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Higher Education: The Striking Works of SAIC at Salone del Mobile

Not a day passes without undergrads being reminded of the virtues of real world experience. For the past decade, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has given design students a dose of reality and the ultimate unfiltered design rush: To present their products to an international audience of buyers, editors and tastemakers during the most important design show in the world. (We’re guessing that most design internships pale in comparison to this opportunity-of-a-lifetime.)

Milan Design Week is no lightweight event. Even the most seasoned makers and biggest furniture brands sweat it out, as Instagram plays judge and jury to the coolest and most successful design launches of the season. Thanks to SAIC’s whatnot studio, directed by professors Helen Maria Nugent and Tim Parsons, a select group of SAIC undergrads spent a year developing, prototyping and realizing every aspect of their design projects just in time for the famed design festival which took place last month. Forgoing the typical in-class dress rehearsals, 15 students showcased original works—ranging from accessories and tabletop to lighting and furniture—which were available for purchase at the gallery of design’s undisputed It Girl, Rossana Orlandi whose aesthetic instincts and talent-spotting prowess have launched the careers of notables such as Maarten Baas, Nacho Carbonell and Piet Hein Eek.

The 2017 Whatnot x West Supply Collection was a collaboration with Chicago-based artisanal foundry West Supply, who provided material oomph for most of the finished designs—a contemporary melange of bronze, glass and spirit. We can’t help but be a little proud and mightily impressed that our hometown team is bringing it to such a high-caliber design show.  Here are the striking pieces from a group of emerging talents that has already made a lasting impression. Catch these goods now for bragging rights… and to support original design. No doubt we’ll be seeing more from these creatives very soon.

All images courtesy of The School of the Art Institute 

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