Art made up of material and colour

Creativity finds a home in the heart of Brera

During Milan Design Week 2023, an apartment in the heart of historical Milan housed the creativity of Coem, a very particular exhibition, ‘The Art of Tiles’, which captivated numerous Italian and international visitors. A space in total Milanese style, in the Brera district, became the ideal scene for hosting a new ceramic narrative made up of light, material vibrations and colour, designed by Alessandro Pasinelli Studio for the Fiorano-based company. A tactile and visual experience that led us from room to room in the discovery of dreamlike and cocooned spaces, crossed by curtains and soft fabrics that, like a soft “skin”, surrounded and highlighted the three-dimensional volumes covered with the new ceramic surfaces. Alessandro Pasinelli, the founder of the firm of the same name, created and curated the entire event, but not only; he has also designed a new collection for Coem, which expresses all-Italian elegance and aesthetics: ‘Moiré’.
Alessandro Pasinelli began studying fashion and design in Milan. In 2004 he opened his own multi-disciplinary Design Studio, dealing with design, interiors, styling and art direction, and collaborates with a multi-tasking team able to offer different creative solutions. We have seized this unmissable opportunity to ask him more about ‘The Art of Tiles’ and his new collection which will definitely leave its mark on the world of interior design.

LifeTiles: How did the collaboration with Coem come about and what characterises it?

A.Pasinelli: It arose out of the wish of both parties to work on a new and stimulating journey for the company, which started with COEM and FIORANESE’s stand projects in last years’ Cersaie in Bologna. It’s a gradual process, with the aim of giving the two brands a recognisable spirit and DNA. It’s a complex and demanding but, at the same time, exciting challenge.

LifeTiles: In what way has ‘The Art of Tiles’ exhibition been an immersive experience for the visitor? What concept defined the set-up?

A.Pasinelli: A prestigious apartment in the heart of Brera was chosen, in which Fuorisalone has its highest creative expression, especially with relation to materials. Inside, we created a tactile, visual and auditory itinerary, divided into small sensorial experiences. Every room was fully covered by soft textiles which, like a second soft “skin”, surrounded and highlighted the volumes covered with the ‘Moiré’ and ‘Italian Landscape’ collections. The aim of the installation was to give the visitor a unique experience, in which they entered completely, remaining enveloped and captured by the material, by the videos and by the sounds, in which the ceramic surfaces were co-protagonists and deliberately not the centre of attention.

LifeTiles: What vision guided the interpretation of ‘The Art of Tiles’ from a visual, design and architectural point of view?

A.Pasinelli: It’s a completely new scenario, away from the trade fair setting which, instead, has a completely different public and goals. This needs to be underlined because the impact is very different. We started by carrying out a screening of what were currently the most interesting installations from an artistic and design point of view, and we were positively struck by the latest personal exhibitions of Ólafur Eliasson at Palazzo Strozzi in Firenze and at Castello di Rivoli which we visited. This enabled us to immediately define guidelines which were then developed with the material and space that we had available.

LifeTiles: What does taking part in the Fuorisalone mean in 2023 for those operating in the world of interior design like Coem?

A.Pasinelli: We were both (and still are) convinced that the moment was right to present ourselves to the general public of the Salone del Mobile, and we wanted to do it to the best of our abilities. This meant interfacing with leading designers and architects working in the field of international renovations and, most of all, interior designers who in Milan are looking for inspiration for future projects.

LifeTiles: Colour, gesture and design are the common themes of the ‘Moiré’ presentation. What is the inspiration of this so refined and, at the same time, modern collection?

A.Pasinelli: What was once in the graphics industry considered as a defect, that is, the unwanted appearance of shaded streaks. We, in fact, made it become the added value of the collection. Deciding together to present it only in large format allowed us to highlight it further, since the maximum expression of ‘Moiré’ is obtained by covering large floors or wall spaces. The word ‘infinite’ is another key word that I like to associate with this collection, because the juxtaposed lines lead to designs that are in most cases unreal and unlimited.

‘Moiré’ is a collection that amazes, thanks to its finishes, and which makes it possible to work on the development of design spaces in flexible ways with a high aesthetic impact. Next month we will find out how to best use one of the major new ideas of Salone del Mobile 2023.