formations by Note Design Studio; Italy

During Milan Design Week 2019, Tarketthas chose to join forces with our studio to explore the creative possibilities of its new collection iQ Surface. Designed by us at Note, and supported by Magis, Formations is an exhibition that questions notions of scale, by taking architectural archetypes and turning them on their head. Owning the space of the historic Circolo Filologico Milanese, the installation is a celebration and homage to how design language can be twisted into new creative phrases.

Formations created a beautiful, peaceful environment that showed the enormous potential of iQ Surface vinyl, a brand new sustainable vinyl which we developed with Tarkett. This durable, flexible and technical material is made from recycled vinyl flooring at the end of its lifespan, creating an environmentally friendly alternative to vinyl made from virgin materials.

The totems we built stretched the technical abilities of iQ Surface to its extremes, featuring complex double curves, arches, rings and cylinders. It played with the idea of scale and perspective, offering different experiences from below and above.

What makes this project one-of-a-kind?

Repeated geometric objects balance carefully atop of round-ended columns, perhaps the greatest archetype of all, in a daring and playful construct that quite literally turns pillars in the history of architecture on their head by reinterpreting them with a contemporary twist.

The installation challenged vinyl’s association with hospitals, schools and high-traffic areas, and instead presented it as an elegant and versatile material that could be used with a great deal of creativity. The installation itself was interactive, offering important headspace to rest and relax among the hectic festival, and was sustainable – something rare among temporary and often wasteful architecture.

Formations also shows how design studios can take inspiration from a specific space, with a specific history and transform it into a powerful tool for the launch of a new collection. As one of the oldest centres for the research and study of language, Circolo Filologico Milanese was the perfect backdrop to lead architects, designers and viewers through an exercise in new forms of expression, sparking discussions around the infinite design possibilities presented by iQ Surface.

The installation became a celebration and homage to how design language can be shaped into new creative phrases. Milan Design Week is a place that enables dialogues and narratives to be developed from concepts to a final audience. It’s a starting point for new ideas, an inspirational springboard and catalyst for work to come – what better place to introduce a whole new dialect to the vinyl vernacular.

About the authors

Note is a Stockholm-based studio of design founded in 2008 working within the fields of architecture, interiors, products, graphic design and design strategy.

Creativity is about searching for what is missing, to constantly realign thoughts and expressions to find that moment of insight when everything clicks. At Note we collaborate intensely, with personal passion and our design disciplines – interior, product, graphic, architecture, and strategies – to share our insights with the world.

Note has been cultivating ideas since 2008. Over the years, the studio has evolved to encompass any and every area of design, expanding beyond buildings and interiors to include products, graphic and identity design, design strategy and just about any activity that requires a convention-busting creative approach. Idea-led and entirely non-hierarchical, the studio now comprises a team of 14 designers who pool their talents as the needs of the project – and their own curiosity – requires.

Text provided by the authors of the project.