Chairs: the novelties we saw at the Salone del Mobile

Do we still need new chairs? The debate crops up cyclically, not without a touch of malice, among insiders in the furniture sector. The very high number of models on the market, including the masterpieces that critics and the public have elevated into icons, would certainly be enough to furnish our living spaces for years to come.

 And again, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to redirect energy and skills towards other types of projects, perhaps in more innovative ways? These points are promptly disproved by the facts. Not just because many designers consider chair design an initiatory ritual that it is beautiful, as well as useful to engage in. But also because the process of innovation invariably proves overwhelming and unstoppable. The field of furniture design, which today appears relatively stable, is perpetually being shaken by new requirements, whether for new production techniques, more efficient and sustainable materials, or even a spirit of adaptation to the new tastes and ideas that shape our sense of the home. This is why we always need new chairs, as well as designers to imagine them and make them real.

So welcome the new models of seating that companies are careful to launch each year, such as those we discovered at the last Salone del Mobile.Milano. The Belvedere chair, designed by Ludovica Serafini + Roberto Palomba presented by Kartell, is a good example of how unexpected combinations of materials can startle our expectations. Its carbon frame makes it extremely lightweight with a very slender, graceful profile. But it is the encounter with Vienna straw – after all, Belvedere is the name of the Viennese palace of the same name that inspired the chair – that makes the novelty tangible, functioning as a bridge between past and future. The Babà chair that Emilio Nanni designed for Billiani also has a specific inspiration. As the name suggests, the reference is to the sensuous Neapolitan dessert, which Nanni transposes into the sweetness of small details capable of softening the contemporary linearity of the seat by a few restrained curves (and the many finishes available, including the padded version).
 

By contrast, the A-DC05 chair styled by KEIJI ASHIZAWA DESIGN for Karimoku looks at the specific context of catering. Slightly inclined, the back is designed to enhance the comfort of those who experience the chair during meals, while maintaining a harmonious profile with the elegance of the curved tubular wooden armrest. Other novelties continue to arrive from Japan, reinterpreting the country’s long-standing manufacturing culture with care and craftsmanship. The Shoto stool, which can be combined with the table of the same name, was presented by Maruni, a Japanese company founded in 1928. The oval stands out as the lowest common multiple of the whole line, but also alludes to the island shape that the composition of table and seat embody in the living room. Shoto significantly means archipelago in Japanese, and the hand-crafted quality of the workmanship enhances its bevelled styling. The noble character of wood is further enhanced by the project that Emmanuel Gallina presents for Milla & Milli. As minimalist as it is, his Iris chair in solid wood is a piece that does not go unnoticed, given its three-legged design – always quite rare in a chair – with a rectangular backrest that harmoniously matches the round seat with its organic overtones.