The collaboration between Simone Farresin (1980) and Andrea Trimarchi (1983) started during their BA in communication design at ISIA in Florence. Their interest in product design developed while on the IM Master's degree at the Design Academy Eindhoven, from which they graduated in July 2009 with a shared thesis and portfolio based on traditional Sicilian folk craft. Formafantasma's work explores such issues as the role of design in folk craft, the relationship between tradition and local culture, critical approaches to sustainability and the significance of objects as cultural conduits.
They identify their role as the bridge between craft, industry, object and user and seek to stimulate a more critical and conceptual design dialogue through their work. Winners of ICON Magazine's inaugural Emerging Design Studio of the Year 2012, Formafantasma have recently been listed by Alice Rawsthorn, design critic International Herald Tribune, and Paola Antonelli, senior design curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as one of twenty designers who will influence design in the next decade.
Their work is held in public collections internationally, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the MINT Museum, the Stedelijsk Museum, the Gewerbemuseum, mudac, Vitra and Fendi.
Please watch the videos below for more information about Formafantasma and thier work.