After returning from Milan and Copenhagen, we divulge the best furniture and lighting designs this year (so far!)

The world of furniture and lighting design continues to evolve and captivate our senses, pushing boundaries and redefining aesthetics. The Tangram team were thrilled to attend two prominent events in the design industry this year – Salone del Mobile and 3daysofdesign. These showcased an impressive array of innovative creations which we are excited to share with you today. So with that said, let us embark on a journey through these design spectacles and explore the most breath-taking furniture and lighting designs that left us and other attendees in awe.

Milan’s Salone del Mobile

We start with Salone del Mobile which took place in April.  The fair is held annually in Milan, Italy, and is one of the most prestigious and influential furniture exhibitions in the world. This year, the event displayed an exquisite collection of pieces that seamlessly blended form, function, and artistic expression.

Many of our manufacturers attended the fair and it was wonderful to see so many of their new designs in the flesh. Below we highlight some of the best designs we spotted at this year’s fair! Chosen for their originality, functionality or versatility see our top five designs from some of our manufacturers below.

Featured Design: Alvea Sideboard – Living Divani

Featured Design: Circa Swivel Chair – Bensen

Featured Design: Track Sofa – Artifort

Featured Design: OTO Sideboard – Mattiazzi

Featured Design: Oblique Rug – nanimarquina

Sensational Showrooms

In addition to the main fair, we also visited our manufacturers showrooms around the city. There was a real buzz in the air and it was utterly inspirational to see how these gorgeous showrooms showcased their latest designs.

We started with the renowned and wonderful B&B Italia. Their latest collections featured heavily on the current 70s trend with bold and organic designs.

Featured Designs: Tortello Sofa and Lemante Small Tables – B&B Italia

Featured Design: Dambo Sofa – B&B Italia

Next we visited Rimadesio, a brand we have worked with for many years now and whose elegant designs continue to wow us. Their latest collection, Rialto, was a particular favourite. The range features a console, three coffee tables, a sideboard and bar cabinet – many of which are readily available from stock!

Featured Design: Rialto Coffee Tables

Featured Design: Rialto Sideboard

Danish manufacturer GUBI had a space not to be missed! In fact, we imagine people will still be talking about it for months to come as the brand took over the iconic Bagni Misteriosi to stage their exquisite collection. The setting perfectly celebrated GUBI’s current alfresco theme – the brand has recently launched new additions of some of their most successful designs within their collection to now be suitable for the outdoors. For example, the Pacha chair and Initial Chair, both of which were beautifully displayed in the gorgeous terrace area of the space. There is no doubt these will be just as successful as their indoor siblings!

Featured Designs: Pacha Outdoor Lounge Chair and Initial Outdoor Lounge Chair

Similarly to GUBI, we also spotted new additions of other familiar favourites, for example at the Poltrona Frau showroom. The Archibald is a lounge chair we have specified in many projects over the years and thus it was with great pleasure to see the new Archibald sofa in a gorgeous boucle fabric.

Featured Design: Archibald Sofa – Poltrona Frau

The Duo sofa was also amongst our highlights at Poltrona Frau. This new design is modern, curvaceous and inviting. Duo also offers all sorts of design possibilities to suit many spaces and environments.

Featured Design: Duo Sofa – Poltrona Frau

Kasthall is a Swedish rug manufacturer and a brand that we cannot rave enough about. The collection encompasses high quality woven and hand-tufted rugs and carpets. Their latest design, Tegal, from David Chipperfield was a real highlight of ours as we loved the story behind the design. Chipperfield drew inspiration from the weathered bricks at the Kasthall HQ and factory building. The designer translated the beautiful colours of these aged bricks into three rug variations. The dusky colour blocks within the rugs are layered and this creates gorgeous depth and texture. So clever and so beautiful!

Featured Design: Tegal Rug – Kasthall

Spanish lighting manufacturer Marset was another of our manufacturers that we took great joy in visiting. Their pieces fuse together innovation and beauty and we were therefore excited to see what would be released next.

With portable lights becoming ever more popular, we are positive the latest design, Sips, from Marset will flourish in the design world. Designed specifically for culinary and leisure spaces, Sips is an ingenious light that illuminates without dazzling or overpowering the space.

Featured Design: Sips Portable Light – Marset

In addition, we simply adored Marset’s latest table lamp Fragile. This extraordinary design comprises a mix of balancing geometrical shapes – cones, cylinders and spheres made from glass. Completely unique yet somehow familiar, Fragile is a stunning design.

Featured Design: Fragile Table Light – Marset

Next up was German manufacturer Walter Knoll, and boy did this brand not disappoint! The showroom was beautifully decorated with brightly coloured, draping flowers and fauna which perfectly complemented their latest pieces. Most noteworthy was the Maaru Sofa and Temno Table. We could have quite happily spent all day admiring the collections – old and new alike!

Featured Design: Maaru Sofa – Walter Knoll

Featured Design: Temno Table – Walter Knoll

Our final stop was at the new Andreu World showroom which has been beautifully designed by Patricia Urquiola. This Spanish furniture manufacturer is widely recognised for their innovative and sustainable designs and this year we were delighted to visit their gorgeous space and witness their most recent design by Urquiola. This was particularly special as the product has still not been officially launched. Despite this however, it has already won various design awards! Bolete BIO is undeniably going to have a huge impact on the design world.

Featured Design: Bolete Lounge BIO Collection – Andreu World

Best of Salone del Mobile

Salone del Mobile 2023 captured the ever-evolving world of furniture and lighting design and we were delighted to witness so many new and beautiful products. We hope you have enjoyed reading about our highlights and what we believe to be some of the best designs. To find out about our visit to Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesings and discover more of the best furniture and lighting designs of 2023, click here.

If you have questions about any of the products we have shared or would like design advice, please get in touch!

0131 556 6551 / [email protected]