The Chicago Design Show is an international exhibition of contemporary furnishings which was recently held at The Merchandise Mart (Oct. 9-11). Now in its second year, the show is a forum for designers, architects and ordinary homeowners to see and buy the latest products.
We’ve included an overview of the show and highlights of Italian furniture trends, Albert Paley’s metal sculptures, Ingo Maurer’s inventive lighting designs, and Ian Schrager’s “boutique-style” hotels.
MILAN: WHAT’S HOT
The Chicago Design Show is not only a magnet for local and national furniture designers but also for national designers. This year, Milan made a splash on the design scene with the message that fashionable furniture can also be durable. Milan designers displayed eclectic designs sporting asymmetrical shapes and fancy cut-outs which were all minimalist in structure with classic lines and sturdy frames. The designs of Giorgio Saporiti and Reflex, were showcased at the Interni booth, (Italy’s leading design magazine). To the left are a sampling of their pieces.
All items are available through the Campaniello showroom in the Merchandise Mart. For more information call 312-494-1200.
ALBERT PALEY
Master metalsmith Albert Paley has taken sculpture to new heights with his towering structures and has given industrial materials such as iron and steel new forms.
His famous gates and archways, many standing over 20 feet tall and weighing thousands of pounds, are an exercise in art, architecture and design. His trademark elongated, serpentine-like forms take on a seemingly organic feel with their fluidity.
To date, Paley has created over 75 commissioned works worldwide for renowned institutions such as the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Paley first came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the leading craft jewelers in America, an accomplishment which eventually led to his emergence as a monumental metal sculptor. He is also the first metal sculptor to receive the coveted Institute Honors Award from the American Institute of Architects, the AIA’s highest award to a non-architect. Paley’s work can be seen in permanent collections of distinguished museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
INGO MAURER
(The MaMoNouchies collection as described by lighting designer Ingo Maurer.) First there was the feeling of the material. I have been using paper on and off for over 20 years and have developed a strong affection for it. And, of course, there was a long-standing admiration for Japan and things Japanese.
Then there was Dagmar Mombach, a friend and frequent guest member of my team. It was she who invented a new process for transforming my favorite material.
Using paper for lamps always brings Maurer back to artist Isamu Noguchi, whose ideas were based on the traditional Japanese craft of Akari-making. Having had the good fortune to know this great master, Maurer pays homage to his work not by adopting the same aesthetic, but simply by the sound of his name.
The MaMoNouchies is a cross-cultural adventure, using names from all over the world for the individual models. Moving from Japan to Africa, from North to South, I had the feeling of being in contact with ancient tribal spirits.
It is endlessly variable and shaped in almost any way without force. But for most of us, it is something we take for granted and an ever present but unnoticed element in our lives. We use it unthinkingly and discard or burn it when it has served its purpose. Here, Japan differs from other countries of the West, in that it has managed to preserve a small but precious culture of materials. Conserving beauty today means more than saving particular objects or buildings from destruction; it is also a question of ideas and attitudes, including an intrinsic respect for materials and the ways in which they have been used by others.
Dagmar Mombach’s invention takes its inspiration from a traditional Japanese technique of textile dyeing. No machines are involved; all the operations are performed by hand, and up to eight separate treatments are needed. Plain sheets of paper are transformed into different shapes by folding and pulling the paper. The results look superficially similar, but in fact each shape is unique.
Hagen Sczech played a important part in the technical realization of the idea. He and Dagmar struggled for years, with boundless energy and patience, to realize their vision of this beautiful and marvelously versatile material.
When I saw the fruits of their work, for the first time, I fell in love with the material immediately. My spirits soared, my imagination ran wild: the possibilities seemed so endless that I hardly knew where to start. All of us in the company are tremendously excited about this new range. Our aim always has been, and still is, to make lamps that combine visual beauty with technical sophistication which is exactly how we see The MaMoNouchies.
The MaMoNouchies are not examples of design, but, as we say of “Gestaltung,” — a less technical-sounding word which means creating or shaping.
IAN SCHRAGER
Acclaimed for creating unique theatrical and cutting-edge boutique-style hotels, Ian Schrager is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the hotel industry today. His establishments, where restaurants, cafes and intimate bars are all under one roof, include the Paramount and Royalton in New York and the Mondrian in Los Angeles.
The hotels are more than just a place to sleep, they are an exercise in indulgence. Each hotel is an elegant masterpiece outfitted by French designer Philippe Starck, with an ever-changing ambiance that entertains and enchants its guests.
Schrager has fun with details. His hotels have a surrealistic twist. The scenery in the Royalton lobby is constantly changing and its Sushi Bar Without Sushi is true to its name. In the Mondrian, an inscription behind the desk in the guest room reads, “Think” and above the bed another inscription reads, “Dream.” A paperback book on the coffee table is simply titled, “Mystery.” The Lobby in the Paramount, dressed in pieces from flea markets in London and Paris, has a changing light tableaux that gradually lightens and dims much like daylight evolves into night – altering the mood and feel of the room.
What can we expect next from Schrager? The hotelier spoke at the Chicago Design Show and discussed the recent consolidation of his company, Ian Schrager Hotels, as part of an integral strategy to develop six new hotels in the United States and Europe. Two future projects include the renovation of a 35-story St. Moritz, opposite Central Park in New York, and morphing the Henry Hudson Hotel in midtown Manhattan into YMCA for modern people. We can hardly wait.
Schrager is not a newcomer to the entertainment world. His keen instincts for the mood and feel of popular culture were honed during the `70s and `80s when he and partner Steve Rubell founded the infamous Studio 54 and Palladium – the two archetypal discotheques of the era. The two pioneers turned to the hospitality industry, opening Morgans hotel in New York in 1984.
After the untimely death of Rubell in the mid-’80s, Schrager continued his hotel empire which now includes the Royalton and Paramount in New York City, Delano in Miami Beach, Mondrian in Los Angeles and Clift in San Francisco.
