Polished Steel Armchair exhibited by Galerie Perrin; photo courtesy of Galerie Perrin

Presented by the Parisian Galerie Perrin at this year’s Design Miami/ Basel (on show at the fair until 18.06), this fully-foldable polished steel, gilt copper and leather armchair has caught our attention not only due to its scrupulous detailing but also because this remarkably modern-looking piece has been designed circa two hundred years ago – in early 19th century – and is said to have been created to meet the requirements of Napoleon himself .

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Konstantin Grcic's new 'Avus' club chair for Italian manufacturer Plank

Every now and then, a design comes long that truly divides opinion. Here’s one of them.


Exhibited at the stand of Italian design manufacturer Plank at this year’s Milan Salone del Mobile, Konstantin Grcic’s new ‘Avus’ club chair managed to cause a bit of a stir. The leather-upholstered seat speaks of hotel lounge bars and tall drinks. The base, on the other hand, is a completely different story. Made of ABS, it consists of a twin-sheet moulded shell, reinforced with a polyurethane foam core, which, through its styling, shouts about its latest-technology credentials. It’s no accident, therefore, that the formal language of the chair’s base is reminiscent of things automotive.

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'Biknit' chaise longue by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso

It is a collaboration that has been going on for many years between the Spanish born and Milan based designer Patricia Urquiola and the Italian manufacturer Moroso. At this year’s Salone del Mobile they presented their most recent output: ‘Biknit’ is a series of upholstery furniture based on a simple, solid wooden base combined with an oversized knitted covering.

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'Eleven' armchair by PearsonLloyd for Alias

The London based design studio PearsonLloyd designed this new upholstery series consisting of armchair, two and three-seater sofa for the Italian manufactruer Alias, shown at the Salone del Mobile for the first time. ‘Eleven’ is composed of slim legs in cast aluminium connected to a steel frame which supports the voluminous seat, back and armrest cushions. A restraint but beautiful detail is the stitching of the textile covering.

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'Houdini' new upholstered version by Stefan Diez for e15

The German manufacturer e15 will showcase some new pieces of the plywood series by Stefan Diez at this year’s Milan Design Week: the ‘Houdini’ armchair in a new upholstered version and the lounge chair ‘Leo’ – based on the same, sophisticated construction principle as ‘Houdini’. Both pieces will be showcased at two locations: at the Salone del Mobile in Hall 20, stand E16 and at the e15 showroom in Via Tortona 31.

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'Part' by PearsonLloyd for Modus

Designjunction is the exhibition of several British labels at Zegna headquarters on Via Savona during this year’s Salone del Mobile. Modus will be on show with a whole range of new products by namable designers such as Michael Sodeau, PearsonLloyd and Claesson Koivisto Rune.

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'Vienna' by Jean Nouvel for Wittmann

The Austrian manufacturer Wittmann is especially known for its high-quality upholstery furniture. In their Viennese showroom Wittmann presents from March 25, 2011 the result of a very special encounter: The new, highly sober seating furniture collection ‘Vienna’ designed by non other than Jean Nouvel. The cooperation started when Wittmann was commissioned to produce the seating furniture for Vienna’s new Sofitel.

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'Handy chair' by Tak Euy sung

Three layers of ram skin covered EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) strung with an ordinary tension belt – this is what the ‘Handy chair’ by the young corean designer and graduate from Hong-ik University of Wood working & Furniture design in Seoul Tak Euy sung is composed of.

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