ABET LAMINATI
AND KARIM RASHID
PRESENT
“KASA DIGITALIA”
Triennale di Milano,
International Furniture
Exhibition
16 - 21 April 08
ABET LAMINATI is glad to present to the whole
public of the International Furniture Exhibition 2008
“Kasa Digitalia”, realized with the precious collaboration of De Rosso, based on Karim Rashid design.
A new series of bright shades and decor characterises KASA DIGITALIA. An exceptional event which
represents a new step in the exciting adventure of
ABET LAMINATI in the fields of Italian and international design.
ABET LAMINATI AND
KARIM RASHID PRESENT
“KASA DIGITALIA”
Triennale di Milano,
International Furniture Exhibition
16th/21st April 2008
ABET LAMINATI is glad to present to the whole public of the International Furniture Exhibition
2008 “Kasa Digitalia”, realized with the precious
collaboration of De Rosso, based on Karim Rashid
design. A new series of bright shades and decor
characterises KASA DIGITALIA. An exceptional
event which represents a new step in the exciting
adventure of ABET LAMINATI in the fields of Italian
and international design.
Press meeting with Karim Rashid: 17th April at 6 pm at
our stand on the ground floor of the Triennale.
On the 16th April 2008 at the Triennale of Milan
“Kasa Digitalia” will open to the public and to the
press, an event arranged by ABET LAMINATI with
the precious collaboration of De Rosso, partner
specialized in furnishing. A new series of bright
shades and decor characterises KASA DIGITALIA:
a technological domestic environment, unique and
exciting, entirely covered by our laminates printed
with digital print technology and mounted in collaboration with De Rosso. Karim will meet the public
and the national and international press on 17th April
at 6 pm at our stand on the ground floor of the
Triennale.
Over the last 50 years ABET LAMINATI has become one of the world most prestigious and important realities of the Made in Italy thanks to the
collaboration with the most important designers
and architects of the world, from Ettore Sottsass
to Alessandro Mendini up to the present collaboration with Karim Rashid. Karim Rashid, graduated in
Industrial Design at Carleton University in Ottawa,
has become a global leading figure of interior design.
Rashid has a functional approach to design: he pays
great attention to the contest where the objects
are used daily. Among his best works we can find
the chair “Oh Chair” which is considered one of the
most remarkable work in international design.
Karim Rashid has been awarded several times for
his works; a perennial winner of the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design award, I.D. Magazine Annual
Design Review and Red Dot Award, Karim was
also honored early in his career with the prestigious
Daimler Chrysler Design Award, and the Brooklyn
Museum Young Designer of the Year Award.
Recently he received the International Furnishings
and Design Association Circle of Excellence Award
for Industrial Design and Pratt Legend Award. His
work is in the permanent collections of the most
important museums worldwide, including MoMa in
New York.
The constant cooperation between ABET LAMINATI
and the most important designers all over the world
allowed to work on the image of the laminate
through the research of patterns and surfaces able
to transform its aesthetic aspect.
Thanks to these efforts the laminate has gradually
acquired its own identity and a new and different
image. In 1987 ABET LAMINATI was awarded the
Compasso d‘Oro for Diafos, the first transparent
laminate with three-dimensional decoration.
To publicise its image, ABET LAMINATI organised
“Material Lights“, an itinerant exhibition presenting
a series of luminous objects made of Diafos and
conceived by a group of designers coordinated by
Ettore Sottsass.
The new millennium saw the Company more and
more addressed to the research of high quality,
innovative techniques, more and more refined
products, able to issue a winning challenge within
the complicated industrial landscape.
A constant search for new opportunities and the
urge to develop new products is behind Digital
Print, a new technique in the world of HPL, applying
four-colour inkjet printing to the creation of decors.
Digital Print allows to obtain extremely fine tones
and shades with a very high print quality.
Designers and Graphic Artists can now truly unleash their creativity and broaden their planning possibilities. The constant contribution made by ABET
LAMINATI to the Italian and international design
reaches its peak with this unique event at the Triennale in Milan on the occasion of the Fuori Salone
del Mobile.
For any further information
or to ask for press releases
please contact
ABET LAMINATI Press Office
c/o DEMETRA – Communication in Architecture
T 0039 0341 271900 – F 0039 0341 353776
press1@demetraweb.it
Press Office Manager: Francesca Losi
Press Office Assistants: Laura Sala, Giovanna Gilardi
ALESSANDRO
MENDINI
“
It is quite clear to me Karim Rashid’s decision to
base this work of his for ABET LAMINATI at the
Triennale di Milano on the shape of the hexagon.
In this exhibition he seems to give a direct, almost
diagrammatic demonstration of the way he works,
of the methodology that underlines his visions and
his research. The hexagon expresses a kaleidoscopic
and cabalistic symbol; it is at the same time a closed and an open figure, the systems of concentric
hexagons condense and dilate to infinity.
To apply to this geometric, perspective and dynamic
shape the “catalogue” of his styles and colours is for
Rashid a way to put forth a world generated and
defined completely from within.
A self-referential invention. It is a visual globe with
a high concentration of energy, developed on a
weave of multiple expressive alphabets. These
spaces in the Triennale therefore, even if they
schematically define the functions and presence of real objects, are in reality linguistic gardens,
aesthetic landscapes all centred on the hypnotic
strength of the hexagon that has generated them.
The material that they are made from is the digitally printed ABET LAMINATI laminate, a technical idea which seems specifically designed to
lend itself to vir tuosity and pictorial games of this
kind. Karim understands the material fully; he exasperates and takes to their limits all the possible
combinations.
A further example in this project of the obsessive
need of Rashid to generate utopian visions which,
with their cosmetic aptitude, are able to invade all
possible spaces, places and surfaces with a weave
both optical and psychedelic, of great psychic suggestion. The desire, the violence, the generosity and
the narcissism to fill with his signs every small and
large element of the universe.
Alessandro Mendini
March 2008
”
ABET LAMINATI
ABET LAMINATI is one of the leading producers
of high pressure laminate worldwide. Founded in
1957 and has developed very quickly.
The prestigious awards obtained in the last few years,
such as Compasso D’oro thanks to the Diafos in 1987,
the European Design Award in 1990 and the Compasso d’Oro for the carrier in 2001, attest the goals
the company reached. Its commercial network is wide:
7 offices and 13 commercial subsidiaries in Italy and
agents in over 90 countries.
In spite of its extraordinary ability to project itself
on international markets, to cross boundaries and
speak many languages, our Company still belongs to
this lively, proud and industrious Italian province.
Far from being a simple quirk, this admission of
“provincialism” represents a peculiar feature of
the Company’s personality, which has been able
to face experiences and spurs coming from the
most progressive cultural realities in the world with
simplicity and self-confidence. The constant cooperation with architects and designers all over the
world allowed to work on the image of the laminate,
through the research of patterns and surfaces able to
transform its aesthetic aspect.
Thanks to these efforts the laminate has gradually
acquired its own identity and a new and different
image. The R&D Centre of ABET LAMINATI is
constantly planning new products, developing innovative features for its materials, decors and finishes.
A constant search for new opportunities and the
urge to develop new products is behind DigitalPrint, a new technique in the world of HPL, applying
four-colour inkjet printing to the creation of decors.
Digital print allows to obtain extremely fine tones
and shades with a very high print quality.
Designers and Graphic Artists can now truly unleash
their creativity and broaden their planning possibilities.
The constant cooperation with the word of design,
reaches its climax with this great event at the Triennale di Milan, during the International Furniture
Exhibition 2008.
KARIM RASHID
Karim Rashid is a leading figure in the fields of product and interior design, furniture, lighting and art.
Working with an impressive array of clients over the
years including Alessi, Umbra, Prada, Issey Miyake,
and Method, Karim has infused consumer culture
with his signature Sensual Minimalism.
To date Karim has had some 2500 objects put into
production. Successes such as the Dirt Devil Kone,
Umbra Garbo, and Method Home designs illustrate
Karim’s ethos of affordable, democratic design for
the masses.
Karim’s language has graced all aspects of life from
furniture to cosmetics, artwork to architecture. His
award winning interior work includes the Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia and Semiramis hotel in
Athens as well as many retail stores and restaurants
world wide. A perennial winner of the Chicago
Athenaeum Good Design award, I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review and Red Dot Award, Karim was
also honored early in his career with the prestigious Daimler Chrysler Design Award, and the Brooklyn Museum Young Designer of the Year Award.
Recently he received the International Furnishings
and Design Association Circle of Excellence Award
for Industrial Design and Pratt Legend Award. His
work is in the permanent collections of 15 Museums worldwide including MoMA and San Francisco MoMA and he exhibits art in various galleries.
Pulling from 10 years experience as an associate
Professor of Industrial design at the Rhode Island
School of Design and Pratt Institute, Karim is now
a frequent guest lecturer at universities and conferences globally.
Karim has published his guide to living ‘Design Your
Self ’ from Regan Books, ‘Digipop’, a digital exploration of computer graphics (Taschen 2005), a portfolio book published by Chronicle Books (2004), as
well as two monographs titled ‘Evolution’ (Universe,
2004) and ‘I Want to Change the World’ (Rizzoli,
2001). He edited the International Design Yearbook
18 for Calmann and King in 2003 and released two
CD’s on boutique label, Neverstop.
DE ROSSO is a young company with innovative
ideas. The company is situated in a number of antique
buildings that have been restored.
Founded in the 1980s, the company was conceived
by Roberto De Rosso.
The factories comprise 20.000 sqm of production
facilities: a dedicated production department that
specialises in laminates, another one for metalworking,
a third that handles upholstery fabrics and a fourth
area in charge of detailing and finishing.
The result is a complete and flexible furnishing
program, which is suitable for every room of the
house but also for offices or shops. De Rosso uses
only high quality materials which allow to obtain
products in more than 200 colours and finishes;
an extremely wide range of laminates and P.V.C. is
available.
De Rosso designs and builds furnishing projects for
every possible kind of setting: whether it’s a house (a
kitchen, living room or bedroom), an office, a shop
or a public space. All De Rosso products are made
to order right down to the millimetre, based on the
customer’s furnishing project, with virtually limitless
possibilities of form and colour.
De Rosso is certified by several quality institutes as
complying with ISO 9001:2000 standards.
De Rosso has earned ISO 14001:96 environmental
certification, which show how attention to environmental friendliness lies at the heart of the company’s
industrial philosophy.