FORMAFANTASMA
— THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
INTERVIEW
Milan-based duo Formafantasma are agents of change, investigating through exhibitions, research projects, symposia and teaching the ecological, historical, political and social forces shaping design today. In a wide-ranging interview, Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi reveal their constant questioning: Why be a designer now? What makes a difference? What is good design? What is bad design? And why you should focus on the past and the present.
But it’s not all academic research and curation – they also make things: refined, cleverly articulated lights, tiles glazed with volcanic ash, furniture from a spruce tree felled during a huge storm, each object seductive for aesthetics and storytelling.
“At the end of the day we have never been makers really, I mean, yes sure we make things, but our engagement with things and materiality is more cerebral,” says Farresin.
After working in Amsterdam for many years, they have moved to Milan, home of design and they talk about being labelled as Italian designers, their material research and methodology, and the reception of their work: “We are never commercial enough and we are never radical enough.”
Read more in Ark Journal VOLUME X.
WORDS JENI PORTER
PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHANO GALUZZI
ART DIRECTION SIGRID GRY LAURSEN
design /delight: A PLATFORM FOR CONTEMPORARY DESIGN
During Shanghai Art Week, the city’s cultural landscape was shaped by the second edition of design /delight, an emerging platform dedicated to contemporary collectible design and functional art.
SPATIAL GESTURES
The wearable objects Yuta Ishihara makes under the moniker Shihara play tricks on us. “The hardware is in focus, incorporated into the design itself,” says Ishihara.
LAKE COME DESIGN FESTIVAL 2025
The city of Como once again hosted the seventh edition of the Lake Como Design Festival, under the theme Fragments. The festival invited visitors to reflect on fragmentation not as a sign of rupture, but as a catalyst for creative rebirth, for the preservation of memory, and for a regenerative approach to design.
FORMAFANTASMA
— THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
INTERVIEW
Milan-based duo Formafantasma are agents of change, investigating through exhibitions, research projects, symposia and teaching the ecological, historical, political and social forces shaping design today. In a wide-ranging interview, Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi reveal their constant questioning: Why be a designer now? What makes a difference? What is good design? What is bad design? And why you should focus on the past and the present.
But it’s not all academic research and curation – they also make things: refined, cleverly articulated lights, tiles glazed with volcanic ash, furniture from a spruce tree felled during a huge storm, each object seductive for aesthetics and storytelling.
“At the end of the day we have never been makers really, I mean, yes sure we make things, but our engagement with things and materiality is more cerebral,” says Farresin.
After working in Amsterdam for many years, they have moved to Milan, home of design and they talk about being labelled as Italian designers, their material research and methodology, and the reception of their work: “We are never commercial enough and we are never radical enough.”
Read more in Ark Journal VOLUME X.
WORDS JENI PORTER
PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHANO GALUZZI
ART DIRECTION SIGRID GRY LAURSEN