For participation 2014 at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile of Milan 2014, the Geneva University of Art and Design, presents Conversation Pieces, an apartment specifically designed for the occasion. The title Conversation Pieces refers to the table centrepieces used as decoration for ceremonial tables, since the Renaissance. Their purpose is to suggest subjects of conversation to the guests.

The tree Center pieces are the result of the workshop with students from BA and MA in Design led by matali crasset and Magdalena Gerber at CERCCO / HEAD — Genève.

Hit the Road

Although table centrepieces of the past, made of porcelain, glass or precious metals, evoked scenes of life and constructions and underlined the social status of their owners, Hit the Road, with its porcelain pillars supporting a metal strip, is a contemporary and democratic table centrepiece that revisits the contemporary urban environment.

A table intersection, reminding us of the world’s first motorway, the Autoroute des Lacs, which was built in Italy in 1924 to link Milan to the Swiss lake region, Hit the Road symbolises the speed of transport arteries while at the same time emphasizing that of exchange. It also serves as a support for the salt and pepper shakers and other implements used in the course of the dinner.

Variable dimension — Stainless steel, ceramic

DJ Dishes

Meals progress to the sounds of tableware and guests. Hybrid tableware elements in copper and ceramic are modified and deconstructed to create sculptural forms. They produce a random and poetic soundtrack : talking objects, mysterious objects, they emit discreet sounds and inspire conversation. Over the course of the meal, DJ Dishes interact with the guests and with them creates the sound landscape of the dinner : objects and guests together engage in a new form of conversation.

Variable dimension — Ceramic, copper and mixed media

Created with the support of the Manufacture de Langenthal.

Sophie Grandjean & Emeline Vitte

Contract

Contract takes a fresh look at the famous game of Cluedo while spotlighting ceramictechniques.Thenewdomesticweapons subvert everyday objects, although not literally, from the lethal sculpture of the Duomo to the poison vial, from the axe or pistol to the deadly butter-cutting wire set with pearls.

The weapons in this seating plan invite guests to play the game and to take it as a subject of conversation. The proposed game is not an end in itself: it serves as a pretext for discourse.

Variable dimensions — Ceramic and mixed media