Tools & Crafts celebrates traditional expertise at Milan Design Week 2023

Art and technology have had many fortuitous meetings in the past, and Milan Design Week is the perfect setting to encounter newer iterations of this. Yet, every new intersection of the two doesn't fail to give us something new. Tools & Crafts, at Fondazione Riccardo Catella in Milan, Italy, is yet another example of this. The design exhibition, which is part of the Isola Design District, is geared towards promoting artisans and designers who braid innovative and experimental techniques with traditional expertise to create collectable design pieces. Designers experiment with a wide variety of skills and methods from the application of AI coding and 3D printing to glass blowing, casting and moulding techniques. Each of the pieces on display captures the essence of new and modern design sensibilities brought on when traditional practices, that have been in use for centuries, are built upon by new generation designers. With 22 participating artists, the pieces on display range from examples of ceramic and textile design to handmade mirrors and furniture designs.

Manchester-based textile studio Woven Memories specialises in personalised handwoven fashion and homeware accessories. For the Isola Design Festival, designer Gina Nadal is presenting hand woven cushions, its latest homeware accessory. The designs use digital coding to integrate texts into the design of the weave itself, to create pieces of memory. 

In contrast to the functional pieces of memory by Woven Memories, Leipzig-based OODD Studio presents The Landmark series. This is a collection of three-dimensional objects made with silk organza that can, but does not have to, fulfil the requirements of a functional vessel. Clearly inspired by contemporary architecture, the pieces are reflective of elements of architectural structures translated into colourful filigree art objects. The series is in line with the OODD's affinity to colour and further explores the potential for textile craftsmanship through the reinterpretation of traditional techniques in a contemporary context.

A complete departure from the kaleidoscopic celebration of colour by OODD Studio, Naomi Remijn uses largely white textile in her 0118 lighting object collection, to bring warm luxury to interiors. The pieces fashioned out of 100 per cent non-flammable wool also lend acoustic support to spaces in addition to serving their functional and aesthetic needs.

Representing niche maker cultures is Lebanese-Armenian designer Nareg Krikorian. In collaboration with a highly skilled team of artisans in Lebanon, Krikorian creates unique handmade pieces that are bold, luxurious, and teetering on the edge of seduction. The exaggerated details of pieces with expert leather craftsmanship honour the processes and intricacies of making. 

Product designer Haeun Kim uses artificial intelligence to her advantage. Instead of being fearful of technology taking over skilled design work, she uses AI to enhance her creative ability and the quality of her designs. Her experiments with the growing technology linked to artificial intelligence gives her the freedom to ask more questions and find new opportunities to expand traditional processes of making. 

Kick Veldman, in an ultimate gesture to support sustainability, creates mirrors from waste aluminium and asks people to look at their reflections in the trash they have produced. Asking the question, "What is the true cost of reflection?” Casting Mirrors is a collection of achingly beautiful pieces that serve a physical and transcendent purpose all at once.

As Kick plays with nature and the idea of sustainability, Caspar Fisher plays with traditional ideas of a tripod and flips it on its head to create a stool called Treudd. The sustainably made multipurpose stool is unusual as it feels just at home in mobile spaces as it does in a house. Its true genius, however, lies in its material choice. Made with plywood, Treudd is a study of the possibility of producing complex shapes with more sustainable materials.

Italian artist and furniture designer Alice Crepaldi is another standout exhibitor. Drawing inspiration from her own body, whose forms and movements she is driven to capture in her work, Crepaldi creates unique pieces that often combine metal with jewel-toned glass. Her pieces use traditional techniques of Murano glassmaking but echo contemporary forms to build almost jewel-like pieces.

The selection, craft, and skill of artisans highlighted in the exhibition transcend genre, material, and geography, making it one of the more eclectic and interesting exhibits of Milan Design Week 2023. Though expertly put together, the exhibition encouraging young designers to showcase innovation through their unique processes is not limited to being a static event. It will be supported by live performances by a select few exhibitors.

The exhibition is made possible by the contribution of Regione Lombardia, and it is supported by The Netherlands consulate-general in Milan and Xpose Forpress with the set-up being realised in collaboration with Fairf providing its bio-based paint.

STIR’s coverage of Milan Design Week 2023 showcases the best exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands, and special projects to look out for. Explore Euroluce 2023 and all the design districts—5Vie Art and Design, Brera Design District, Fuorisalone, Isola Design District, Tortona District, and Milano Design District—with us.