Experimental Design

The research subject chosen for assessment 2 is the design studio Formafantasma, it was formed and is run by the creative Italian duo Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin. After graduating university at Design Academy Eindhoven together in 2009 the duo have become deeply invested into material research which has become the main characteristic of the work they produce. With there research they create experimental and conceptual objects that critically comment on the worlds relationship with tradition, local cultures and our responsibility of sustainability within design. I chose Formafantasma as my research subject due to there sublime aesthetic and the richness of research of the materials they use, permitting there designs to excel beyond the every day object. There research based practice permits them to re developed lost relationships between craft, the design industry, consumers, environment and art. It is Formafantasma’s combination of research, experimental use of materials and concepts and the importance of sustainability when designing a mass produce object that will make up the core of my presentation as I attempt to unpack there process.

Extensive research is Formafantasmas iconic approach to all there designs. It is integral to there design process, permitting them to create groundbreaking experimental use of materials, therefore developing rich and diverse conceptual designs. In 2012 after only a 3 years of working together Trimarchi and Farresin where asked by luxury international fashion label Fendi to develop Craftica. Ideally the collaboration was aimed to explore methods of production mixing traditional and experimental, celebrating the creative process rather then solely the finished product. Crafticia is a body of work that deeply investigates the nature of leather. The series of objects within the collection explore the history and relationship humans have with leather and nature, adopting pre industrial craftsmanship, when artificial process where not available. Uniquely Formfantasma pushed the boundaries with there material research and use, utilising mainly discarded leather left over from Fendi’s manufacturing process and the food industry, expanding the horizon of leather as a material and conceptually commenting on ethical and environmental issues attached to its use. The result are series of exotic objects from stools upholstered in fish leather to scallop shell spoons and cow bladder containers all hand crafted by Fends skilful artisan leather workers. The duo’s process of extensive research and experimentation is why Fendi originally sort after the studio as mentioned in Wallpaper magazine article Fendi selected

Formafantasma for the project 'because the young design studio has already displayed an exceptional gift for inventive material investigations, as well as a highly refined and seductive aesthetic sensibility’ 1 . Crafticia is an early example of Formafantasma’s researched based