At Salone: Moooi

Moooi booth at Salone 2008.

I’ve had a soft spot for Moooi creations for quite some time. So it’s no surprise to see their work being presented at Salone is as memorable as previous collections. And while I know them best for their standout modern pendant lights, the spaces they’ve chosen to present at Milan Design Week 2008 certainly offer a more ornamented side of themselves than seen in previous years. For some (notably, the team at CoolHunting), the excess may have been overkill:

The Moooi booth was a maze of rooms, each an eclectic clash of styles that has come to characterize their exuberant catalog. For the most part, I left the exhibition space in a daze, feeling as though I’d been smacked over the head by so many layers of ornament. Still, they came through with a few amazing products, most notably in the lighting arena.

But what everyone seems to agree upon, is the innovation behind the Sofa Lamp. Imagine if you will an elliptical, black, quilted leather lamp. Yes, I too found it difficult to envision until it was spotted on Design Boom. The concept originated from the classic Chester sofa. But it took design firm Héctor Serrano in collaboration with Culdesac to bring the idea to life. The resulting product is a marvel of creative collaboration that is making waves across the blogosphere.

Sofa Lamp. Designed by Culdesac and Héctor Serrano. Manufactured by Moooi.

Moooi’s pieces have always struck me as modern, yet pretty. The collections evoke soft, feminine lines without ever losing their clean lines. But the Sofa Lamp is decidedly masculine. It brings about images of motorcycles in my mind. The influence of Héctor Serrano Studio clearly added a high level of edginess to the innovative product.

It will be interesting to see how savvy firms integrate this bold piece into spaces in the coming year. As much as I look forward to seeing it grace the pages of trade magazines such as Domino and Architectural Digest, something tells me Margaret Russell - ever the edgy design afficianado - and the team at Elle Decor will beat them to the punch.

Be on the lookout for more innovation from Moooi. If the spaces on display at Milan Design Week 2008 are any indication, the Sofa Lamp is just the beginning.

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Tags: ceiling chester lamp leather lighting Salone sofa

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