SaloneSatellite designers on good design (part 1 of 3)

Contemporary design was in the spotlight last month with a series of groundbreaking exhibitions at West Kowloon Cultural District. SaloneSatellite’s Marva Griffin along with local designers Dennis Cheung and Jacqueline Chak talk to Jaz Kong about creating objects that make an impact 

Christmas came early for Hong Kong designers, architects and design enthusiasts with the staging in November of Salone del Mobile.Milano’s SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection 1998-2024 Exhibition at the Arts Pavilion West Kowloon. Held at the request of IDFFHK International Design Furniture Fair Hong Kong and Designworks Foundation, the exhibition featured more than 100 award-winning design products from the SaloneSatellite Permanent Collection housed at the Artwood Academy in the Italian village of Lentate sul Seveso.

“Bringing a part of the SaloneSatellite’s Permanent Collection to Hong Kong is not just an opportunity to raise awareness of the work of many talented young designers, but also to celebrate global creativity and the importance of innovation in design,” says Marva Griffin, founder and curator of SaloneSatellite and ambassador of international relations of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, whom we were privileged to speak to on the topic of design along with two prominent Hong Kong designers making an impact on the local scene. 

The evolution of design 

Marva Griffin, better known as “the godmother of Italian design”, is widely hailed for her dedication to promoting Italian designs and creating a platform for young designers worldwide through SaloneSatellite. Her inseparable entanglement with Italian design started some 50 years ago, when she was an assistant and interpreter for B&B Italia founder Piero Ambrogio Busnelli. She then made her name as a pioneering force in design and lifestyle when she worked for several Condé Nast titles.

In 1998, she created SaloneSatellite as part of Salone del Mobile.Milano to support emerging designers, especially those under 35, and connect them with the production world. Griffin still remembers how it all started. “As a journalist, I wanted to see what the young designers would do. And during Salone del Mobile.Milano, in the city, there were a few young designers who had the money to rent a little place to show their creativity,” she recalls. 

“I was there to see what they were doing. And they knew, at that time, I was also working for Salone del Mobile.Milano handling press. They asked me, ‘Mrs. Griffin, please, we have a need. We want to show, we don’t want to be here. We want to be within Salone del Mobile because we want the industry, the exhibitors, to see our creativity.’ This is all that happened. I spoke to the management and after many discussions, one day the CEO called me and said, ‘Marva, we have a response to your request. We have the space, see what you can do to bring in the young designers, the young people into Salone del Mobile.’” 

Griffin started collecting gifts from the designers, leading to the creation of the permanent collection. Over the years, as many as 330 projects have been featured in the catalogues of major Italian and international corporations, with some becoming icons of contemporary design and their designers getting put on the fast track. 

“Do you know who Oki Sato is?” Griffin asks, referring to the Japanese designer and founder of the award-winning Nendo design studio. “Companies are fighting to have their designed pieces shown, and they are all those who started in SaloneSatellite. Oki Sato did it twice, and now every company wants his designed pieces. The designers all have fantastic careers and for me, I’m happy for them.” 

Good design, Griffin notes, is about much more than looks. “If you are to design a chair, design one in which we can sit better,” she says. “I have a problem with my knee, and I spoke to some of the designers and said, ‘Please design wheelchairs. All those wheelchairs at the airports are very uncomfortable and very dangerous.’ There’s always a revolution in the design world, and that is what you see in SaloneSatellite, as well as Salone del Mobile. All the 2,000 exhibitors are working to evolve. Design evolves. ‘Evolution’ – that’s the only keyword.” 

There’s an article about Griffin on the official website of Salone del Mobile. Milano, with a quote from the catalogue of the first edition of SaloneSatellite: “Design needs landmarks and meeting places.” In response, she reminds us, “Design doesn’t change; it evolves. For example, everyone talks about sustainability now. What about in 1998? I remember Scandinavian kids who already had ecology in mind. SaloneSatellite featured recycling far before it was a trend.” 

Another thing that has remained unchanged is designers’ nature. Griffin describes it as “the designers’ duty”, which is to design objects that allow everyone to live better. “All of us have creativity; we just need to develop it,” she says. “With all that’s happening now, for example digital taking over, we also have sustainability and ecology. Evolution happens daily and that’s what is going on in life. So designers need to adapt their research and participate in the solutions part. The creativity is there, the question is how to develop it.” 

Even though Griffin remains hush- hush when it comes to any questions even remotely related to picking a favourite design, or about the criteria to be included in or win an award at SaloneSatellite, she still has some words of advice for aspiring designers. “Everyone has their own mind and creativity, and their way of thinking that they should keep on with,” she says. “However, we live in a world that changes every day. So designers have to be aware of it and constantly be moving, watching, travelling and seeing to learn about what’s happening around them. And then they can design a product that can solve the world’s problems.” 

It must not be easy for Griffin to keep her incredibly hectic travel schedule, let alone stand for a half-hour interview, with a knee problem. But she seems genuinely happy to have found her calling in design. “I’ve always loved design. I’ve always loved furniture, design and decoration, and I’m very happy to know what I love to do. I won’t do anything if I don’t have passion for it, and that’s why I hate listening to people complaining about their jobs. If you don’t like it, then don’t do it.” 

Retiring may be on Griffin’s mind, but as she says, “They don’t want me to give up.” And neither do we, because who will show tomorrow’s designers the way if not their fairy godmother? 

Also see: The co-founder of Asia Now on championing Asian artists in Europe