Tag: design

Salone del Mobile: 15 restaurants in Milan to see and try – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

The historic relationship of Milan with design it goes far beyond Furniture expo, which has become one of the reference events on the international scene. The 2024 edition – from 16 to 21 April – is awaited more than ever also because nothing makes the city so crowded and international with obvious advantages for the area. In the pavilions of Rho Fiera you will find many companies linked to the kitchen and cooking sector Fuorisalone the ateliers and shops will display new elements on the theme. The two souls come together to form the Milan Design Weekwhich has a very busy calendar of events including those related to food, both from a culinary point of view and related furnishings.

In any case, it is the best opportunity to combine business with pleasure, sitting in some place with character, where in addition to a pleasant culinary experience, the eye is satisfied by the environment. Especially since it is Milan that offers – in Italy – the greatest number of venues designed by designers and architects, often famous. Our (very personal) selection goes beyond the official Fuorisalone districts: Brera, 5 Vie (for non-Milanese it is the maze of streets in the historic center between Via Torino, Corso Magenta, Largo Cairoli, but in any case without precise boundaries), Durini, Porta Venezia and Tortona. This time we wander under the Madonnina, without setting limits, especially in an event that involves the entire city.

15 restaurants to go to during the Salone del Mobile

Hood in the kitchen: when it is mandatory and why it is better to have it – Italian Cuisine

A frequently asked question for anyone who is designing a new kitchen or renovating it is whether the hood in the kitchen is essential, as it is often considered a optional.
Our parents or grandparents didn’t have a hood in the kitchen, or if they did, it was certainly very noisy and had little ventilation. Over the years, hoods have evolved both in terms of performance and design. Let’s find out more thanks to the experts.

Houses change, hoods change

Compared to other appliances, which have evolved little over the years in terms of shapes and dimensions (think for example of washing machines or ovens), the kitchen hood is perhaps the appliance that has changed the most in history and which is adapting more to the needs of new living.

Think about it, there were once kitchens separate rooms from the rest of the house, there even existed the kitchen and the dining room (even today this solution is sometimes preferred), but it is undeniable that in recent years, with the shrinking of the average size of houses, and with other needs (fewer families and less time for cooking), kitchens have become an element integrated into the living room environments.

The new habits of contemporary living have led to having less time to cook and so kitchens have become smaller and smaller and have often been reduced to kitchenettes.
In the classic environments options open space with the living room and kitchen integrated, the aesthetic sense has become increasingly essential. From this perspective, kitchens have become increasingly integrated into the living area to the point of “disappearing” without wanting to show their function (or simply disorder), and with them the appliances, more and more often built-in, more and more often hidden .
The appliances that have most supported this evolution have been hoods, often not considered essential by users, often considered aesthetically not “up to par”. And so architects, furniture makers, but above all uninformed customers have tried to hide them or eliminate them completely.

On this topic I was lucky enough to interview those who have been designing hoods for 19 years, Fabrizio CrisàChief Design Officer of Elica, a Marche-based company that is a global leader in kitchen extraction systems, and made me think about how important it is to think about design in relation to these new habits and how to choose the right hood for us.
“Now the kitchen has become to all intents and purposes the living area of the house, while what it is generally called living has become the area entertainment with the classic sofa and TV arrangement.” Fabrizio Crisà reflects, explaining that the first question The thing to ask yourself when choosing a hood for your home is whether you need one extractor or filter hood.

Extractor hood: the characteristics

The extractor hood conveys the fumes outside the home using an exhaust pipe positioned on the wall or in a chimney. The extractor hood is equipped with grease filters.
Pro: The extractor hood is the most performing in terms of extraction functionality, as it literally throws fumes and grease out of the house and helps to eliminate odors more.
Against: thermal dispersion, in winter it sucks in hot air from the heated house.

Filter hood: the characteristics

The filter hood does not need to have an exhaust pipe to the outside. It has two filters: an anti-grease filter to absorb cooking fats and an activated carbon filter to reintroduce clean, filtered air into the home environment.
Pros: ease of positioning, not needing an external drain pipe.
Against: generally less performing in terms of suction

Plastic scraps are transformed into design furniture – Italian Cuisine

Supernovas transforms plastic waste into design objects for everyday use, starting a virtuous circle. How? Let's discover the Volta line together

Design and sustainability they go more and more hand in hand: together with production processes facilitated by new technologies, a good part of the difference is also made by the choice of reusable and recyclable materials. That's what it does Paula Cademartori, an Italian-Brazilian designer who created Supernovas, a company based in London and Milan that is committed to transforming waste into design furniture items, totally recyclable. And when the passion for one's work meets the desire to protect the environment, something creative can only be born.

The called line Time perfectly sums up this philosophy: in Italian the word time refers to the concept of architectural form, while in Portuguese it means return. Volta is a line of household items created using 100% recycled plastic (PETG) through the 3D printing technique, but the beauty is that this transformation is not definitive.

In fact, customers have the possibility to purchase, return and exchange purchased products. How does it work? PET plastic bottles are reduced into filaments, added with natural dyes and processed with one 3D printer. No other material is used: this way you can ensure that that plastic it will never go back to being a refusal, but it can still be recycled, giving life to the so-called circular design.

And this is how plastic containers and bottles are transformed into resistant vases, glove box, caskets or smartphone holders pastel colors. Even in the kitchen there can be many uses: from cutlery tray a container for popcorn to use during an evening with friends. And when you want to change, you just have to start the cycle again.

In gallery at the top you will find the products in the collection, you can get an idea of their uses and find out how many recycled plastic bottles were made.