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Milan’s 2018 Salone del Mobile. Our personal highlights. Part 1: Installations

Some of the most memorable experiences during the 2018 edition of Milan’s Salone del Mobile – the largest and most exciting design event on the planet – were the installations that placed new designs into a context that embraced all the senses, from sight and sound to scent, tactility and sophisticated colour combinations. Here are just some of our personal highlights:

Club Unseen by Studio Pepe

Milan-based duo Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto of Studio Pepe are the masters of atmosphere. Their pastel-hued, invitation-only club was inspired by the idea of a secret bar, “a speakeasy with a twist”. Inside, the mood was pure escapist calm with a soothing soundtrack and a backlit cocktail bar that turned waiting for service into a theatrical event by hiding the bartenders behind fluted glass walls so only their white-gloved hands were visible.

Chez Nina by India Mahdavi for Nina Yashar

Nina Yashar is quite possibly the coolest woman in Milan. When asked why she wanted to create a club in her gallery with long time friend and collaborator, Paris-based designer India Mahdavi, she calmly inhaled on her cigarette, and, exhaling across the glossy rainbow striped table, said, “My dream always, since I was young, was to own a bar.” Mahdavi, who is most well known for the pink interior she created for Sketch restaurant in London, described her creation as her portrait of Nina. “But it’s also about giving comfort and I think we all need comfort.”

Six Gallery by Quincoces Dragò & Partners

It was the wheat field installed on the ceiling that stopped us in our tracks when we visited the haven of tranquility that is Six Gallery. Designed by Spanish-Norwegian architects David Lopez Quincoces and Fanny Bauer Grung the former 16th monastery now houses a florist, design gallery and bistro. During Salone the duo launched their own contemporary furniture line to complement the gallery’s collection of design classics.