Emmanuel Babled will show his latest contemporary design pieces during the Design Week in Milano in September 2021
A Design Journey in Milano : from Murano to Zanzibar
Emmanuel Babled has a long work history with Murano, where he started his career in design more than 30 years ago. That legendary island is the cradle of an old-age European tradition of blown glass, where skilled craftsmen are pursuing this unique know-how. It’s on this island that Emmanuel has developed his Azoici vases collection, a series of unique glass pieces, hand-blown, in collaboration with the Italian Master Andrea Zilio.
Unique luxurious glass blown pieces
The Azoici vases collection will be exhibited during the Design Week in Milano in Palazzo Litta, from the 4th until the 10th of September. Each piece of the collection is unique and different, expressing in its own way the interaction between the plasticity of the material and the serendipity of the master blower’s movement. The matte black and grey surfaces contrast delicately with the slightly tinted transparent glass. Like magma solidified in a prehistoric geological layer. The plasticity of the material and the serendipity of the movement create that phenomenon.
More info about the Azoici collection
From an Island to another
A few months ago, Emmanuel Babled had the incredible opportunity to live a few months on Zanzibar Island, on the edge of the African continent, where he found out about local craftsmen’s furniture. From his experience over there, he drew the inspiration of creating a chairs collection, the Mziwa, which means “the tree of the lake” in Swahili. That sustainable and affordable wooden chair, made out of locally foraged branches and cow skins, is strong and, yet, light. No plastic is involved in its production. It’s suitable for private homes or public spaces. Its design remains the exact replica of the one developed by the local craftsmen, as it has proved itself in terms of robustness.
During his stay over there, Babled embarked himself into a playful experiment with Zanzibar’s craftsmen and developed with them 3 alternative models which will be displayed during the Design Week : Ziwa Chair, Zanzibar Chair and Maasai Chair, along with their Junior version for kids.
A sustainable high-end design
Showing the Azoici glasses and the Mziwa chairs during the Design Week, is not an innocent choice in Babled’s mind. It creates the opportunity to share his views on the changing role of designers in a changing world. To him, more than ever, designers need to explore sustainable ways of creating and sharing experiences rather than just making “stuff”. These humble chairs from Zanzibar and these high-end delicate glass pieces from Murano are consequently symbols of this necessary evolution.
Practical information
Location : Palazzo Litta Corsa Magenta 2420123 Milano, Italia
Dates : 04-10 September 2021
Opening hours : 0:00 to 20:00
Contact : Garance Manguin 0032 (0) 479 80 10 24 – garance@garancemanguin.com