marni brings animal house to life at milan design week 2014

marni brings the animal house to life at milan design week 2014
image © designboom

during milan design week 2014 marni presented ‘animal house’, bringing the ex-home of the italian city’s historical café atlantique to life with a festive caravan of seating objects and animals including: donkeys, ducks, flamingos, giraffes, ostriches and rabbits.

donkeys are rendered in bright yellow and orange
image © designboom

the collection of furniture and sculptural pieces are a continuation of the fashion brand’s charitable initiatives, in which they have collaborated with a group of colombian women to realize the handmade designs which are made from metal frameworks, each one unique, tailored by brightly colored PVC.

installation view of ‘animal house’
image © designboom

the leitmotif of this year’s project is ‘asymmetry’, generating spatial figures, potentially infinite through the use of multiple shapes. on show were traditional chairs with armrests, while others only had one set either to the left or right; alongside low tables, benches, rocking chairs and chaise lounges to make things complete, creating different compositions both in form, color and pattern.

a flock of ducks marches forth
image © designboom

the freedom of being able to select different arrangements are characteristic of this limited edition series, also mirrored in marni’s ready-to-wear and accessories collections, where each combination is individual. this notion of no limits, reflects a positive outlook, expressing marni’s continuous growth and evolution as it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

giraffes stand tall in green and orange
image © designboom

having worked on previous editions in colombia – see designboom’s coverage of their 100 chairs made by colombian ex-prisoners here – marni’s 2014 project was entirely handcrafted by women in the south american country who gained independence and emancipation through their work. ‘animal house’ reaffirms marni’s social conscience, with all revenues from the sales of the collection going towards the associazione sogni onlus, an orgnization helping terminally ill children.

ducks, donkeys and giraffes enter the exhibition space
image © designboom

the development of ‘animal house’ can be found through marni’s online magazine anticamera, providing an insightful narrative of the women who contributed to the body of work, documented by photographer and video maker mauricio rivera.

image © designboom