Italian design house Seletti showed a selection of new homeware and furniture at the recently concluded Paris edition of the Maison & Objet interior design trade fair. The quirky designs made waves with observers, including the press, as the brand literally spelled out F-U-N in the form of its lighting range! Upbeat message like this one are clearly resonating with audiences.

Renaissance

Italian design agency BBMDS is back working with Seletti in this homage to the architecture of Italian cities, more precisely, their porticoes. Yes, just this element. This key feature of Italian cityscapes has been worked into modular bookshelves (see below), bringing Renaissance architecture to life in a functional storage solution. The bookcase is composed of modules, each bordered by portico-style columns. Square and rectangular modules are available in either white or anthracite.

Flower Attitude

Flower power got a fresh spin from Seletti this year. Italian designer Marcantonio Raimondi Malerba has created an original line of home accessories using historical Capodimonte porcelain. This Italian porcelain manufacturer is best known for its figurines and flowers. Here, Marcantonio Raimondi Malerba has honored Capodimonte’s creations by adding them to some troubling objects (see below), more usually found in a horror movie than a plush interior. Flower Attitude sees a serial killer’s weapons of choice – a hand saw, a chainsaw, an axe, a gun and a club – decorated with delicate, colorful porcelain flowers and transformed into candlesticks.

Alphafont and Alphacrete

Alphabet soup never looked so good. Following the success of its “Neon Art” range of letter-shaped lights, Seletti has added an upper-case alphabet to its lighting range with “Alphafont.” These illuminated letters (top) are 30 cm tall and can be attached to walls in various combinations to make words and phrases. An additional “Alphacrete” range (below) sees light-up letters encased concrete shells, making them suitable for outdoor use.

Cosmic Diner

This flagship Seletti range of space-themed tableware (below), designed in partnership with the Diesel fashion house, sees a coffee cup, bowls and candlesticks added to the collection. The coffee cup is finished in a cosmic black and is dimpled with craters like the surface of a planet, with its golden saucer forming the planet’s rings. The bowls are similar in design, with crater-finish and gold-metal options to choose from. The candlesticks are shaped like rockets.