Mmairo: Le Debùt

Born in Barcelona, 1978, designer. He studied industrial design at the UCH-CEU in Valencia, where he also attained a Master’s of Transportation Design. The collaboration with several international firms has, in recent years, led him to work across a diverse range of sectors: from automotive, to sports articles and home accessories. His design research is heavily influenced by XX century iconography: focussed on delivering products that, while belonging to a digital age, convey analogue qualities. Colominas’ work has garnered six Red Dot Awards and has been published in specialised media worldwide.

Karen Chekerjian’s trajectory into designing was unsystematic, comprised of a combination of practical experience in various creative fields and endeavours. Her practical beginnings were in advertising, working in both film and graphic design at Leo Burnett Beirut (1991), and as a co-founder of one of the first branding companies in the Middle East. Karen moved to Milan in 1997 to pursue a master’s degree in industrial design at DOMUS academy, under the guidance of Massimo Morozzi, a founder of Archizoom. She continued to work with Morozzi at EDRA, where he was Art Director, in what effectively became a seminal and formative four-year mentorship (1997-2000). Mobil, a suspended hangar system and her first actualised work, was produced and distributed by the furniture company (1999). Less interested in making products, Chekerdjian used her time in Italy to experiment and explore the extensions and limitations of her art. She began to question what have become somewhat rigid assumptions regarding function, form, and meaning. Unknown to her then, Karen began developing potentials for dialogue and narrative – a language of designing – rather than focusing on creating a particular style. The ambiguity of her pieces, their ability to take on new functions in varied context and through different interpretations, in retrospect, became a continuous thread in her work. Her creations have been showed in several museums, foundations, galleries and international fairs. Her famous "Totem" is part of the permanent collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Born in Milan, 1970, sculptor. His research is defined by the ongoing analysis of the mood that marks our daily lives, which he manifests through original still-lives and poetic reveries. He renews language by reprogramming sculpture. In fact, he revisits the shapes of his distinctive zigzag marks and rewrites the statuary through the plasticity of the modelled, using precious materials (specifically marble) and technological ones (neon, urethane rubber, epoxy resins), often combining them. His ample exhibitive pursuits commence in 1996, with personal and collective shows in prestigious art galleries, as well as participating in the most prominent Italian and international trade fairs.

MMAIRO The quality of the handicraft, the luxury of the materials, the value of a planning concept, are all modern influences: combining them through objects, home accessories and exclusive furnishings is Mmairo’s design. Established in 2016, with the dream of a unique piece, the company has made marble its material of choice; unique, precious, never equal to itself, dreamlike, with those endless veins. The Carrara marble The company expresses passion for design, quality materials and beauty conjoined with decoration. It all begins in Carrara, international capital of marble, in the steady embrace of the Apuan Alps, where Mmairo has made its home to oversee the quarrying and processing of this pure gift of nature. The Apuan Alps’ heritage is beauty, and Mmairo has been able to harness the area’s deep roots to build relationships with local manufacturers, sharing dust and sunsets; because expertise on the subject is the first step towards artistic creation. Design and aesthetics For its first collection, Mmairo has selected international and diverse architects, designers and artists, whose private imaginings transform objects that range from the mundane, used for cooking and dining, into customised vases, centrepieces, cake stands. Fine materials, such as marble that nature supplies, never forfeit their uniqueness for a shared label. For this reason, Mmairo resolved to create its own identity: solid, tangible, recognisable through original and contemporary objects that complement an eclectic element born in history, and that will always be, marble.

Born in Milan, 1987, architect. A graduate of Mario Botta’s Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio, he was awarded the SIA prize for the Master’s best project of the year. While studying, in 2007 he worked at the firm EMBT (Enric Miralles, Benedetta Tagliabue) in Barcelona; and in 2008, in Milan at CZA (Cino Zucchi Architects). In 2009 he obtains an Erasmus scholarship at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh School of Art in Glasgow. In 2010 he joins the studio of Daniel Libeskind and in 2011, he works for EMBT’s Chinese agency in Shanghai. In 2013, having won a tender, he founded the studio BE.ST (Belingardi Stefano Architect S.r.l.), which executes projects on an international scale.

Andrea and Simone Dell’Amico, born in Carrara in 1969, are the souls of Studioformart, an artistic studio “made in Carrara”, founded in 2003 and specialising in the design and processing of marble. Their collaborations with local and international craftsmen, artists, architects and designers are many. In addition to being teachers, the Province of Tuscany selected them to provide internships to Erasmus students from all over Europe. In 2006 and 2009 they won the D.A.B. (Design for Artshop and Bookshop) competition, participating in the exhibitions at the Galleria Civica in Modena, and Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome.