Beautifully textured coloured and fluted glass, soft leathers, emerald green and white marbles, flexible storage systems and outdoor re-editions, are the focus of More Space’s final Salone del Mobile coverage as we join the master of refinement, Piero Lissoni, to hear about his new collections that include Pochette for B&B Italia, a chair shaped by minutiae, sophisticated details finessed like a fine leather handbag.
B&B Italia x Pochette
‘Pochette is like a handbag, made of minutiae and details as sophisticated in its finishing as a fine leather goods product,’ remarked Piero Lissoni, describing his new generously shaped leather armchair designed for one or two. Like all of Lissoni’s furniture, Pochette has a slender structure and a clean aesthetic. Its painted steel tub is left exposed to define sinuous curves that wrap around the chair’s leather upholstery, made with a technique inspired by the design of luxury car steering wheels.
B&B Italia x Tobi-Ishi
‘To mark the 10th anniversary,’ explained designers, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, ‘we looked at pre-medieval and medieval buildings in Italy and the incredible use of marble there’. The celebratory Tobi-Ishi table in marble, utilises a material and technique that amplifies the designers’ love of both Italy and B&B Italia’s design heritage. Crafted from alternate slices of matt white Carrara marble and glossy Marquinia black marble rich in refined veining, the new Tobi-Ishi expresses Barber Osgerby’s search for absolute form.
Steeped in the history of Italy's Murano glass craftsmanship, the Spectrum collection by Piero Lissoni for Glas Italia. Photo c/o Glas Italia.
Glas Italia x Spectrum
This year Glas Italia’s catalogue was enriched by designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola, George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, French designer Inga Sempé (their newest design collaborator), and Piero Lissoni. ‘I feel Glas Italia has grown a lot over the years,’ remarked Michelle McEwen, ‘in part due to their collaborations with designers including Patricia Urquiola and Piero Lissoni, but also because their glass innovations are creating products that are very beautiful.’ New to the collection is a sophisticated composite table called Spectrum. Designed by Piero Lissoni, it involves bonding 45° laminated glass slabs that are all different in finish. The bottom slab is mirrored, the four sides are fluted printed glass, with Quadretti printed glass, glass with Masaccio or Botticelli fabric, and finished with transparent glass in a choice of 12 colours. It’s a beautiful piece that is steeped in the long history of Murano glass.
Kartell x Hiray
Hiray by Ludovica & Roberto Palomba takes metal, one of the most important materials for the greening of the Kartell catalogue, and uses the welded wire process to shape it. Metal wires form well-defined yet lightweight structural parts of the collection’s chair, chair with arms, bistro table, armchair, divan and side table. ‘The collection continues Kartell’s exploration of new worlds with a design that places metal in the spotlight and interprets it according to the canons of lightness and modernity,’ remarked Ludovica and Roberto Palomba. ‘Designed for life in the open, Hiray stands out for its advanced technology and for its use of wire, not only to create sinuous, sunny transparencies, but to create three-dimensional forms too.’
The Hiray collection by Ludovica & Roberto Palomba made in metal is part of Kartell's circular material focus. Photo c/o Kartell.
'There were amazing colours in stones and marbles, from oceanic blue to emerald green, rust with pastel hues of lilac, and vivid highlights of yellow and orange.’
Leonie Evans, Group Head of Retail Design, Space
Kartell x Mini Geen-A
This year Kartell’s lighting collection added recycled materials and new colours, and Ferruccio Laviani’s Mini Geen-A reimagined the traditional reading lamp with battery and mains power versions for the table-top. ‘Reading and writing are not things that can only be done in an armchair or on a sofa,’ remarks Ferruccio Laviani. ‘That’s why my little Geen-A lamp is designed to stand on a table, a writing desk, a bedside table, or anything else… more than just a functional object. It’s like a friend that follows you around everywhere but never gets in the way.’
Kartell x Plastics
In a year that Kartell described as ‘outdoor mania,’ the brand’s growing outdoor range included the addition of the refined ‘Plastics’ sofa by Piero Lissoni. The modular divan first designed for indoors is now engineered for outdoor use as well, with a new waterproof frame and a selection of fabrics made from recycled materials.
The celebratory Tobi-Ishi table crafted from alternate slices of matt white Carrara marble and glossy Marquinia black marble by Barber Osgerby for B&B Italia. Photo c/o B&B Italia.
The Opinion Ciatti Pacifico bookcase by Lapo Ciatti, here and following, is the brand’s new wall-mounted modular steel bookcase with the option of a desk for the home office. Photo c/o Opinion Ciatti.
The Geen-A light in tabletop and floor versions, here and following, by Kartell and Ferruccio Laviani. Photo c/o Kartell.
The Hiray collection, and following, by Ludovica & Roberto Palomba for Kartell. Photo c/o Kartell.
The Plastics collection for the outdoors by Piero Lissoni for Kartell. Photo c/o Kartell.
The Spectrum collection by Piero Lissoni for Glas Italia, here and following, mixes mirrored, fluted and printed glass in 12 colour variations. Photo c/o Glas Italia.
The Pochette, here and following, by Piero Lissoni for B&B Italia. Photo c/o B&B Italia.
The Clan collection, here and following, by Piero Lissoni for Living Divani. Photo c/o Living Divani.
'It was a collection filled with strong products well-resolved, with outdoor a key category and a focus on marbles in rich greens and blacks.’
Gavin Williams, Head of Commercial, Space Australia
Living Divani x Clan
On show at the Living Divani exhibition on Corso Monforte, Clan is a new collection of armchairs by Piero Lissoni defined by curved and squared lines described by the designer as ‘pure and rigorous.' Counterpointing the collection was the brand’s range of sustainable, zero impact leathers and new fabrics developed with RaDa® the group behind Living Divani’s Reviva® Collection made in Italy from 100% recycled PET bottles that are also 100% recyclable.
Opinion Ciatti x Pacifico
The Pacifico bookcase by Lapo Ciatti is the brand’s new wall-mounted modular steel bookcase. With four different modules and countless compositions, it includes two wall-mounted vertical steel uprights that can accommodate shelves, bookends and a desk that makes it ideal for a small home office. The name Pacifico is in memory of Pacificus, the archdeacon during the Carolingian age who actively contributed to the development of the Biblioteca Capitolare in Verona, the most ancient library in the Western world still open today. ‘Like a common thread connecting Pacifico and Ptolomeo, this is a tribute to those who have brought culture to the world,’ remarked Opinion Ciatti.
