Virtual Design Festival

Live interview and tour with Barnaba Fornasetti as part of Virtual Design Festival

Barnaba Fornasetti revealed the Italian brand's new Milan showroom and collection with an exclusive live tour and interview as part of a VDF collaboration with Fornasetti.

Fornasetti, whose father Piero Fornasetti founded the eponymous homeware label in the 1950s, spoke to Dezeen's editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs as he walked through the showroom.

The new space, which overlooks Via Senato in the heart of Milan, has been named Fornasetti su Misura, meaning 'Fornasetti made to measure', in order to reflect the brand's history of bespoke design.

fornasetti
Fornasetti's new space will be shown in a live tour broadcast as part of Virtual Design Festival

Fornasetti Du Misura's expansive showroom houses one-off historical pieces alongside its latest collection, Unusual Living Rooms.

The new furniture range is divided into five capsule collections displayed in different living room configurations that are set against backdrops of bold, contrasting colours.

Each proposed arrangement comprises angular sofas, tables, benches and accessories emblazoned with optical illusion-like patterns and floral fabrics.

Fornasetti
The tour includes a new collection from the brand called Unusual Living Rooms

One collection is embellished with the motif of a sun with a human face – a reference to two previously unseen handwritten booklets that were recently discovered in the Fornasetti archive.

The booklets are a collection of unpublished drawings and writings by Piero Fornasetti depicting suns with a human face.

The Italian company has a legacy of playful and eccentric designs, stemming from what Barnaba Fornasetti describes as his father's "volcanic imagination".

Virtual Design Festival

Running from 15 April to 10 July 2020, Virtual Design Festival is the world’s first online design festival. It brings the architecture and design world together to celebrate the culture and commerce of our industry, and explore how it can adapt and respond to extraordinary circumstances.

To find out what's coming up at VDF, check out the schedule. For more information or to join the mailing list, email [email protected].