Designer furniture for kids: a challenge involving magic, function and safety
Clei, Kali Duo Board
From Bruno Munari to Philippe Starck, the history of design has an important page devoted to children
Not just small scale, rounded forms and lots of color. Design for children has to cope with, attract and win over one of the most complicated consumer targets. Because children, still free from cultural influences, have very clear ideas. And they make them count.
On the other hand, precisely because children are growing, they are constantly developing and consequently changeable by definition. Perhaps this is why the major furniture brands – Magis, Riva 1920, Lago, Kartell – as well as those specializing in children’s furniture – Vipack Furniture, Axm Prod’93 – and the brightest designers – from the Italian Marco Zanuso to Philippe Starck and Verner Panton, and naturally including Bruno Munari – do not shy away from the challenge of creating children’s furniture that combines aesthetics and functionality. On the contrary, they are fascinated by it.
Another fact in support of a sector, that of design for children, which is growing, is the number of Master’s courses founded in recent years in design for children, at the European Institute of Design, at La Sapienza in Rome. And the fact that two important publishers like Phaidon and Electa have issued two histories of design for children: Design for Children: Play, Ride, Learn, Eat, Create, Sit, Sleep by Kimberlie Birks and Giro giro tondo - Design for Children edited by Silvana Annichiarico. To please kids, a project has to entertain, intrigue and allow them to get lost in their fantasy world made of imagination and charm.
Magis, with Puppy from the Me Too collection designed by Eero Aarnio, interprets the natural attraction of human puppies feel for baby creatures. Made from rotomolded polyethylene, it is equally suitable for indoor and outdoor use, and available in orange, white, green and Dalmatian spots and four different sizes, all tailored to children, their tastes and spaces. In addition, the rounded forms are optimal for manufacturing plastics because they ensure the utmost strength with the least use of material.
Magis, Puppy, design by Eero Aarnio - Ph. Andrea Mariani
The Rhino Lamp from ecoBirdy also draws inspiration from the animal world, evoking the appearance of a rhinoceros. With its speckled coloring, Rhino casts a soft light that endows the children’s room or any other space with a special atmosphere. Inspired by rhinos, the lamp helps raise awareness not just about sustainability, but also about this endangered species. Rhino Lamp is in the permanent collection of the Young V&A Museum in London.
ecoBirdy, Rhino Lamp
Riva 1920 offers a collection of furnishing accessories in solid scented cedar wood, each worked from a single block, captivating not just for kids. The sculptural design of each piece is inspired by a different creature: dog, cat, rabbit, panda, monkey, dragon.
Riva 1920, Animal Collection
Safety is another essential element of children’s design: Clei, specializing since 1963 in the production of transformable furniture, presents Kali Duo Board, a system with a foldaway bunk bed and maxi desk. A simple movement turns Kali Duo Board into the sleep version without removing anything from the desk top, which tilts and positions itself horizontally under the lower bed. Fitted with a safety device that prevents accidental opening or closure, it is tilted by a gas spring mechanism with a cushioned movement fully recessed into the side of the bed by patented technology and a special manufacturing process.
