ADA 2020. Anastassiades and Salvatori for the Designer Trophy
03.2022
With a relentless pursuit of lightness, the Cypriot designer's pencil shapes natural stone to create an object/icon
Michael Anastassiades and Salvatori’s stories give life to something inimitable every time they meet. From the monolithic silhouette of ‘Love me, Love me not‘ to the sculptural ‘The End of the Affair‘, every object created by the designer and produced by the Italian brand is a courageous attempt to explore new stylistic directions and languages.
Together, Anastassiades and Salvatori exemplify how partnerships between producers and designers are necessary for redefining the limits of design. A fruitful meeting of minds, means and hands transforms ideas into designs, materials and final products. For this reason, Archiproducts decided to create and produce the trophy that will be awarded to the winners of the 2020 Archiproducts Design Awards.
This object/icon narrates a unique relationship and encourages the creation of new stories, tracing uncharted courses based on a firm belief in the power of creativity. Without fear.
Michael Anastassiades, master of light and poet of form.
‘Ever since I started speaking, I had a pencil in my hand.’ Michael Anastassiades is a creative who needs to think constantly and translate everything around him onto paper.
If we wanted to illustrate his career- from school to military service, from his degree in Civil Engineering to a Masters in Industrial Design Engineering – it would never be with a straight line but with a series of curves that, at a certain point, ends. To become the same geometry that Anastassiades seeks to reduce to a minimum in his constant quest for the essential. Because, as he says, ‘I constantly try to remove what I don’t feel akin to‘.
He designed an award that, for the first time in the history of the ADAs, will be presented to the designers of the winning products. The object promises to be an ode to creativity that values those who experiment with materials, colors and shapes to create objects that both delight us and improve our lives. With function and beauty in perfect balance.
Salvatori, design applied to natural stone.
For Gabriele Salvatori, ‘innovation is a family heirloom‘ that permeates every aspect of the company’s production. It could not be otherwise for a brand that has established itself as a beacon for the natural stone sector, collaborating with designers like Kengo Kuma, Daniel Libeskind, Louis Vuitton and Salvatore Ferragamo.
The secret of Salvatori’s success is a winning mix of Italian know-how and the most advanced design and manufacturing technologies. The combination of craftsmanship and technique are at the service of world-famous designers with whom the brand collaborates to produce superb furnishings. Salvatori chooses its designers ‘not based on popularity, but on how they see the world around them‘.
Thus, in keeping with a philosophy that is the leitmotif of the Salvatori collections, natural stone attains new lightness. Slabs become sculptural membranes with inimitable veining. The material bends along gentle curves and is transformed into accessories and claddings while preserving its natural beauty.
Under the artistic direction of Gabriele Salvatori, author of the revolution that transformed a family-run business into an industry, Salvatori places craftsmanship at the heart of its production so that every creation becomes an object with a strong expressive and poetic charge. Inimitable.
