Adriana Siso
"I love fresh ideas about everything". Adriana Siso founded her contemporary industrial design store in 2002 in Santa Fe, NM. With a background in Fine Arts, Adriana has been an innovator, bringing to the Santa Fe area, original and unique industrial design products by some of the most creative design firms in the world.
The first design partners Molecule worked with were Vitra Design Museum, Moooi, Cherner Chair, and other well-known national and international brands. Today it partners with other world-class manufacturers like Vondom, Loll Designs and Moroso.
Molecule operated out of a recycled and renovated shipping container building, the first of its kind in Santa Fe. Currently Molecule is available through the online store and by appointment.
Sustainability is an important area of interest and ongoing exploration for Molecule, which offers product lines with a focus on conservation and ecological stewardship. A recent alliance with the Vertical Aeroponic Growing System – Tower Garden, promises to offer a lot of inspiration in the growing field of aeroponics as the future of agriculture, industrial design at its best.
Marva Griffin, friend, mentor and compatriot founded the Salone-Satellite 20 years ago, and curates the event annually to show the work of young designers. There had never been a venue anywhere in the world for that purpose. Salone-Satellite was the first event to focus on young designers, instantly becoming the unrivalled place for interface with manufacturers, talent scouts and the most promising young designers, and since 1998 runs again concurrently with the Salone del Mobile in Milan. Its creation was essentially a declaration of faith in the creative potential of designers under 35. Many of the prototypes presented in the previous editions have gone into production, and many of the 10,000 designers who have taken part over the years, along with 270 international design schools, are now big names in the design scene.
I was so excited to get to Milan. It was a pending trip for a few years. Running my store in Santa Fe, NM never allows me time to travel. Marva would tell me, when are you coming to Milan, it’s such a different world. After all, the Salone del Mobile is the most important industrial design event in the globe. I finally made it! Marva here signing my 20 Years Salone-Satellite book: “For Adriana who finally came to visit the Salone del Mobile, Milano”. Thank you for the tour! Marva is a busy gal, always on the go, surrounded by people, designers, curators, writers, famous architects, movers and shakers, and through the year travels to most design and art events in the world, to scout for talent, and keep up with ideas.
A Selection Committee, made up of prominent figures from the world of design, headed by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Architecture & Design-Director, Research & Development of MoMA in New York, chose the 3 best projects and their designers were awarded an attendance token. The winners also qualified for a consultancy and press office service, geared to ensuring the greatest possible visibility for the winning product.
Intesa Sanpaolo awarded a 5,000 euro prize to the most promising young designer who, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, best represented the theme of Salone-Satellite within the context of the 8th edition of Salone-Satellite Award.
. First prize went for the chair-stool by Comma Pistachio Design, Taiwan. Functional and formal sitting, modeled as a sculpture. Proposal is in darker tones that add a touch of bright yellow. The seat’s functional and formal solution shows an interesting use of materials. It offers a new concept of urban interior design, with appealing and intuitive features. Shaped like a modern sculpture made of contrasting materials, this public seat is appealingly and seductive. Its height and comfy curve are inherently inviting.
. Second prize was to the bench X Bench of Edmond Wong from China. The bench offers a multifunctional approach: two seats for both the home and for training in the gym! A part of the seat’s backrest lifts, with the possibility of four different tilt angles.
. Third prize was awarded to EO – Acoustic Panels, by Tanya Repina from Russia. The innovative sound-absorbing material is made with pine needles and a biodegradable binder. It is a natural colour and the structure creates an indoor forest atmosphere. It also repels insects and harmful germs.The prize was awarded for the material’s sustainability and innovation.
The Salone-Satellite 2017, and its celebration, 20 Years of New Creativity exhibition was organized as a global museum traveling show. The installation took place in a very cool building, a turn of the century vapor factory, the Fabbrica del Vapore , that houses city events. The show was created by Beppe Finessi and designed by Ricardo Bello Dias. It is an attempt to rethink the entire history of the Satellite, looking back at the work of all the designers who looked to SaloneSatellite for advice and dialogue with the manufacturing and critical world, and for contact with other young designers engaged in thinking up new design ideas, in the domestic realm particularly, in different parts of the world.
SaloneSatellite. 20 Years of New Creativity brings together more than 500 projects by as many designers, creators who have taken three consistent and diverse directions, corresponding to three different design methods and approaches. These three great design fields have informed the exhibition concept, an arrangement in three acts, correspond to the three aisles in the large Fabbrica del Vapore “Cathedral”, the deeply fascinating and historical building hosting the exhibition.
I was able to get a feel for the entire fair at Salone del Mobile, an amazing experience! There was also the FuoriSalone, which includes related events outside the Fairgrounds, as part of Milan’s Design Week. Milan has about 13 design districts. Design was everywhere, small shops and schools, and other venues all around the city. I was lucky to find Moooi, one of the brands we’ve worked with since the beginning of Molecule in 2003. Their space was located in one of the coolest and first design areas outside the Salone, a sort of Milanese Soho, and the show a total experience! Moooi presented some of the new lamps and prototypes which will be in production soon. It was a treat to experience the products I know so well, but hadn’t seen, as well as so many new ones. I met with Jan-Wilem Poels, who’s our contact for Moooi and the actual liaison for all things Moooi in USA, and it was so sweet to get from him all the amazing things Moooi has been up to. The general installation, room after room, was a feast for the senses.
It was a jammed-packed week, and well worth the long trip. Inspiration beyond measure, an opportunity to have a glimpse into one of the most important design areas of the world, an immersion into beauty as a state that engulfs everything. Sensuality, texture and color at a high level of expression. An incredible wow!
Adriana Siso, Molecule, April 2017