Formafantasma

Formafantasma is a research-based design studio investigating the ecological, historical, political and social forces shaping the discipline of design today. Since founding the studio in 2009, Italians Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin have championed the need for value laden advocacy merged with holistic design thinking. Their aim is to facilitate a deeper understanding of both our natural and built environments and to propose transformative interventions through design and its material, technical, social, and discursive possibilities. Working from their studio in Milan (Italy) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands), the practice embraces a broad spectrum of typologies and methods, from product design through spatial design, strategic planning and design consultancy. For Formafantasma, this crossflow of knowledge and experience taken from both their commercial contracts and their more autonomous projects has benefitted and informed the respective other. However, their projects have been presented, published and acquired in the permanent collection of international museums including New York’s MoMA and Metropolitan Museum, Art Institute Chicago, London’s Victoria and Albert, Paris’ Musée National d'Art Moderne, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, CNAP, Fondation Cartier and Centre Pompidou, the Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, the Vienna’s MAK Museum , Utrecht’s Centraal Museum, Mudac Lausanne, North Carolina’s Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Rome’s Museo Maxxi, Vitra Design Museum, Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria, Triennale di Milano, LACMA, Tilburg’s Textiel Museum and others. In March 2020 Serpentine Galleries dedicated a solo exhibition to Formafantasma and their in depth investigation into the governance of the timber industry.