Two different uses of FENIX matched with X-KIN

Discover the multitude of styles and functionalities of the super-matt combination of FENIX and X-KIN through two Milanese projects: C.space and Design Forever.

During Milan Design Week 2022, FENIX^® presented X-KIN^®, a adaptable surface material that can be applied to interior walls just like a wallpaper. Extending the FENIX experience to walls, X-KIN offers features such as low light reflectivity, soft touch, anti-fingerprint properties, and excellent colour fastness to light.

To mark the annual event that brings together designers and architects from all over the world in Milan, X-KIN by FENIX was used in one of the evocative rooms of  the ‘Design Forever’ project, developed  by Calvi Brambilla in the historic Palazzo Bovara.  co.arch studio later opted to use the innovative wall covering  to create Designtech’s ‘design thinking lounge’ in the Certosa district. 

Two very different projects that celebrate the twin souls of the city: the spirit of timeless historical heritage, on the one hand, and the one engaged in innovation and technological progress, on the other. Both, however, share a unique choice of extremely matt surfaces, with FENIX juxtaposed with X-KIN. 

Starting with the most recent project, C.space is an innovative space crafted by the founders of co.arch - Andrea Pezzoli and Giulia Urciuoli - which combines elements of home, office and showroom. Located within La Forgiatura, a tech campus in Certosa, C.space features an Ernestomeda kitchen in FENIX and a podcast room created with X-KIN - both in the Verde Comodoro shade - at the heart of a stimulating space that plays host to a co-design office, culinary and sporting events, and workshops of all kinds. 

Thanks to the harmony between high-tech materials and the shades of green offered by both plants and the natural hues of the surfaces, this hybrid space allows a cosy feel to coexist seamlessly with advanced technology. “The kitchen had to be a familiar, domestic object, yet at the same time the eye-catching star of the space. As such, we decided to give it a discreet and elegant monolithic appearance and use the same colour - the natural and relaxing Verde Comodoro - for the entire surrounding area”. A palette that extends to the podcast room “with the use of X-KIN next to a living plant wall, emphasising the contrast between FENIX’s system of innovative materials and the natural texture of the leaves”. 

Dubbed a ‘design thinking lounge’, C.space is a place intended to inspire creative ideas on how to approach complex problems. Here, the tactile and visual cosiness of the combination of FENIX and X-KIN provides a high-tech space with a natural and comfortable atmosphere. 

From the new, ever-expanding Milan to the Napoleonic one of yesteryear, the pairing of FENIX and X-KIN has created a unique space amidst the 18th-century rooms of Palazzo Bovara, thanks to the artistic vision of Calvi Brambilla. ‘Design Forever’ is the latest brainchild of the creative duo, an installation designed to showcase the timelessness of a handful of iconic design pieces, along with some lesser-known ones, realising different exhibitions in the gardens and inside the building. 

The second room has been named ‘Mobile’ and here, explains Fabio Calvi, “we have collected objects whose configuration changes to suit the life of those using them, in a celebration of freedom in architectural space. These are dynamic objects housed in an interior space inspired by the striped designs of Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass”. 

In this context, the intense colours of FENIX - used for a long study table - as well as X-KIN, used on the wall, serves as a visual ‘glue’ between the contemporary flavour of the pieces and the classical architecture of the setting. Visitors are greeted with a design experience on multiple levels: from the visual contrasts between striped patterns and ultra-matt surfaces, to the tactile softness of these innovative materials. 

Cementing the link between classic beauty and the demands of contemporary world, the timeless elegance of FENIX’s colours makes it a perfect match for the philosophy of ‘Design Forever’, believing that aesthetics and functionality of certain archive creations will never be out of place.