Extravagance, social consciousness and innovation: strange bedfellows at Milan Furniture Show

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  Suspension lamp called 'Flying Flames' designed by german designer Ingo Mauer is displayed at Milan's Design Fair, in Milan, Italy, Friday, April 12, 2013. The Milan furniture and design week fair is a six-day event which ends next Sunday. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)The Associated Press

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  A table lamp made from an old iron is displayed at the 'Unico' showroom during the Milan's Design Fair, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, April 11, 2013. The Milan furniture and design week fair, showcasing the latest in furniture and design from countries around the world, will continue until Sunday. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)The Associated Press

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  A man touches a lamp called "Light Sister" on display at the Milan Design Fair, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, April 11, 2013. The Milan furniture and design week fair, showcasing the latest in furniture and design from countries around the world, will continue until Sunday. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)The Associated Press

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  A woman touches a furniture creation called "Matrioshka" on display at the Milan Design Fair, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, April 11, 2013. The Milan furniture and design week fair, showcasing the latest in furniture and design from countries around the world, will continue until Sunday. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)The Associated Press

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  This rattan and crystal made lamp designed by Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana for Baccarat is displayed at Milan's Design Fair, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, April 11, 2013. The Milan furniture and design week fair, showcasing the latest in furniture and design from countries around the world, will continue until Sunday. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)The Associated Press

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MILAN –  Bathrooms that beg indulgence. Tiles that reduce pollution. Lighting that mimics a rainbow.

Extravagance, social consciousness and innovation are strange, but alluring, bedfellows at the Milan Furniture Show and the myriad side events dedicated to design that wrap up Sunday, ending a weeklong celebration of domestic bliss in its many forms.

The burgeoning event was originally conceived to promote Italian furniture making, which is withstanding the recession better than many industries, and now encompasses also design, fashion and architecture.

And as all these disciplines converge, so does utility. More and more, pieces can be shifted from room to room, and from home to office.

Global sales of luxury furnishings last year rose 3 percent to 18.5 billion euros ($24 billion), according to a study by Bain&Company for the Altagamma association of luxury designers. That's behind the 10 percent growth of the luxury industry as a whole, largely because emerging markets like China still haven't gotten around to redecorating their interiors, which Bain says gives great growth potential to the sector.

The sprawling event gives ample space for everyone from established designers like Phillipe Starck and Ingo Maeur to unknown newcomers to showcase their new creations.

LIGHTING

Inside a darkened room, tiny LED lights create halos that seem to bend when a hand reaches through. The effect is one of a rainbow, this one manmade with by the Tokyo/Milan design studio IXI with technology by Toshiba. Here, crystals mimic water droplets and the LED lights the sun. The one-off installation created for design week is called "Soffio," Italian for breath.

Lighting fixtures remain a central theme during design week, from the elegant to the fanciful.

The prestigious French crystal maker Baccarat engaged some of the industry's luminaries to interpret lamps, chandeliers and lighting fixtures for this year's furniture show.

Brazilian brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana incorporated rattan, bamboo and silk in a series of exotic lamps. For their Fusion collection, the encased a greenish blue crystal bulb within bell-shaped rattan shade that suggests the Maghreb. And a clear crystal bulb nests within bamboo cocoon in a table lamp that evokes Asia. Phillipe Starck designed a series of elaborate 24-light chandeliers, one featuring three glass deer heads in full antlers, while Arik Levy created a modernist 4-level frozen pattern chandelier.

Munich-based Ingo Mauer had a wholly modern interpretation on the chandelier. His "Flying Flames" evoke floating candles fashioned from red or black circuit boards with an electronic flame rendered in LEDs, each suspended from the ceiling. The 32-light creation was shown spectacularly in front of a reproduction of Leonardo's Da Vinci's "Last Supper."

BATH

No more is the bathroom strictly utilitarian. Increasingly, it is a sanctuary for indulgence, more spa than pit stop on the way to the office or out for the evening.

Design firms are taking note of trend, and have begun to enter one of the fastest-growing luxury furniture sectors, worth 2.8 billion euros globally last year.

Kartell, the Italian design leader, launched its first-ever collection intended for the bathroom, teaming up with the Swiss fixture maker Laufen and designers Ludovica and Roberto Palomba.

"I noticed more than two years ago that the bathroom is becoming more and more important," said Kartell president Claudio Luti. "Now, people want to find the comfort there that you have in the rest of the house. It becomes total living."

The Palomba design team used Laufen's latest technology, a ceramic called SaphirKeramik that is 30 percent lighter and easier to shape, to create graceful bathtubs and washbasins and sanitary fixtures.

The tub and sinks are freestanding and floor-mounted for a clean and spare look. Overflow drains can be hidden, and Kartell has designed colorful disks that fit over external faucets to incorporate utility.

The fixtures are paired with transparent cabinets, shelves, stools and towel racks in Kartell's signature transparent plastic — also in warm colors like orange and blue — that allow many configurations to customize the space.

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

Design is getting more ecological. Consider that it may not be the family car that is contributing the most to pollution. Buildings are responsible for 40 percent of energy consumption and one-quarter of carbon gas emissions, exceeding industry and transport sectors when it comes to pollution.

Architect Mario Cucinella has been pushing the agenda of sustainable buildings and this year presented a conceptual project with tile-maker Marazzi aimed at focusing attention on the importance of clean air. Titled "Pure Air," the 6-square-meter (7-sq. yard) cube installed at Milan's state university was filled with purified air and covered with hexagonal black stoneware tiles produced with an energy efficient process. Inside, both air and noise pollution are filtered out.

Cucinella said he wants to promote the idea that new architectural materials — like tiles that absorb humidity — can help tackle the growing problem of pollution.

"For me the idea is to say, 'Come to breath pure air,' " Cucinella said. "I am not interested in making an extravagant building to show off my architectural ego."

For those not looking to build or embark on major remodel, the design week offered other stylish, sustainable solutions.

Bologna-based designer Alessandro Israelachvili set up a temporary store filled with furnishings made from recycled objects: lamps shaped from a 1970s desk telephone, an old-fashioned electric iron and even a washing machine centrifuge.

NEWCOMERS

A group of young designers from Serbia presented creations based on their interpretation of a "memory box," an exercise meant to reflect on Serbia's drive for EU membership while confronting its role in the 1990s Balkan wars. The theme was the basis for a national contest promoted by Serbia's investment and export agency to promote young Serbian designers abroad. Each of the winning creations was inspired by necessity and had a spare simplicity in both the design and execution. Most were made from wood, a resource plentiful in Serbia.

Sasha Mitrovic created "Matrioshka," a system of seven nesting wooden storage units that recall the Russian doll of the same name. From a container measuring 110X86X63 centimeters (43X34X25 inches), which can easily fit in even a compact car, emerge smaller cabinets, drawer and shelf units with painted facades that stack together to create a wall unit.

Mitrovic said he was inspired by the ingenuity of the matryoshka dolls. "You open the door, and don't know what to expect," he said.

Stevan Durovic, 25, showed off a switch-less lamp shaped, a large sphere that turns on and off when rotated. The light has a full-moon effect, accentuated by a spare dark base that recedes into the darkness. And Ana Babic, 26, was inspired by the Ferris wheel to create a whimsical, rotating storage unit consisting of five tool boxes.

DESIGNERS

Versace Home collaborated with the Haas brothers from Los Angeles to create black leather furnishings with golden accents that ooze the Versace DNA, evident in the names: The Stud Club and The Bondage Bench.

An armchair is covered with studs, reflecting Donatella Versace's rock 'n roll spirit, while a bench is wrapped in belts, which the collection notes say "plays with the sexuality of fashion and design." The legs of the pieces are clad in honeycomb-shaped brass for a flashy look even in a darkened room.

For the show, Roberto Cavalli created a melange of tableware incorporating his animal prints, while Bottega Veneta commissioned American artist Nancy Lorenz to create 25 unique boxes inspired by the cosmos. The pieces are covered in the high-quality Bottega Veneta leather, and Lorenz used materials such as gold, silver leaf and mother of pearl to create abstract images that recall outer space.

CROSSOVER DESIGN

The lines between design, fashion and architecture continue to blur.

Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas shifted scale to create 11 pieces of furniture for the U.S. industrial design house Knoll. The "Tools for Life" pieces, meant for home or office, include a dynamic counter — a stack of three horizontal beams that can be transformed from a screen-like unit to cantilevered shelves and benches that invite people to sit, climb and lean in. The end result is a social/intellectual romper room.

Italian eyewear maker Safilo engaged architect Michele De Lucchi, who created a natural pinewood structure fitted with plaster casts of ancient figures wearing eyeglasses. Safilo CEO Roberto Vedovotto said the company's participation in the design fair is meant "to underline we are fully part of the world of design."

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Why private enterprise needs 'Ninja Innovation'

The Obama years have been hard on American business, big and small. When not being cast as greedy tax-dodgers who “didn’t build” their enterprises, business owners have had to battle an economic and political environment that is downright hostile: a desolate investment climate; the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world; a quadrupling of regulatory burdens; a punitive health care mandate; and a tort system that favors the frivolous.

Which is why it was such a delight to read “Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses” from Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). Let’s set aside the colorful title for a moment and call this book what it is really is: A celebration of American business. It’s clear that Shapiro, who has spent 30 years in the consumer electronics field, has an infectious passion for the art of business – how an idea can change the world.

It’s refreshing to read a book in the Obama era that unabashedly applauds and honors the creativity, determination, and sheer joy of private enterprise.

Given Shapiro’s area of expertise, perhaps this isn’t surprising. The CEA head has no difficulty talking about consumer electronics as the “most dynamic industry on the planet,” whose companies have shaped our modern world. 

It’s hard to argue with this proposition, even if what classifies as “consumer electronics” is rather expansive these days. It’s nevertheless refreshing to read a book in the Obama era that unabashedly applauds and honors the creativity, determination, and sheer joy of private enterprise.

As for that curious title, the “ninja” part is Shapiro’s entertaining way of providing context to what otherwise might be construed (mistakenly) as a niche business topic. And as a black belt in tae kwon do, Shapiro makes a good defense of it. 

The ninja, he writes, was “a highly disciplined, strategic, and passionate warrior.” He asks: “What better description is there for a successful person, enterprise, or organization in today’s world?” Part of the pleasure of reading “Ninja Innovation” is discovering all the ways Shapiro parallels the feudal Japanese warrior to modern-day business people, from entrepreneurs to seasoned CEOs. It’s a fun exercise and makes for a quick, enjoyable read.

In one comparison that worked particularly well, Shapiro attaches the ninja quality of achieving victory at any cost to IBM. While not nearly as flashy as a company like Apple, IBM’s resilience as a successful, innovative company is a testament to its ability to change with the times and to dominate the markets it enters.

“Despite a Titanic-like size that might make it difficult to alter course nimbly, IBM has successfully transformed itself from a mainframe company to a PC company to a consulting company to a company that beats chess and Jeopardy! champions just because it can,” writes Shapiro.

The usual suspects of business success certainly get their due respect: Apple, Microsoft, Intel, eBay, Facebook, and Twitter to name a few. But Shapiro also includes some surprising entities, from the relatively unknown -- Nottingham-Spirk and Monster Cable – to more mainstream companies, such as Ford Motor Company, that aren’t generally considered “cutting-edge.”

“Ninja Innovation” isn’t a “how-to” manual for business success. Rather, Shapiro identifies the bonds that connect one successful enterprise to another. That he does this through the lens of sword-wielding ninjas is a welcome change from the dry success manuals that litter the shelves. It’s also important in these times of anti-corporate rhetoric to be reminded and encouraged that success in business is something to be proud of.

By far the most enlightening parts of the book are the episodes in which Shapiro played a part. For instance, Shapiro recounts his experience as part of the national “strike force,” comprised of private and public entities, that developed the HDTV format. This decades-long effort required hundreds of creative minds, dozens of competitive companies, and several government agencies all pulling in the same direction to develop a format that is the standard for the rest of the world. Shapiro had a front-row seat throughout the process.

The last pages of the book are dedicated to CEA’s flagship endeavor, the International CES. When Shapiro assumed control of CEA, the trade show was losing attendees to the competition. Reading how Shapiro helped revive CES and turn it into the dominant trade show in the country – while using his “ninja-like tactics” – is a fine way to finish a book about success. 

Some readers might see this as self-serving, which I think misses the point. Without a vibrant and must-see event to show off their wares many of today’s most successful businesses would never have had a chance. Shapiro is entirely justified in mentioning his – and CEA’s – contribution.

If there is a lesson in “Ninja Innovation” it is this: We all owe a great deal to the companies and individuals Shapiro celebrates. After all, their success is our success.

Steve Forbes is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media and co-author of Freedom Manifesto:  Why Free Markets Are Moral and Big Government Isn’t (Crown Business)

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