EXHIBITION
Fifty Manga Chairs by Nendo
Milan is the capital of design. The most innovative and in-vogue designers come here to launch their most recent works. Milan, however, is also the capital of architecture and classic taste. So what happens when the two meet one another?
The overlap of history and innovation always produces powerful visual impact. Especially when a Japanese designer brings his experimental installation in the heart of Brera. This is exactly what happened during the last Fuorisalone. On the occasion of Milan Design Week 2016 the Tokyo-based designer Oki Sato and his firm Nendo showcased 50 manga chairs in Chiostro Minore di San Simpliciano.
This funky collection by Nendo was a research sequence of chairs that looked like 2D abstract manga drawings made of a number of lines. Finished with mirror surface and set up on a white platform with a stunning portico as a background, the 50 chairs demonstrated their own personality.
Interestingly, each of the 50 pieces were not static objects but a movement, an emotion, a suggestion of an ongoing transformation. At least, that was the impression. Amazing! Where else would you ever see a walking, jumping, shaking, splitting, swinging chair contrasting the silent tranquility and ancient monumentality of an old Italian patio?
Maria Novozhilova
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