Meet the Rising Stars of Design: 5 Emerging Talents Shaking Up Milan's SaloneSatellite

Studio Ololoo

The couple met at a metal concert – and now specialize in raucous design

Based in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China, designers Zhen Bian, 33, and Jaco Qian, 31, met at a concert of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. "I look like a rocker but she's the real rocker," laughs Bian, who graduated from the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Germany and interned with Dutch designer Marcel Wanders. Qian attended the Polytechnic University of Milan. "I studied product design," Bian continues, "but it was quite experimental. They taught us to try new materials and working processes. Jaco studied strategy design so we work well together." Qian started her own studio in 2021; Bian freelanced for her before joining officially in 2023 when they became Studio Ololoo. "At first we were producing good-looking designs, commercial, but over time it's become more art," says Qian. "Designs for rich people!"

Bian coughs loudly. "She means collectable design." Qian replies: "No one collects us – yet."

The pair are partners in business and life, and live in Qian's modern glass-framed apartment surrounded by their creations: an architectural model of a building for a client, miniature models of the Tenon and CHI sofa, their "knitted" glassware, first versions of a seat or legs for a stool, and components waiting to be used – "I like the possibility of them," Bian says. It is a miniature Ololoo laboratory. "We wanted to do something more fun," he says, "something that made us happy, and that we think is good design."

The Bubble Lamp, which features an inflatable TPU structure, won first prize at the SaloneSatellite Award 2024. It received a bronze award at the Design Intelligence Award (DIA) and was shortlisted for a Dezeen award the same year. The pair also designed a Bubble Stool, which features an inflated TPU air bag within the seat, lending it its pleasing rounded shape. The inspiration came from a table mat. "I was watching Jaco one day: she rolled up a mat and squeezed it, and I found it interesting because the material deforms under pressure," Bian says. "So we used different tools to press the material to see what would happen. We like to explore materials. Last year it was glass, before that PPU, and maybe next year we will try metal."

Qian holds up another of their creations: the Wavy Vase. Made of recyclable TPU and stainless steel, its undulating exterior is pitted by "steelies", or ball bearings, that dent the surface. "We liked the reflections it makes," she says. "You have to spend a lot of money to make a mould, so we ensure that what we have come up with is worthy of that." Bian says their process is part intuition, part knowledge.

Living with their designs also helps. "We quit buying furniture; we now mostly use our own stuff, and it is the coolest thing." They are currently working on a new lamp and a collection of furniture for a client. How would they describe themselves? "Players. Yes, I like the idea that we are players," Qian says.

Kejun Li

The Chinese engineer who unleashed his artistic sensibilities

Born in Guiyang, south-west China, Li, 35, is a trained engineer who began his working life overseeing the construction of bridges. "My first job in Beijing was for a state-owned company and my first project was huge – a 600m-long suspension bridge in Mozambique," he recalls. "I was fortunate enough to work in Africa for a few years, but struggled internally between art and engineering because my family had instilled both influences in me. In China there is always this pressure between a parents' wish for a secure profession and a child's personal pursuits." His 30th birthday was a life-changing moment. "I decided I didn't want to waste any more time – I didn't want to waste a gift."

Li applied to study design in Italy, moving to Milan in 2020. When the pandemic led to online teaching, he quit. "I found work with the design studio Mandalaki but also enrolled on a course in digital architecture in Venice," he recalls. "It gave me an understanding of how the industry works; the design process is an interconnected chain, much like engineering." A special interest in computational design underpins his output. "I find the hexagonal shape particularly interesting. With just one piece, no matter how you combine it, you can generate unlimited possibilities. I developed a piece of work that consisted of three frames of sculpture created by playing with the hexagon." An exhibition at Milan Design Week led to a collaboration with the Italian company De Marchi Verona, a ceramic-tile specialist. The Cadenza collection – single hexagon-shaped tiles that can form three-dimensional waves – has since gone into production (Artemest, from £505).

Li established his own studio in 2022. This year he presented his latest tile concept, Neo-baroqueism, at SaloneSatellite. "I wanted to think about how we can give architectural heritage new life," he says. The simple white hexagonal tiles invite customers to interact and experiment with them: by painting segments in different colours or twisting the pattern at different angles. "I want to encourage people to touch, feel and to get to know how the tiles work," Li says of the product, which launches at the end of the year. "As designers we have to show that there's always a new way." He's already working on his next project. "It's something totally different exploring sexuality, the body and the act of looking. It's voyeurism, eroticism, totally playful."

Roc H Biel

The Spanish maker turning dust into desirable furniture

Presented at SaloneSatellite, the Spanish-born industrial designer and artist's furniture stood out for its ingenuity. Consisting of a series of modular columns that can be used alone as a stool or combined to create tables, benches and side tables, at first glance they appear to be made from sand. Reassuringly, the pieces are perfectly solid. "They're actually made from wood dust," Biel says.

Biel, who lives and works in east London, was inspired to use the material when visiting a local wood workshop. "I noticed piles of waste at the end of the day and decided to do something with them," he says. "Basically I use a mixture of sawdust and magnesium – it feels like stone, looks like sand, but is something very different. I fell in love with this continuous contradiction and the idea of shaking perceptions." The pieces are also sustainable. "That was very deliberate," the designer says. "I like to work with classic sustainable materials such as steel, aluminium or glass but also new ones. At the end of the furniture's life, this material could be separated into its individual components and reused."

At 34, Biel is already a seasoned designer. He studied at the Royal College of Art in London before working for a number of large consultancies. "I started my own practice in January 2024 – if a space for your designs doesn't exist, you have to create your own. My work sits somewhere between the commercial and collectable art, which I've found appeals to architects, interior designers and a few collectors."

He is excited about the growth of his studio. "I have an office and workshop at my house, which makes a huge difference. I work constantly. If there is something I can't make here, I'll head to Blackhorse Workshop nearby, where I weld metal or use the big planing machines and circular saws." His design process "begins with a search for sensations. That spark that a new design might provoke, and then lots of research. I love to take classical references and bring them into the future."

The designer is currently exploring how to used rammed earth made out of urban waste as well as the transparency of optic fibre. "Playing with light and reflection really excites me. And I'm working on a set of speakers that are really fun," he says. "I want to spark curiosity and wonder. I love to see people's reactions when they're not certain what they are looking at, whether that's scale, materiality or texture. That is a game I really love to play."

Maria Gil

The Warsaw native is an instinctive storyteller

Polish designer Maria Gil, 23, develops her furniture and lighting through storytelling. "I find most forms of communication difficult unless it's visual, so design came naturally to me," she says from her home in Warsaw. The walls of the garage housing her studio-workshop are plastered with the drawings she sketches in moments of inspiration. Her prototypes are made by hand or with a 3D printer. The final creations are a statement. "They sit between the world of collectable design and larger production," she says.

Gil was raised in Warsaw but studied product and furniture design at UAL in London, where she gained a first-class honours degree. This took her to Milan. "I did an exchange as part of my degree course, which really opened my eyes," she says of how her style developed. "I moved away from a very industrial focus and the idea that function needed to follow form: character is far more important to me – pieces that lack character are often perceived as throwaway."

Gil's Post War Drobe is constructed from rebar and translucent fabric. "I imagined a world that rewrote Polish design history," she says. "In my universe, the playful design that flourished in the west during the mid-20th century also thrived in Poland, even though my country experienced shortages due to economic and political turmoil." She selected materials that could be sourced in times of scarcity, which is contrasted by the wardrobe's bold, flamboyant silhouette that flies in the face of restraint.

Lighting fascinates her. "It's sculptural, expressive and leans much more towards art than most other furniture," she says. "Lighting creates a fourth dimension in a space because it not only exists in it but also influences it – it can change everything."

One of her most eye-catching pieces is the All-Seeing chair. "That started life as a sketch for a competition for the clothing brand House of Errors. They are very influenced by the all-seeing eye motif, so I designed the chair as an eye," she says. The concept won the label's creative competition in 2022, leading to its in-house development, with Gil invited to work with the team on a placement that she completed in 2023.

Gil was a nominee at the Young Furniture Makers Textile Award in 2023 and won the Malcolm Walker Fast Track Prize in the same year. She is currently working as a freelance designer for the Italian furniture brand Nicoletti Home, and moving to Milan. She also continues to showcase her own work – she took part in the People and Places 3 exhibition at Londonworks during last month's London Design Week.

"I don't create furniture for the masses and I know it won't be to everyone's taste," she says. "Some people might hate it, others will love it, and that is what I love about designing – I'm looking for that response."