formafantasma: autarchy

for milan design week 2010, the dutch-based italian design duo studio formafantasma (andrea trimarchi and simone farresin) will present ‘autarchy’ at spazio rossana orlandi. the installation is a further investigation of the concept and materials of their previous project ‘baked’, which draws on the folk event of the ‘cene di san giuseppe’ in sicily, italy.

‘autarchy’ – vessels

‘autarchy’ is an installation which pays homage to the uncomplicated, simple, everyday life. it proposes an autonomous way of producing goods and outlines a hypothetical scenario where a community embraces a serene calm, where nature is personally cultivated, harvested and processed, to feed and make tools to serve human necessities.

for their installation, studio formafantasma has developed a collection of functional and durable vessels and lamps, that have been naturally desiccated or low temperature baked, produced with a bio-material composed of 70% flour, 20% agricultural waste, and 10% natural limestone. the differences in color palette are obtained by the selection of distinct vegetables, spices and roots that are dried, boiled or filtered for their natural dyes.

as guests for the project studio formafantasma invited the italian broom maker giuseppe brunello and french baker poilane to join in the development of the installation. the cereal sorgho works as a link between these crafts – the vessels and brooms – in a production process free of waste. here, the cereal is harvested and used to create tools, vessels and foods.

up close

‘autarchy’ acts as an open source where information and knowledge is shared. it displays the different steps of the project research, explaining the material and production techniques of the pieces. the furniture used to display the products are based on the manufacturing and drying processes used in the project, and include a drying oven and mill.

‘autarchy’ includes vessels and lamps made from a bio-material composed of 70% flour, 20% agricultural waste and 10% natural limestone