Get plastered...

It’s a long time after the dust has settled from the Milan Fair 2010, but there are a few trends still to make their way into our everyday design world. One trend that we at Morph are particularly keen on is getting plastered… literally. Plaster work is the area where a bit of lateral thinking can really add interest to otherwise bland expansive walls and monotonous colour schemes. We love simple modern lines, bordering on the bare minimalist, but a cheeky insertion of the missing ingredient of modern house building never goes amiss. We’re talking about ‘ornament’. In Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian properties ornamental detailing was rife: from dentil mouldings, twisted pillasters and reeded columns to simple plaster covings and ceiling roses all added texture and content. In today’s interior design, we’re shown the way to exciting plaster by companies such as Solomon & Wu, with their contemporary take on coving and ceiling rose designs, which they brought to LDF (click for link) in September. Art, as ever, leads the way in breaking conventions with luminary individuals such as Alexandre Farto-Vhils (below)

His inspiring work really translates well into interiors, with his simple use of type to make a ‘real statement’, if you’ll pardon the pun…

The introduction of texture into the vertical surfaces of rooms gives rise to endless possibilities, as explored by Caterina Tiazzoldi for ToolBox (below).

Obviously the cleaners would be kept really busy there, as with this apartment by Pascal Grasso Architectes.

Photograph by Nicolas Dorval Bory and full article at Dezeen.

I think that the best marriage of Farto-Vihls and practical interiors was in this Studio House by Studio Octopi (below), where walls are not only opened up to allow in more light and a feeling of space but also combine a practical element of shelving. Again, full article here at Dezeen.

Not only has the trend moved from art to interiors, but the baton has been taken up by product suppliers as well. One of our favourite stands at the Milan Fair had to be the new Soft Architecture by Flos. The echo of ornamental plasterwork is cleverly inverted, evolving into a new subtle way of looking at adding texture.

The insertion of what appears to be liquid plaster creating a lighting channel that projects into the space is a great way of playfully softening harsh geometric lines (below). The look is unashamedly minimal, yet soft and an almost comforting organic feel.

And it didn’t stop with our friends at Flos. We were highly impressed with these cooker hoods below. But as the Italians are quite slow at bringing show-pieces onto the UK market after Milan, these chaps shall remain nameless. This appliance would work beautifully alongside the Flos piece above…

And this hood (below) would work well with recessed lighting. As for anticipated availability on the UK market; drop us a line and we’ll start a petition!

 

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