Knoll, Inc. introduces "Tools for Life," a new collection of furniture by OMA at Salone Internazionale del Mobile.photography © Knoll

For the 54th edition of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, OMA, with Petra Blaisse-Inside/Outside, collaborates once again with furniture manufacturer Knoll, designing This is Knoll-pavilion and an exhibition celebrating the 100th birthday of Harry Bertoia. 

The pavilion at the Salone displays several of Knoll's most iconic pieces combined with a selection of more recent products. Divided into six large zones, with the previous Tools for Life collaboration at the center, the design leads the visitor through a carefully choreographed path, from past to present and from interior to exterior. The overall layout was composed together with Inside/Outside, focusing on the use of color in order to create a diverse set of atmospheres, and using as floor pattern the Monotype #75 drawing by Harry Bertoia.

"Celebrate Harry Bertoia" at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, 2015.image © Knoll

The reference to Bertoia alludes to OMA's and Inside/Outside's installation at FuoriSalone which is conceived to celebrate the designer's centennial. From the 14th until the 19th of April, an in-depth retrospective titled "Celebrate Harry Bertoia" takes place within the installation, presenting to the audience the wide variety of his work. In like manner, the floor pattern is based on Bertoia's Monotype drawings, indicating an alternating sequence of areas set aside for audio-visual material, for the display of never before exhibited work and for its contemporary re-interpretation.

"Celebrate Harry Bertoia"  at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, 2015.image © Knoll

Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan, 14 - 19 April 2015, Hall 20, Stand C01/D02

Celebrate Harry Bertoia:Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan, 14 - 19 April 2015, Showroom Knoll, Piazza Bertarelli 2

"Celebrate Harry Bertoia"  at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, 2015.image © Knoll

A primary focus of the exhibition is Bertoia's iconic Diamond Chair, which anchors the neighboring booths and supplementary material generously provided by Cecilia Bertoia. Viewed by many as the pinnacle of Bertoia's many achievements, the chair is as much a sculptural work as it is a piece of furniture. In Bertoia's own words, “If you look at those chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture. Space passes right through them.” Ever committed to the latent potential of a line, Bertoia used a wide variety of media to explore various its various instantiations, furthering his equally fundamental and modernist concern with realizing its purest expression. In this respect, the exhibition draws a continuous thread through Bertoia's entire career, culminating in the creation of the chair.

image © OMA

image © OMA

lobby of Salone Internazionale del Mobile image © Knoll

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