Milan 2012: wonky curtains, a disco ball and framed X-ray photographs can be found at the temporary apartment in Milan where design brand Maison Martin Margiela are presenting new furniture this week.
An asymmetric headboard with quilted upholstery can be found in the bedroom, between a pair of Lazy tables shrunk down to the size of nightstands.
Other new pieces on show include a modular armoire that can be used as either a wardrobe or a bookshelf, an undersized armchair and a scaled-down desk designed for working in bed.
In the garden room a forest of plants surround armchairs from different periods, which are covered in white fabric and grouped together to create a makeshift sofa.
Last year Maison Martin Margiela completed their first hotel interior, which you can see here.
Here's some more text from the designers:
‘Objets & Editions’
Collection 2012
The ‘Chers Voisins’ (‘Dear Neighbours’) installation at the Salone del Mobile in Milan showcases new Maison Martin Margiela furniture produced by cerruti baleri. This year, the Maison created a temporary apartment that blends interior architecture and design in a style inspired by real life, disproportion and trompe-l’oeil.
From the moment you enter, suspended ‘door rugs’ reveal the rooms apertures. In the dining room, nighttime reigns with a disco-ball ottoman and ‘bottle lamps’ set on the floor. New ‘parquet’ and ‘tile’ print carpets reveal the kitchen and the bathroom. The living room plays up perspective and dimension with a checkerboard floor and undersized furniture. Moldings are interrupted and an exclusive wallpaper displays X-rayed paintings.
Interior, day: a white room is hung with diminishing curtains that echo the ‘Telo’ headboard. The ‘Sbilenco’ console and the ‘Lazy’ table accentuate the sense of imbalance and disproportion. Dressed in white jackets, the adjacent dressing room presents the ‘Lolo’ armory. Exit the apartment through the garden decorated with the ‘Groupe’ sofa set and white ‘Emmanuelle’. Even the sky over the garden is in trompe l’oeil, bearing Second Empire salon paintings borrowed from the Hotel La Maison Champs- Elysees.
New pieces – 2012
‘Lazy’ – a scaled-down table reduced to the size of a nightstand or small console; in exotic wood and birch.
‘Easy’ – reduced scriban desk to work into bed made in exotic wood and birch.
‘Telo’ – disproportionate headboard. The structure seems to shrink and the quilted upholstery appears to follow suit.
‘Lolo’ – open-structure armory with modular interior that can be transformed into a wardrobe or a library.
‘Mademoiselle’ - independent or can become doors for the ‘Lolo’ armory.
‘Undersized One’ – an undersized armchair with an ultra-compact rendering that plays on the concept of scale.
‘Knife-rest’ - stoppers of antique decanters made in France during the 19th and early 20th centuries are collected and cut by hand to become knife-rests. Stoppers are all different and each knife-rest is a unique and rare piece.
Permanent
‘Groupe’ - a surrealistic approach of a sofa, as if 3 armchairs of different styles and periods of time have been put next to each other and covered in white or black linen cloth.
‘Emmanuelle’ - A big armchair wrapped in white or black cotton canvas. The iconic shape is transformed into something completely renewed with such a familiar aesthetics bringing a radically new perception.
‘Undersized’ - An undersized sofa. This two- or three-seat sofa plays with scale for an ultra-compact shape.
‘Sbilenco’ - An ‘unstable’ table. It comes in three versions – a coffee-table, side-table or console – in black ash wood or silver grey tanganika. Its structure seems shaky and offset by a drawer to balance a clear glass top.
‘Edo-bell’ - traditional Japanese glass bell. Hanging at the house entrance or onto tree branches, it sounds with the wind fulfilling the wishes of the residents. Available in three different sizes.
‘Door-stopper egg’ - in the shape of a duck’s egg, this egg made of mat silicone, in white or in natural colour.
‘Ostrich egg’ - this real weighted ostrich egg may block a door, hold paper or be of any other decorative use.
‘Champagne bucket’ - made in mirror stainless steel, this 7-liter paint pail becomes a real champagne bucket.
‘Tabi-bookmark’ - a brown leather Tabi-sole shaped bookmark, size 24.
‘Cotton calendar’ - made in starched and embroidered cotton canvas, it becomes, once the year is over, a set of twelve napkins.
‘Giant souvenir snowball’ - an oversized "souvenir" snowball containing glitter creates a space free for personal souvenir.
‘Feather pen’ - decorated with a delicate feather, a classic ballpoint pen offers a humorous take on the old-fashioned quill.
‘Russian dolls’ - the eternal doll-in-a-doll. White and anonymous, these Matriochkas are hand-made in Russia.
‘Magnifying glasses’ - both halves of a pair of glasses become magnifying glasses.
‘Bottle lamps’ - the ultimate recycling concept, using used bottles of wine and liquor, their labels faded in white.
Recognitions:
Furnitures: cerruti baleri
Decoration objects: l’Atelier d’Exercices
Rugs and carpets: Gallerie B
Bottle lamps: Pop-corn