Aotearoan forests frame Fisher & Paykel appliances at Nature – Ritual showcase in Milan
Appliance brand Fisher & Paykel evoked its New Zealand roots at this year's Salone del Mobile, juxtaposing large video screens that showcased wild forests with wooden displays and tactile pottery.
Named Nature – Ritual, the installation at the Eurocucina section of Salone del Mobile was centred around Fisher & Paykel's State of the Art Collection, which includes ovens, refrigerators and fabric care cabinets.
The brand wanted visitors to Salone del Mobile to experience the country's nature, as it said local materials play a big part in the product design.
The kitchen appliances on show, from Fisher & Paykel's State of the Art Collection, were lined with local tōtara wood, decorated with a randomised pattern to create the appearance of having been handmade.
"Throughout the space, there are two key materials that we've used," said Fisher & Paykel CMO Katrina Glenday.
"One is the tōtara wood, which is a native timber from New Zealand, and the other is basalt – that's a volcanic rock, and it's everywhere around Auckland, where we're from," she continued.
As well as creating a soothing atmosphere with the forest films, the displays also leaned into the importance of ritual and how it influences Fisher & Paykel's designs.
"The ritual part, our curiosity about the way people live and the life lived around the kitchen, is really what informs our design philosophy," Fisher & Paykel CEO Daniel Witten-Hannah said.
To create the feel of an at-home kitchen at the furniture fair, the brand worked with New Zealand ceramicist Aaron Scythe. The artist, whose work reinterprets Japanese Mino ceramics, created a special Milan design week collection for Fisher & Paykel.
The resulting pieces, finished in Oribe glaze, were used to decorate tall shelves and nooks to create a personal feel and show how Fisher & Paykel's appliances might fit into a home.
The brand's Social Kitchen concept focuses on the relationships that people form with their everyday appliances, and at Eurocucina, its State of the Art collection was displayed in ways that let visitors easily interact with them.
In a central spot of the Nature – Ritual showcase, which was divided into four sections, Fisher & Paykel created a kitchen setting to showcase its combination steam oven, modular induction cooktop and integrated column refrigeration, as well as its column wine cabinets.
"Wine care and preservation is definitely an element that people gravitate to from a ritual perspective –the sourcing of wine, the storing of wine, how people care for it and how they share it with their friends and family," Glenday said.
"There are a lot of rituals that go with it and so with these products, prioritising things like clean air, the right level of light, the control of temperature and humidity are primarily important."
Further into the space, ovens and cooling drawers were attached to wooden pillars, creating a playful reference to the forest surrounding the products, while at the end, a wardrobe-style display showcased the brand's steam care fabric cabinets and front-loaded washer.
To Fisher & Paykel, the installation and decision to show in Milan, which was eight years in the making, represent an opportunity to reach the wider design community.
"We're not here to design kitchens – we're here to provide the tools and products for the design community to make incredible outcomes for their clients," Witten-Hannah concluded.
The photography is courtesy of Fisher & Paykel.
Nature – Ritual was on show from 21 to 25 April 2026 as part of Milan design week. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
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