Located in the heart of Milan, Fantoni’s long-established showroom is about to change thanks to a project conceived and shared by Fantoni and Studio Ragni.
The project’s name is in itself a manifesto: Blue Design Factory.
Blue, like the colour common to the two brands that chose it (Fantoni has blue in its DNA, in the architecture of its complex in Friuli and the mountains around it, and Studio Ragni); and Design Factory because it won’t be just a design studio or an office furniture showroom but a veritable hothouse of ideas and designs.
It’s the ideal habitat for Hub, the range Matteo Ragni designed. The space will become a place for innovation, socializing and skill-sharing, an experimental platform for new working methods and personal interaction.
This will be an open place, a vibrant, dynamic centre welcoming professionals, business people and journalists seeking a quiet corner where to work independently, but also to feel part of a group, to rediscover the pleasure of talking to people face to face without the filter of a high-definition screen.
One window will be devoted to temporary exhibitions connected to the firm’s work as a presentation of networking projects done with other companies, the results of student workshops, and displays of work by young, talented designers. “Blind lunches” will also be organized, where the company will invite, anonymously, journalists, business people and designers to share their views of the project.
Because while it may be true that nowadays an office can be anywhere, without people there can be no workplace in the sense of a place for skill sharing as well as professional – and personal – growth.
ABOUT THE FANTONI GROUP
The company was founded by Achille Fantoni in 1882. It is a leading manufacturer of office furniture, partition and storage wall systems, MDF (medium-density fibreboard) and chipboard panels, melamine flooring and sound-deadening panels. All phases of the production process are performed by the network of companies that make up the Group and work in synergy to develop the product: from the production of materials and semi-finished products to the design of innovative office furnishing systems, inspired by the most up-to-date principles of well-being and design.
Made up of seven companies – Fantoni Spa, La Con Spa, Lesonit (Slovenia), Novolegno Spa, Patt Spa, Spik Iverica (Serbia), Xilopack Srl – the Fantoni group produces its own resins, impregnates papers for facing its own panel products and, with its hydro-electric power and cogeneration plants, produces a large part of its own energy needs.
Having received the “Compasso d’Oro alla Carriera” award for design primario from the ADI in 1998, the Fantoni Group has become a reference point for ideas in its sector, due to the intense activity of its Research Centre: workshops, conferences and publications are examples of a commitment that makes it a nerve centre of experimentation and research. Since 1882, architecture, research and total design have been the guiding principles for company growth and for the development of products that are ever more innovative and dedicated to the well-being of people.
For more info, visit http://www.fantoni.it/en/home.html
