The organizer of Zona Tortona Design during the Salone del Mobile presents another event – Milano Design in the City – which again involves design “hotspots” all over the city of Milan from today through Sunday. There will be three major initiatives in town as follows:

Showrooms: Over sixty showrooms will open their doors, including Armani/Casa, Cassina, B&B Italia, Molteni & C, Poltrona Frau, Zanotta and more.

Culture: This includes events at various showrooms as well as special openings of designer studios.

Entertainment: Various boutique hotels, bars and restaurants will have entertainment activities during the four days.

This may be on a much-smaller scale as compared with Zona Tortona, but it is much more of a “purchasing” event as opposed to a “showcase” event. The event should be worth a look if you are in Milan.

The annual London Design Festival is here again. We’ll attempt to bring some of the intriguing designs of the festival right here at metrosnapshot, starting with the annual 100% Norway exhibit, which showcases many of Norway’s established and up-and-coming designers.

The first of which is this Duo Sofa by Norway Says, which takes its design concept from clothes, specifically hoods and tall collars. The sofa is designed to dampen the surrounding noise. Whether it’s a tall back or just a simple look, the design makes it all possible.

This diva lamp is a set of wood-laminated floor and pendant light sculptures. Created by Thomas Egset and Peter Natedal, this lamp also pays tribute to the Norwegian heritage of wood lamination craftsmanship. According to the manufacturer’s website, the outer frame of the lamp consists of a set of thirty-two gently curving walnut or oak laminated plywood slices around two wooden cylinders. The inner parts consist of a slim metal stem supporting a solid mouth-blown frosted glass globe.

Lastly is this Norwegian Forest Lamp by Cathrine Kullberg. Per the designer’s website, the lights show a deep pine forest with animals in light and shade. An eagle registers movement on the ground. When lit, the blonde birch veneer shines with a warm glow, and the delicately cut forest motif lets white light to filter out between the highlights of the trees.
The shade is made from thin birch veneer. The birch veneer is carefully laser cut by a skilled airplane model maker who knows his birch veneer. The steel frame is custom made at a metal workshop and powder coated white. The shade is hand sewn onto the steel frame using natural leather lace. All the parts are assembled by hand in the designer’s Oslo studio.

Now on newsstands is Wallpaper*’s latest issue featuring fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and designer Philippe Starck as guest editors. This third-edition Guest Editor issue will definitely become a collector’s item with separate, unique covers devised by Lagerfeld and Starck. These covers feature two ‘firsts’ for magazine covers, here’s a peek:

The Lagerfeld cover features the first ‘peelable’ cover, featuring top male model Baptiste Giabiconi dressed in Dior Homme. Once the cover is peeled off, another side to the model is revealed.

The Starck cover has three layers made of see-through tracing paper, each with an image representing a different stage of evolution. This is the first triple-layered, transparent front cover for magazines.

So what’s in the issue you ask?

You will see and feel Lagerfeld as a cameraman, and read about his passion for architecture and design. Then follow Starck as he embarks on a mission to make intelligence sexy.

Don’t forget to pick up the issue on newsstands – it’s available now. In the meantime, get a preview by clicking on the link below.