Daphna Laurens

Dutch duo Daphna Laurens, who worked with companies and collective exhibitions, returned to the SaloneSatellite with new evolving prototypes. #MDW2016

The educational imprint is that of the prestigious Academy in Eindhoven where Daphna Isaacs (1982) and Laurens Manders (1984) studied and graduated. In 2008 they combined their names and forces in a design studio to develop a mix of design, art and applied art. “We love the Dutch word ‘vormgever’, literally a person who gives shape. Giving shape to thoughts, objects, products and spaces is what we do.”

Daphna Laurens, lampada Cirkel Wall, SaloneSatellite 2016 — **Top:** Daphna Laurens, Cirkel Wall lamp, SaloneSatellite 2016. **Above:** Greta lamp

They came to this year’s SaloneSatellite with nine prototypes – all-black at the front of the stand – which they describe as “new, revitalised and existing”, seemingly contradictory terms indicating that they are a collection of previously developed products on which they continue to work, perfecting them and adding material variants as they search for a manufacturer. They underscore this concept on their website where the words “free to edition” appear under every product description and picture.

On the back of the large coloured wall were the colour and material options for the products brought to Milan. One of the latest is the Tre stool, consisting in three pieces of sheet metal: two folded to create a seat with seagull wings and support structure; the third unites the two for stability. This simple solution is of great impact thanks to the complementary colours adopted for the different structural elements. Some details are still at the definition stage, such as the slight hollow where it rests on the ground which will house a pad (material still to be defined) to protect the floor. The Cirkel Wall lamp is simple but delightful, the product of a formal exercise on the circle that spawned a sculptural object. Greta is an ultra-minimal sign featuring LEDs.