PRESS KIT’ 2018 Curated by experimentadesign 3 STOW IT, BY JAMES IRVINE, INCLUDED IN AMORIM’S MATERIA COLLECTION JAMES IRVINE ACOUSTIC SHELF AGGLOMERATED CORK 550x350x150 MM REINVENTING THE SHELF WOULD NEVER BE AN EASY TASK. DOING IT WITH CORK AND WITH A MODULAR APPROACH WAS EVEN MORE CHALLENGING. ‘STOW IT’ MUST BE USEFUL AND DISCREET AND COMBINES CONTEM- PORARY DESIGN WITH PURE FUNCTIONALITY. DOWN TO THE FINEST DETAIL. IN ADDITION TO SUPPORTING OBJECTS, THE SHELF ALSO HAS AN ACOUSTIC FUNCTION. IT REDUCES NOISE IN MEETING ROOMS OR EMPTIER ROOMS. AS A SINGLE SHELF OR A SET OF SHELVES, ‘STOW IT’ ALWAYS FITS IN WELL. THE OBJECTS WE USE IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON APPEARANCES, ROUTINES AND CAN GENERATE HIDDEN INERTIAS. WE OFTEN DON’T REALISE HOW SUCH OBJECTS COULD BE MUCH BETTER IF WE PAID THEM A LITTLE BIT OF ATTENTION. WITH ‘STOW IT’ WE DON’T TAKE THAT RISK. IT WILL NEVER GO UNNOTICED. JAMES IRVINE BORN IN LONDON, JAMES IRVINE GRADUATED IN 1984 FROM THE HIS DESIGN STUDIO IN MILAN HAS WORKED AND WORKS WITH VAR- ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, LONDON. IOUS INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED COMPANIES INCLUDING ALIAS, IN THE SAME YEAR HE MOVED TO MILAN. ARPER, ARTEMIDE, B&B ITALIA, CANON, MAGIS, MDF ITALIA, MERCEDES BENZ, MUJI, OLIVARI, OLIVETTI, OFFECCT, PHAIDON, THONET, WMF FROM 1984 TO 1992, HE WAS A DESIGN CONSULTANT FOR OLIVETTI AND ZUMTOBEL. DESIGN STUDIO MILAN, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MICHELE DE LUCCHI AND ETTORE SOTTSASS. TODAY, STUDIO IRVINE IS RUN BY HIS PARTNER MARIALAURA ROSSIELLO IRVINE AND NOW, AS IN THE PAST, IS ALWAYS READY TO IN 1987 HE WORKED FOR ONE YEAR AT THE TOSHIBA DESIGN CENTRE TAKE UP NEW CHALLENGES. IN TOKYO. HE RETURNED TO MILAN IN 1988 AND OPENED HIS PRIVATE DESIGN STUDIO. HIS FIRST CLIENTS WERE CAPPELLINI AND SCP. FROM 1993 TO 1997, IN PARALLEL TO HIS PRIVATE STUDIO, HE WAS A www.studio-irvine.com PARTNER OF SOTTSASS ASSOCIATI, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STUDIO’S INDUSTRIAL DESIGN GROUP. IN 2004 HE WAS THE GUEST OF HONOUR AT THE DESIGN BIENNALE, INTERIEUR, IN KORTRIJK AND WAS ALSO ELECTED ROYAL DESIGNER FOR INDUSTRY BY THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS, IN LONDON. IN 2007 HE WAS AWARDED AN HONORARY DOCTORATE IN DESIGN FROM KINGSTON UNIVERSITY. 5 PRESS RELEASE THE NEW ITEM IN THE MATERIA COLLECTION REINVENTS THE CON- IRVINE: “CORK IS A MULTIFACETED MATERIAL THAT HAS A GREAT DEAL CEPT OF A MODULAR CORK SHELF. STOW IT WAS DESIGNED BY THE TO OFFER IN TERMS OF QUALITY. IN ADDITION TO ITS FUNCTIONAL- RENOWNED BRITISH DESIGNER JAMES IRVINE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF ITY, CORK IS A SOFT RAW MATERIAL AND VERY PLEASANT TO THE THE METAMORPHOSIS PROJECT, WHICH HAS NOW BEEN ADAPTED BY TOUCH,” ADDING: “STOW IT TAKES CARE OF OBJECTS: IT’S SOFT AND THE STUDIO IRVINE FOR THE MATERIA COLLECTION. HAS A VERY PLEASANT AROMA”. LAUNCHED IN 2011, MATERIA IS A COLLECTION CURATED BY EX- STOW IT IS A USEFUL AND DISCREET ITEM THAT COMBINES CONTEM- PERIMENTADESIGN FOR CORTICEIRA AMORIM, CONSTITUTED BY PORARY DESIGN WITH PURE FUNCTIONALITY DOWN TO THE SMALLEST GROUND-BREAKING CORK OBJECTS FOR EVERYDAY LIFE - THAT DETAIL. GIVEN CORK’S ELASTIC MEMORY, STOW IT CAN ALSO BE USED COMBINE FUNCTIONALITY AND PERSONALITY - DESIGNED TO GROW AS AN ORIGINAL MEMOBOARD. AND GRADUALLY ADAPT TO MARKET EXPECTATIONS. DEVELOPED AS PART OF THE METAMORPHOSIS PROJECT, STOW IT AFTER THE LAUNCH IN 2016 OF TIPSY, AN IRREVERENT WINE BOTTLE WAS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED AS AN ACOUSTIC SHELF, WITH CORK HOLDER, DEVELOPED BY KEIJI TAKEUCHI (JP), STOW IT IS NOW TAKING CONCEIVED AS AN ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENT, ON THE BASIS OF ITS THE MARKET BY SURPRISE. STOW IT IS A CORK-BASED MULTI-FUNC- CHARACTERISTICS: THERMAL AND ACOUSTIC INSULATION, 100% NAT- TIONAL WALL SHELF, WHICH CAN BE USED – AS A SINGLE UNIT URAL AND BIODEGRADABLE, ABRASION- AND FIRE-RESISTANT. OR COMBINED WITH OTHER UNITS - TO ACCOMMODATE VARIOUS OBJECTS, SUCH AS A BOOK, TABLET OR COMPUTER. STOW IT ALSO AFTER THE CHALLENGE LAUNCHED BY CORTICEIRA AMORIM TO REDUCES NOISE IN MEETING ROOMS OR EMPTY SPACES. STUDIO IRVINE, “STOW IT EVOLVED ALSO TO A USEFUL AND PORTA- BLE SHELF, KEEPING ITS PERSONALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS - AN IN THE OPINION OF MARIALAURA ROSSIELLO, WHO RUNS STUDIO EVERYDAY, MULTIFUNCTIONAL OBJECT THAT IS PERFECTLY ALIGNED WITH THE CONCEPT OF THE MATERIA COLLECTION. STOW IT IS THE SECOND ITEM OF THE MATERIA COLLECTION DE- SIGNED BY JAMES IRVINE. WITH SIX, JAMES IRVINE REINFORCED THE COLLECTION’S LINK TO THE WORLD OF WINE, BY DESIGNING A FAN- TASTIC BOTTLE HOLDER OR MINI WINE CELLAR, WITH A CAPACITY FOR HOLDING SIX BOTTLES. STOW IT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE FROM JANUARY IN MUSEUMS, INTERIOR DESIGN AND FURNITURE STORES, AND DIGITAL PLATFORMS, WITH A RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE OF € 120. 7 MATERIA. CORK BY AMORIM PRESENTATION MATERIA® IS A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS THAT WORK WELL AND FEEL THEY FIT NEATLY INTO A LITTLE VACANT SPOT IN YOUR LIFE, LEFT GOOD IN TODAY’S HOMES AND LIFESTYLES. LIGHT-HEARTED AND THERE BY AN ACTION WAITING TO HAPPEN, A PURPOSE ABOUT TO LIGHT -WEIGHT, RELEVANT YET UNASSUMING, EASY GO ING AND TAC- BE FULFILLED. TILE, THESE OBJECTS WILL INTE GRATE SEAMLESSLY INTO YOUR DAILY LIFE AND HABITAT, AS NATURAL, REFRESHINGLY UNCOMPLI CATED AND USER AND FUNCTIONWISE INTUITIVE, THEY WILL FIND THEIR WAY INTO WITTY ANSWERS TO SIMPLE, UNIVER SAL NEEDS. YOUR HOME AND OFFICE, THE PREDICTABLE AND THE UNEXPECTED OF EVE RYDAY. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CORK’S ABSOLUTELY CHARACTERISTICS, MATERIA® IS A LINE OF CON TEMPORARY, EVERYDAY OBJECTS IMBUED CURATED BY EXPERIMENTADESIGN, MATERIA® PRE SENTS 14 PROJECTS WITH A STRONG DESIGN CHARACTER. IN TOTAL OF 25 OBJECTS BY 12 DESIGNERS. 9 TIMELINE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT 2018 2011 JAN 5 MAY LAUNCH OF STOW IT, AN ACOUSTIC SHELF, BY JAMES PRESENTATION AT LISBON IRVINE (UK) 13 / 17 ABR 2016 PRESENTATION AT MILAN (PREVIEW 12 APR ) 12 / 16 FEB LAUNCH OF TIPSY. AN INDIVIVUAL WINE BOTTLE STAND. BY 14 / 16 MAR KEIJI TAKEUCHI (JP) VISIT TO MONTADO 2015 JAN / APR OCT CREATION OF GRAPHIC AND COMMUNICATION MATERIALS LAUNCH OF SIX. A BOTTLE CARRIER BY JAMES IRVINE (UK) JAN / MAR PROTOTYPES DEVELOPMENT 2010 2009 OCT NOV PRESENTATION TO CORTICEIRA AMORIM EXPERIMENTADESIGN STRATEGIC PROPOSAL IS PRESENTED TO CORTICEIRA AMORIM FEB / SEP IMAGE AND LOGO DEVELOPMENT 2008 CORTICEIRA AMORIM CHALLENGES EXPERIMENTADESIGN MAY / JUL PROPOSALS SELECTION BY ARTISTIC DIRECTION APR PROPOSALS RECEPTION FEB INVITATION TO THE DESIGNERS 25 FEB: CONTRACTS SIGNATURE JAN INVITATION TO FILIPE ALARCAO 11 THE CHALLENGE AND STRATEGIC GUIDELINES CORK ENJOYS AN EXCELLENT REPUTATION IN SPECIFIC, HIGH-PER- THE STRATEGY BEHIND MATERIA” WAS THEREFORE GEARED TO THE FORMANCE FIELDS SUCH AS CONSTRUCTION, THE WINE INDUSTRY END USER OR CONSUMER. ITS HUMAN-CENTRIC CHARACTER IS A VI- AND AERO SPACE, AMONG OTHERS. TAL PART OF ITS DNA. STRATEGICALLY, EXPERIMENTADESIGN INVITED DESIGNERS WHOSE CREATIVE PROCESS PAYS CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE CHALLENGE FOR THE CURRENT PROJECT WAS TO BRIDGE THE BOTH FUNCTIONALITY AND RELEVANCE (A FOREMOST CONCERN FOR GAP BETWEEN THE MATERIAL AND THE END USER, BY CREATING CONTEMPORARY USERS). OBJECTS TO BE USED EVERYDAY, IN THE FAMILIAR CONTEXTS OF THE HOME AND IN THE OFFICE. BY MAKING CORK A REGULAR PRESENCE COUPLED WITH CONSIDERING THE DESIGN ADDED VALUE, LEVER- IN OBJECTS THAT FULFILL SIMPLE YET PRESSING NEEDS IN OUR LIVES, AGING CORK’S UNIQUE AESTHETIC AND TECHNICAL STRENGTHS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO EMPHASIZE NOT ONLY ITS VERSATIL ITY AND OTHER MATERIA® WAS CON CEIVED WITH AN URBAN USER IN MIND, ONE THAT PROPERTIES, BUT ALSO TO CHANGE THE AUDIENCE’S PERCEPTION OF APPRECIATES COMFORT AND PRACTICALITY IN OBJECTS THAT RETAIN THIS NATURAL RAW MATERIAL. A STRONG PERSONAL TRAITS AND SENSE OF IDENTITY. AS SUCH MA- TERIA® WAS STRATEGICALLY SHAPED, BY TWO PRI MARY CONCERNS: CORK MUST CONTINUE TO OPERATE IN A MARKET CHARACTERISED FUNCTIONALITY AND PERSON ALITY, GEARED TOWARDS GIVING THE BY EXCELLENCE, AND MUST SUR PRISE ITS TARGET AUDIENCE WITH ITS USER A SATISFYING, THOROUGHLY ENJOY ABLE EXPERI ENCE. NATURAL QUALITIES AS WELL AS THE VARIETY OF THE PRODUCTS IN WHICH IT CAN BE USED. THE CONCEPT IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A STRONG SENSE OF IDEN TITY IN THIS VALUES SUCH AS EMPATHY, DISCOVERY, WIT, WARMTH, SURPRISE COLLECTION, A NUMBER OF ASPECTS WERE ESTABLISHED AS THE ARE KEY; GROUNDWORK FROM WHENCE DESIGNERS COULD PURSUE THEIR OWN CONCEPTS: THEY SEEK TO APPEAL TO THE DIFFERENT SENS ES, INCLUDING TOUCH, AND BY THE SAME TOKEN PROVIDE A SENSORY-RICH EX- THE CORE MATERIAL OF THE PRODUCTS IS CORK. SOMETIMES COM- PERIENCE. BINED WITH OTHER MATE RIALS; MATERIA® IS ALSO A BRAND THAT WILL GROW AND ADAPT TO THE PRODUCTS ARE MID-RANGE, NOT LUXURY, TO ENSURE THEY ARE CHANGING PATTERNS. LIVING AND WORKING ENVIRONMENTS AS ACCESSIBLE TO A WIDER AUDIENCE; WELL AS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INTERACTIONS. THE BRAND WILL INTEGRATE NEW PRODUCTS IN A NEAR FUTURE. THEY ARE ATTUNED TO CONTEMPORARY URBAN LIFESTYLES, HABITS AND FUNCTIONAL NEEDS WHILE FULFILLING BASIC, EVERY DAY NEEDS; 13 COLLECTION Curated by experimentadesign ARO MIGUEL VIEIRA BAPTISTA CENTERPIECE (BLACK. GREY & WHITE) AGGLOMERATED CORK. LACQUERED STEEL FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Ø260MM H 170MM, Ø400MM H65MM SIMPLICITY BELIES ITS ELOQUENCE. ARO IS A CENTERPIECE AS WELL AS A STATEMENT, A BOLD ASSUMPTION OF CORK’S PERSONALITY. IN THE SAME WAY AS CORK STOPPERS ARE COMPRESSED INTO PLACE BECOMING AN AIRTIGHT SEAL, ARO TAKES A SUBSTANTIAL HUNK OF CORK AND BINDS IT WITH A GRACEFUL METAL RING. HIGHLIGHTING ITS TEXTURE AND DENSITY, THE COMBINATION WITH ANOTHER MATERIAL DENIES NOTHING OF CORK’S PHYSICALITY AND AESTHETIC WEIGHT. ARO SHOWS OFF AND CELEBRATES THESE CHARACTERISTICS, PUTTING CORK CENTRE-STAGE IN YOUR LIVING ENVIRONMENT. MIGUEL VIEIRA BAPTISTA TRAINED IN IADE LISBON AND THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART, ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND THE JUXTAPOSITION BETWEEN CULTURED MIGUEL VIEIRA BAPTISTA COMBINES SINCE 2000 HIS MAIN ACTIVITY AND POPULAR REFERENCES LENDS CHARISMA AND DEPTH TO HIS AS A PRODUCT DESIGNER WITH A HOST OF PROJECTS IN EXHIBITION DESIGNS, THAT RANGE FROM LIMITED EDITIONS FOR GALLERIES SUCH AND INTERIOR DESIGN COMMISSIONED BY CLIENTS LIKE EXPERIMEN- AS LOJA DA ATALAIA, CRISTINA GUERRA, MARZ AND APPLETON TADESIGN AND THE LISBON FASHION WEEK.