Chairs at Milano Furniture Fair

French brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have designed this "Papyrus Chair" for Italian plastics manufacturer Kartell - probably will be as popular as Kartells best selling Philippe Starck's Victoria Ghost chair. What looks interesting her to me is how thin is it. Curious about that.



New name Chistophe Pillet designed this high gloss fibreglass "Orbital" chair with an upholstered seating for British company Modus. It reminds me of the stage sets for Kubrick films in a good way and looks like a lot of fun. Also reminds me of THX 1138. In the right setting would be ace. Looks comfortable too.



London designer Alexander Taylor made this replica of a chair he found in an antique shop for Established & Sons. Supposedly the big idea here is that seven sheet steel cut-outs were substituted for wood. Nothing special if you ask me. Sampling is one thing, modifying is another. Don't really see the point of this chair.



"Rotterdam Chair" by Dutch designer Hella Jongerius for Vitra. Seems to be quite a bit of subtly at play - notice the small strip of color for example. Also the use of different textures and colors. I imagine this is probably very contemporary and slick in person. A chair to investigate further.



Swiss designer Philippe Bestenheider made this eskimo inspired "Nanook" chair for Moroso. As much as it's trying to be futuristic and cool this take on Inuit tribal patterns with the assistance of digital tools kind of makes me feel like vomiting.



New design by German Konstantin Grcic - the "MYTO" aka "Cantilever Chair" commissioned by German chemicals company BASF and produced by Italian manufacturer Plank. What I like about Grcic is how he plays around with balance and unusual shapes and this is no exception. Maybe not as radical as his Miura stool from a couple of years back but still interesting. Again the pertinent question is how does it feel to sit in this ?



New design by one of the best British designers Jasper Morrison - "The Pipe Chair" produced by Italian manufacturer Magis. I think Jasper is going for a "simple is best" approach here along the lines of his friend Naoto Fukasawa's Deja Vu stool for Magis but this is sadly too conservative and boring. I see no point to it at all. A step down for a fantastic designer.



Never been big on the designs of Frenchman Philippe Starck and this "Monseigneur Armchair" for Draide is no exception. I hate how the armrests disappear. Seems like he's just trying to be clever. But that is his shtick right ?



An as yet un-named design by Dutch designer Maarten Baas made by Shanghai craftsmen and is inspired by their skills of which Baas says "they can do things that you just couldn’t find in Holland and can copy very well." Seems very kitsch to me and kinda ugly. Wood can be so beautiful but this is not what I think of when I think of using wood for it's beauty.



Ever the exotic, comes this design - "Enlaced Antibodi" from hot Italian Patricia Urquiola for the Italian furniture manufacturer Moroso. The metal structure of the chair is enlaced with colored PVC string. The interweaving of colors is very much in line with the rich hippie organic loose lifestyle aesthetic of previous Urquiola designs. Curious if this would seat two or just one ? Looks like a good outside chair but would it survive ? is that the intention ?
It is sexy.



Another design by Patricia Urquiola for Kartell - the transparent polycarbonate "Frilly" chair - not an exciting work compared to her psychedelic chair above. The pattern maybe more interesting in person though but looks like a pain to keep clean.



London duo Committee designed this "Soft Rocker" for SCP - supposedly the big idea is that it is meant to look like it is made of granite or concrete. The success of this has to be in how it moves and feels.



Marvelously asymmetrical chair from German designer Matthias Demacker for Italian company Ferlea - part of a family of seating called "Take Off." Very sci-fi and bold. In the right setting this would be ace. I like them a lot. I also like the bold red. Again something I could imagine in a Kubrick film but somehow a bit more up to date than Chistophe Pillet.



Another design from German Matthias Demacker - the "Formula Chair" for Italian company ArrMet. Again angles but not as successful as above. Just looking at these I imagine being uncomfortable and falling off. Seeing this makes me like his red chair above a little less.



This design from Brit Tom Dixon reminds me of Konstantin Grcic's Miura stool, but even though this looks like plastic it isn't. It's made from oak and is stackable underneath itself, thereby also occupying as little space as possible. The stacking might be innovative but the design to me at least seems almost ugly. Not quite sure what to make of it - would need to see it in person. Not a winner I imagine.

The winner here ? Hella Jongerius

Read Alice Rawsthorn's preview of the Milan Furniture Fair featuring many of the above.