CITY Issue 55 - (Page 56) Q&A: MARVA GRIFFIN WILSHIRE The oun e , upsta t siblin to the main fai , SaloneSatellite se ves as Milan’s sho case fo eme in desi n talent. t its helm is founde and cu ato Ma va G iffin Wilshi e, an outsize pe sonalit ( a el seen ithout ove sized je el to match), ho ields an eno mous influence on the indust . l a s on the loo out fo hat’s f esh, G iffin Wilshi e’s pic s sa a lot about he e fu nitu e desi n is headed. Fo desi ne s, the SaloneSatellite is a ca ee launchin pad. Fo fa e oe s, it’s a chance to nab b a in i hts fo fi st identif in the “ne t bi thin .” What does the SaloneSatellite add to the la ge fu nitu e fai ? Salone Inte nazionale del Mobile asked me yea s ago to c eate this event in o de to help young designe s who we e sta ting thei ca ee s. It is impo tant fo young designe s because they get in touch with fu nitu e manufactu e s and indust y; at the same time, the manufactu e s can see thei p ototypes immediately and decide to put them into p oduction. How do you select the designe s? When I sta ted c eating SaloneSatellite I was hunting young designe s f om all ove the wo ld and I did it my way. s time passed, it became mo e a job of sp eading the news about what we we e up to. We invite inte national design schools f om all ove the wo ld to pa ticipate with thei soon-to-be g aduates. Howeve , eve y yea , a e eceiving thei applications, I wo k with a selection committee fo med by design pe sonalities such as well-known inte national a chitects, fu nitu e and lighting manufactu e s, jou nalists, fu nitu e ma keting expe ts, and design cu ato s. ou celeb ated the th annive sa y last yea . How has the SaloneSatellite changed ove the yea s? SaloneSatellite has g own as a numbe of pa ticipants, mostly the young CITY 56 TY designe s, b ing ve y inte esting p ototypes to att act the indust y. e yea s of SaloneSatellite, I want to keep moving fo wa d and give mo e to these young designe s. This yea in the SaloneSatellite pavilion we will have an a ena whe e design pe sonalities will host a se ies of talks eve y day. They will speak with the young designe s. In addition, SaloneSatellite has ag eed with a numbe of fu nitu e and lighting manufactu e s to invite young designe s fo stages in thei companies, a e a ve y ca eful selection. What should we watch fo this yea ? If you’ e looking fo inte esting pieces of design, you must walk into eve y booth since eve y designe is showing inte esting pieces — of cou se, they have diffe ent tendencies. I’m not awa e of what they a e showing until the opening day. Who sta ted thei ca ee s at the SaloneSatellite? The e is a long list of young designe s that sta ted in SaloneSatellite and now have ve y successful ca ee s. That list includes Pat ick Jouin f om F ance, Rica do Bello Dias f om B azil, Matali C asset f om F ance, Satyend a Pakhalè f om India, Lo enzo Damiani f om Italy, Nendo f om Japan, and Sean oo and Co y G osse f om me ica. ou also expo ted the concept to Moscow. How has that wo ked out? We’ve un SaloneSatellite Moscow fo th ee yea s and it’s been a g eat expe ience. The winne s come to Milan to show thei p ototypes and they a e also contacted by fu nitu e manufactu e s that want to mass p oduce thei p ototypes. nd I unde stand you keep in touch with past pa ticipants. es, I do. They a e my child en. I love to know what they a e doing and how thei ca ee s a e evolving.
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