MINIMALISSIMO EDITED
All of my work stems from the simplest of ideas that go back to the earliest civilisations: making clothing from one piece of cloth. It is my touchstone. I believe that all forms of creativity are related.
– Issey Miyake
What's happening?
Related to the quote above, this week we lost one of the fashion design greats in Issey Miyake, who passed away at the age of 84. We featured a number of his brand's projects over the years and I think one of my favourites is Issey's collaboration with Tokujin Yoshioka for the minimal TO watch. What are some of your most loved works of his? On another note, last weekend I briefly visited London and for the first time paid a visit to the National Theatre and the Barbican. Under a crisp blue sky, the brutalist architecture was a sight to behold. The colossal theatre tops polls as one of the most hated buildings in the country, but I have a lot of love for it. And the Barbican was a place I really enjoyed spending time to relax. A utopian and sprawling brutalist complex mixed with natural greenery and a tranquil conservatory, it feels very isolated from the rest of the city. I'll try to return again next year. Now let's have a look at some recent features.
– Carl
Features
CORNER COLLECTION
Based on the simple lines traced by children when asked to draw a house, the Corner Collection by another bureau of design is a series of seats reminiscent of gable roofed houses. The minimal and brutalist collection, made in brushed aluminium or raw steel includes a long chair, stool, and a bench.
CULVERT GUESTHOUSE
A storage facility for archiving furniture, products, and artwork in Miyota-machi, Nagano Prefecture, with a guesthouse attached. Designed by Japanese studio nendo, the tunnel-like architecture took shape through a combination of precast and prestressed construction methods.
APARTMENT PF
The exquisite Apartment PF, located in Paris, beautifully combines classic and contemporary design accents that together create a bright, airy, and minimalist interior. Designed by Heros Architecture, the Parisian apartment has a compact floor surface of 65 square metres, which led the architects to find ingenious solutions to enhance the feeling of spaciousness.
ACHIEVE WISH STUDIO
The design of the ACHIEVE WISH STUDIO is inspired by the British Cromlech (Stonehenge), where the double circular shell is placed into the square structure, and the open ceiling creates four dark corners with different functions.
SERIES-M BENCH
Driven by his passion in traditional craftsmanship, Dennis Tsai, a Houston-based industrial designer, wanted to explore the possibilities of creating strong structural furniture without using any fasteners. He utilised an interlocking structure to create a minimal bench design as his first piece for the series.
HB-AS
An ongoing body of art and design work by duo Hank Beyer and Alex Sizemore who are based in San Francisco and Los Angeles, working collaboratively across furniture, product, and sculpture.
MARC 1
This aluminium and steel chair, 'Marc 1', was designed and made in Sydney by Marc Newson in 1985. Internationally successful Australian designer Marc Newson studied jewellery and sculpture before turning to furniture design in 1985. Described by him as 'jewellery for the bottom', the minimalist 'Marc 1' reflects his early concern for creating post-modern designs that blur the boundaries of furniture and sculpture.
Supply spotlight
minimal design made to own (and made by us):
M–MIMOTYPE
A minimal, no-code typography focused blog theme powered by Notion and Super. Simple and lightweight with a strong focus on the beauty of typography, Mimotype is a customisable blog template. Setting this template up is easy with no technical skills needed. The default font is set in Inter, but you can change it to another of your choice. Focus on writing and your content will look beautiful automatically.
Where next?
Discovery
other things for you to read, explore, and maybe even admire:
Who the Hell is Müller-Brockmann? Conversations about the Swiss Style by designer Demian Conrad
Geometric paintings by Brazilian artist Felipe Suzuki
Portable radio: minimal 3D printed AM/FM radio by New Craft House
Private View: Landon Metz: The contemporary artist leads a guided meditation on his dynamic, minimal paintings
This monthly edition of the Minimalissimo newsletter was supported by aprile, the hanging chair
inspired by spring days and designed by Matteo Modica, aprile is a simple suspended chair that oozes elegance—a floating seat, shaped after spring petals, swinging gently. designed and handcrafted in Italy with artisanal love.
whether you're looking for visual inspiration or design insights, you can visit our gallery to discover the very best of minimalism in art and design.
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