By Rosa Bertoli
On view at Friedman Benda this summer, the show is the result of the Milan-based studio’s ongoing fascination with history, technology and domesticity
Formafantasma has been everywhere lately – including on Wallpaper*’s 2025 Design Awards roster. But the Milan-based design duo has never staged a gallery exhibition in the United States. This month, though, Formafantasma has unveiled ‘Formation,’ a showcase of fresh work and ideas at New York’s Friedman Benda gallery. The exhibition, on view until 1 August 2025, is the result of the studio’s deep exploration of the relationship between the history of furniture making and its more domestic, intimate qualities.
Formation: Formafantasma’s debut exhibition at Friedman Benda, New York
‘Formation’ includes a table, a desk, an armchair and several lamps . Each design is deliberately restrained and imagined as a dialogue between the materials, which encompass cherry wood, a reference to classic American furniture making; textiles, for their domestic qualities; and aluminium, a material that evokes contemporary technology.
Also at play is Formafantasma’s interest in the work of the Shakers, Frank Lloyd Wright, and George Nakashima, whose work attracted founders Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi for their combination of aesthetics and philosophical approach to making.
‘The Shakers’ approach to utility and transcendence is mirrored in the collection’s essential forms,’ reads a note from the studio, while ‘Wright’s synthesis of craft and technology, and Nakashima’s reverence for timber as a living entity, find echoes in the collection’s interplay of warm wood and brushed aluminium.’
The pieces in the collection are the result of an in-depth exploration of archetypes in domestic interiors. Each object’s construction starts from a simple plank, ‘the most elementary unit of cabinetmaking,’ the studio notes.
The lighting, meanwhile, features rectangular LED panels that evoke ‘the ubiquitous screens of mobile devices and portable laptops’ while draped linen shades seek to soften and ‘recall the quiet craftsmanship historically associated with women’s labour.’
Taken as a whole, ‘Formation’ feels like a natural progression of Formafantasma’s work, one that melds the studio’s ongoing fascination with design history and the ways in which shifting technology impacts the way we live.
According to the designers, it’s all part of an effort to ‘not to mimic nor reject history, but instead to expand upon it.’
