Milan 09: champagne brand Veuve Clicquot present an exhibition called Out of The Box, showing work by Tom Dixon, Front and 5.5 Designers in Zona Tortona.

The three exhibits include Comet Lamp by Tom Dixon (top image), Chaise Lounge by Front Design (above) and VCP cellar by 5.5 Designers (below), all made from Veuve Clicquots' newly-designed paper gift boxes.

A limited edition of 500 Comet Lamps were given away at the opening night.

Out of The Box will be showing at SuperStudio on Via Tortona until the end of today.

See all our stories from Milan 09MIlan 2009.

Here's some more information from Veuve Clicquot:

--

Out of the Box

The project Out of the Box was born from Veuve Clicquot’s determination to break free from the functional constraints associated with the production of the new DesignBox and its industrialisation.

For this reason three well-known designer groups were invited to invent an innovative piece of furniture, based on the new box and focussed on the enjoyment of Veuve Clicquot champagne. After Andree Putman’s re-interpretation of the riddling table in 2005 and the creation of the Loveseat for two lovers of champagne by Karim Rashid in 2007, these limitations imposed on the creative process are intended to show that the audacity traditional at Veuve Clicquot is a state of mind. The Englishman Tom Dixon, the Swedish collective Front design and the French group 5.5 designers have all shown conceptual daring worthy of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsaedin, delivering three original propositions that are displayed in the Veuve Clicquot Own Gallery, in the heart of Milan’s own “off”, the Zona Tortona.

Comet Lamp by Tom Dixon

“I created the Comet lamp in a very natural sort of way. Specifically, while looking at the DesignBox and thinking of the technical complexity of the cardboard object with such a simple appearance. Think of the beauty of simple shapes, of the way in which the geometry is everywhere present in design, and then think of the natural progression of simple mathematical forms, from the cube to the square; this enables us as designers to create infinite possibilities by starting from the simplest point of departure! Next I thought about the emblems of Veuve Clicquot, and its mysterious five-branched star. I did a little research and found that it was a reference to the comet that was seen in the Champagne region of France, in 1811, the year of an exceptional vintage and the first year of the ‘modern champagnes’ that were pioneered by Veuve Clicquot. And that’s when I had the idea! A Comet lamp, beneficent and sparkling, like champagne, based on the universally attractive laws of geometry, from the starting point of a simple, well-made cardboard box”.

Veuve Clicquot Champagne Cellar by 5.5 Designers

“We thought the DesignBox as a sort of building brick, in the tradition of cellars with walls of bottles. It became the construction unit for a Brut Yellow Label storage and tasting space. Our contribution, the desire to offer a collection of bricks for deconstructing our interiors and to create new types of objects, somewhere between architecture and furniture. This concept offers great creative flexibility in designing Veuve Clicquot spaces in public, private of domestic locations. By becoming a real ingredient of furniture, the DesignBox changes its status, outgrowing its simple packaging function to occupy a more extensive dimension. This new categorisation partition space so that we are plunged into an ambiance 100% Veuve Clicquot, through the interplay of 4 objects.

The brick: each brick contains a bottle, stored in its DesignBox. They make it possible to construct one’s own world of champagne simply by piling them together: wall, win cellar, wine rack, windbreak, screen, all sorts of referents that can be associated with these constructs built out of champagne.

The wall of champagne no 1: furniture and walls are all of a single species, abolishing the frontiers between walls and furnishings. In proportions related to the dimensions of the box, the table projects from the wall art the same time offering us a space in which to store the bottles. This wine-rack table is the first version of a new form of furniture imagined from this constructor kit.

The champagne ice bucket: designed to be a synthesis of a traditional ice cooler and the DesignBox, this object is a perfectly integrated part of the construction, and also allows you to keep a bottle ‘on ice’.

The stool: the base is an accumulation of 4 bottles in their boxed container. The stool is the perfect image of the case of champagne on which one sits to drink a glass of champagne. Two bricks sheathed in yellow leather ensure that it’s comfortable to sit on. The stools can be interlinked to become a bench built into the wall.”

Chaise Lounge by Front

“The Chaise Lounge was inspired by the Veuve Clicquot DesignBox. The boxes are randomly positioned, creating a pixelised landscape. It looks like a static sculpture, but when you sit on it the grid work of boxes adapts comfortably to your body.”