Cook Collection: Ice cream and Sfoglia, 2009-2013-2024. Functional sculptures, plexiglas industrial waste. Photo credit: Paolo Luppino
Serra Alta
Ice cream and Sfoglia are part of the Cook collection, a group of varied series objects at the intersection of art and industry: each piece is machine-controlled but hand-finished, resulting in random variations on the same theme. The inspiration comes from observing the thermoforming plants of plexiglas used to create curved canopies: the idea is to use the waste of the sheets and the same cooking and manipulation process to create objects characterised in an artistic way. Hence the name Cook: : just like making pasta, the cutting of the sheet, the temperature and duration of the oven cooking at 180°C, and the final manipulation by the designer influence the result, producing objects that are similar but each different from the others in geometry and shape. Apart from the minimal weight of these small functional sculptures, the lightness lies in the ability to identify in an industrial process and in its scraps, the possibility of creating unique pieces - with emotional value. In the fast manipulation - almost dictated by the unconscious - in the interweaving of forms. And finally, in continuing to experiment without being sure or giving importance to the result. The pieces were made with the support of METEA
Ilaria Marelli
Ilaria Marelli, architect and designer, after a five-year collaboration with Cappellini, opened the ‘ilaria marelli design studio’, where she develops projects that are emotional, experimental and sustainable at the same time, dealing with design at 360˚: art direction, strategy consultancy, interior design, product design. She collaborates with international companies to create products and collections, alternating her interest in mass production with the design and development of unique pieces. She deals with set-ups and interior design related to the world of fashion and design. Interested in the social and cultural aspects of design, she promoted, with Ezio Manzini, the first project on cohousing in Italy, collaborated with Poli.design on applied research topics, from 2002 to 2018 she has been Professor of Design for Innovation at the Milan Polytechnic, since 2021 she teaches Design at Naba in Milan.