Thursday 16 July 2009

Quartermile Showflat

It's been an excellent week for Tangram as we've furnished another showflat in Quartermile's illustrious development. The living room picture shows an Air sofa from Sancal and a Zero table and Globus chairs from Stua. The lights are from Foscarini and Luceplan. These photos only show a small snapshot of the furniture so why not go along on a wet afternoon to see the showflat in it's full glory.

Friday 3 July 2009

B&B Italia

Last week Sarah visited B&B Italia with a group of Interior designers. They travelled to the north of Milan and spend two days visiting factories, viewing showrooms and eating copious amounts of fabulous food including champagne risotto and homemade apple sorbet!

At the B&B Italia factory and headquarters they we were given a really inspiring talk from Federico Busnelli the Centre of Research Director of B&B Italia. He stressed the importance of risk and innovation to B&B in their quest to always be ahead of the pack with product design and production methods. It is very important that B&B Italia is not seen as a ‘fashion’ but rather that it is on trend and has longevity and appeal for all markets.

A tour of the factory was fascinating, from the mouldings process used for upholstery products to the laser cutting of fabrics. Lunch at the Carimetto Golf Club was stunning: special risotto, followed by freshly made pasta followed by meat or fish! Then off to the Maxalto factory (the sister company of B&B who manufacture predominantly timber products). This factory is less automated and does involve far more skill and craftsmanship resulting in beautifully simple products.

The showroom is beautifully laid out and was really inspiring; it was also another opportunity to see the new products which were launched at the Salone in April. Then dinner with lots of lovely food (far too much!) and the opportunity to sit outside and soak up the warmth and atmosphere while discussing contemporary furniture – wonderful!

All in all it was a really super trip. We left Italy with a far greater knowledge of the investment and production methods of one of the best contemporary furniture manufacturers in the world. And they call this work!!!