Color Waterfall by Draga & Aurel @ Rossana Orlandi Collectible 2023 – Photo by Riccardo Gasperoni.

Design – The most abused word in design today? “SUSTAINABILITY,” says Rossana Orlandi without hesitation to Archipanic. We met her at the press preview of the Rossana Orlandi Collectible 2023 exhibition at her gallery in Via Bandello 14 [Map]. “Sustainability is just a slogan. Being responsible means being well aware of what you are designing, how you create it, how it feels, and what materials you choose. From designers, I expect responsibility, lateral thinking, and material innovation.” From here, we have picked seven projects on show at the RO Gallery until April 23.

• RELATED STORIES: Read more about Milan Design Week 2023 on Archipanic.

Gaïa collection by Altelier Öi for Rossana Orlandi Collectible 2023.

The Room of Requirement exhibition by SecondoMe Gallery in Rome is a challenge and a provocation. “Does the world really need the nth chair, bench, or table? Do we really need to produce it?” Said Claudia Pignatale, Founder and Art Director of Secondome. “We might. That is why I invited five Italian designers to create limited edition furniture designs that respond to other priorities, equally important: closure, intimacy, affection, and food for thought.” The capsule collection includes a table by Naessi Studio, a multitasking cross doubling as a hammer by Giulio Iacchetti, a cabinet by Simone Fanciullacci, and other works by Duccio Maria Gambi and Gio Tirotto. All pieces are crafted in recovered solid wood giving the collection a warm and humane feeling.

Room of Requirement exhibition by SecondoMe – Photo via IG, follow @secondomedesign and @studio_effe.

Closure and personal emotions are the keys to reading Draga and Aurel’s brimming waterfall of colors, light, and transparency, all inspired by the Lighting Boxes of artist and composer Brian Eno. Rainbow, a limited edition table (only two pieces), “arose after a time of creative suffering.” Confessed Draga Obradovich to Archipanic. “I called it Rainbow because it was like a rainbow after a storm. It’s about lightness, relief, and joy.” The Ray lamps consist of a glass and metal vertical stick with rainbow hues. “We never created lamps for Rossana Orlandi before. After a harsh time, I found comfort in these pastel tones.”

Photo by Riccardo Gasperoni.

For the Gaïa collection, Atelier Öi teamed up with Venetian glass expert WonderGlass, which is on display with the artwork Aura. Aquamarine glass vases with organic shapes welcome a light hanging from the ceiling that goes up and down thanks to a mechanical device. When the light source enters the vase, it creates poetic rippling projections around it. “Aura explores light and depth. Its incised windows appear as portals revealing the interiors of the glass form. The directional lighting elements act like rays of the sun, which penetrate and pass by the material to reveal vibrant, circular light effects.”

Gïia collection by Atelier Öi – Courtesy of Rossana Orlandi Gallery.

Italian lighting design studio Mandalaki has expanded its Halo Edition series of emotionally sculptural light compositions with a portable wireless device that allows the creation of sublime twilight-like atmospheres everywhere. Not only at home but also in all outdoor spaces, being a terrace, a garden, or a wild rock formation in the wilderness, to highlight Nature’s beauty with cutting-edge lighting design.

Mandalaki – Courtesy of Rossana Orlandi Gallery.

Atelier Öi also presents Hélicoïdale, an exquisite collection of pendant objects made of ultra-fine wood that spin when warm air created by people passing below them rises to the ceiling. At Rossana Orlandi Collectible 2023, the Swiss studio created a dynamic landscape swirling with poetry, reminding us how delicate the balance of Nature responding to every single action is.

Helicoidale by Atelier Öi – Courtesy of Rossana Orlandi gallery.

Stefan Scholten presents the Not too little, not too much exhibition featuring the Furniture Linoleum material collection by Forbo Flooring that comes with his earthy-toned and slightly desaturated colour palette. Furniture Linoleum not only looks elegant and premium but also has a very comforting and warm touch & feel and can also be used to create softly curved and organic shapes. “To demonstrate this, I designed a table and a stool. The new colour palette enhances the matt, warm natural touch of Furniture Linoleum.” Stefan Scholten told Archipanic.

Johannes Budde x SolidNature – Photo by Rossana Orlandi.

Johannes Budde presents a series of furniture made from marble off-cuts in different hues. The German designer collected the slabs in collaboration with SolidNature, joined them into a block, and then carved an exquisite series of stools and a wall desk.

Matteo Cibic ‘hugs’ Rossana Orlandi @ Rossana Orlandi Collectible 2023 – Courtesy of Rossana Orlandi gallery.