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Arper presents 2016 collection in colour-themed installation

Milan 2016: Italian furniture company Arper has highlighted the new colours and materials within its range by styling furniture and props into single-hued scenes.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

This year's Arper exhibition was conceived by Jeannette Altherr – one of the partners at Spanish creative consultancy studio Lievore Altherr Molina – in collaboration with consultants 2x4 and stylist Stef Bakker.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

The team created a series of dioramas to display Arper's products, each focused around a single colour to suggest a scene.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

"Each vignette uses colour in a essential way: a mono-tone, but explored in rich nuances of materials. The point of departure for each vignette was actually not the colour, but always the new product within the group," Altherr told Dezeen.

"Different versions, compositions or uses were distributed along the vignettes to show a representative overview of their possibilities," she continued.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

Bakker created the final styling for each of the stages, arranging furniture and props like actors within the sets.

In each, the colour, lighting and arrangement are all intended to invoke a specific mood, such as a dark-blue nighttime scene with low lighting and illuminated stars behind.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

In another, the brand's Leaf chairs appear to be rising up towards a lemon-yellow sun painted in the background.

Other vignettes are more traditional, yet still subtly decorated with less serious details. For example, a pale-orange living room scene contains a mobile similar to pieces by sculptor Alexander Calder that seems to be shedding its copper leaves.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

"Styling and colours are ways to hold the scenes together; they act as storytellers to tell a tale that goes beyond products with the intent to emotion," said a statement from Arper.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

The installation takes cues from the updated Catifa seating collection – the company's signature product line – which has an expanded range of colour and material options.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016
The updated colour palette for Arper's Catifa seating can be applied to the seat and back of the chair independently

The new colour palette can be applied to the seat and back of the chair independently, creating a variety of combinations.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

"Considering Catifa is the heart of Arper, the new proposal for the colour scheme gradient of the Catifa collections spread to the entire communication, photography, and the vignettes," Altherr told Dezeen.

"We wanted to show how different a colour is expressed when it interacts with different materials, shapes, on print, photography, paint, from detail to background."

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

So as not to distract from the vibrant dioramas, the surrounding architecture by global creative consultants 2x4 is muted and minimal.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

The information booth is made from pale timber and the structure that surrounds the individual dioramas is veiled by thin, semi-transparent fabric.

Arper furniture exhibition design for Milan Design Week 2016

The exhibition ran from 12 to 17 April 2016 at the Arper showroom on Via Pantano in Milan, during the city's design week.

Other furniture companies also chose to focus on colour for their 2016 Milan exhibitions. At the Vitra installation, Dutch designer Hella Jongerius arranged the company's pieces by shade and Glas Italia's 2016 range featured a number of multicoloured glass items.


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