect and designer Keiji Ashizawa, Japanese furniture brand Karimoku Furniture hosted a pop-up at Gallery Assab One to showcase its brands Karimoku New Standard, Karimoku, MAS and Ishinomaki Laboratory by Karimoku. Images by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen
Chinese designer Mario Tsai presented his new Light from Architecture collection at Alcova. Image by Agnese Bedini and Piercarlo Quecchia, DSL Studio
Tokyo-based Ruichi Kozeki showed his Diag/ lamps at Alcova. Image by Agnese Bedini and Piercarlo Quecchia, DSL Studio
Korean designer Jinyoung Yeon showed the Airbag armchair as part of RE;COLLECTIVE, an exhibition by Korean brand RE;CODE and DEKASEGI, the Japanese design studio by Schemata Architects and construction company TANK. Image by Martina Mariotti
Australian designer Ross Gardam showed Vestige, a limited-edition table lamp made of solid cast crystal glass by glass artist Peter Kovacsy. Image by Haydn Cattach
Hong Kong-based Studio RYTE took second place for its exhibition at SaloneSatellite, where the team showed their new Wave bench
Chinese designer Frank Chou showed several new works in Milan this year, including the new Sketch series for LIVINTWIST. Image by Yang Junnin
In Galerie Philia’s group exhibition Desacralized, Sydney-based Studio Henry Wilson showed the white alabaster Pagoda lamp (left) and China’s Kar Studio showed the Oracle Bone Script chair (left). Image by Maison Mouton Noir, courtesy of Galerie Philia (right)
At SaloneSatellite, Singaporean designer Karyn Lim showed the So Plast!c series of tables made entirely from recycled plastic
Japanese studio Honoka Lab showed their Tatami ReFab Project, presenting a way to recycle old tatami mats and combine the material with a bio resin to 3D print new designs. The project won first prize in this year’s SaloneSatellite Awards
Austrian brand Wittman collaborated with Japan- and Milan-based studio nendo to launch the Detour series of lamps this year’s Euroluce
Indian furniture brand Phantom Hands collaborated with Swiss designer Klemens Grund on the new Nandi collection
Several Singaporean designers took part in Future Impact, a showcase curated by Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero, including Forest & Whale, Gabriel Tan, Nathan Yong, Studio Juju, Tiffany Loy and Viewport Studio. Images by Stefan Giftthaler (left and middle)
Portugal-based Singaporean designer Gabriel Tan presented Still Life — The Art of Living, a fully conceived apartment filled with furniture, lighting and objets from Ariake, Origin Made, DUX, Sera Helsinki and Secto Design. Image by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen.
