Wood Fever

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Design meets the natural qualities of beech, ash, iroko, mahogany and ebony, in some of the most iconic products of this “supersalone" 2021

Wood, the natural material par excellence, is the star of this “supersalone” in a nod to a green utopia, allowing us to dream of greener cities (and houses), thanks also to the partnership with Forestami – Milan’s “urban forestation project,” which has brought hundreds of tall trees to the fair, including acers, horse chestnuts, gingko biloba, golden robinia, limes and so on. Not even the companies filling the lanes of this original “supersalone” layout are immune to this bolt of lightning – that wood which, when employed for furnishings, large pieces of furniture, accessories and coverings, has always warmed up and made our homes welcoming – as well as the restaurants we love and the hotels in which we let ourselves be pampered.

Mattiazzi (Pav 04, Stand F 08), the company from Northeast Italy, where chairmaking know-how, with its blend of tradition and new technologies finds its apogee, is showcasing the new Filo chair, designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. The solid wood frame (available in yellow, green, grey and black) is finished off with paint, wax or oils of natural origin and sets off the seat and backrest in fabric cord that creates an almost typographical pattern beautifully. The designers say that the exercise, designed to create as little waste material as possible, was to find the right balance between attempting to keep the structure as pure as possible while making it as strong and robust. It took two years to design the right section of the beechwood frame, for which the joints and connections between the pieces were redesigned to be as solid as possible. A chair thought through down to the tiniest detail, yet simple, “made from a few pieces of wood and a bit of fabric!”

sedie Mattiazzi — Mattiazzi, Filo, design by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

Gebrüder Thonet Vienna (Pav 04, Stand C 08) has also brought a beech chair to “supersalone,” but of an entirely different type. An installation celebrates the company’s stylistic legacy, bound up with its steam bending techniques: two rows of n.14 chairs painted black frame a selection of the latest proposals in bold, bright colours on the wall – the Sölden chair, the Sugiloo by Michael Anastassiades, the Bodystuhl by Nigel Coates and the Postmundus designed by Martino Gamper. The real novelty is the Beaulieu chair, designed by Philippe Nigro – in beech of course, ça va sans dire – in which the curves are assembled like a construction kit, coming together to create the back and armrests, so that all it takes is a few modifications to make it into a chair or a comfy armchair.

sedie Thonet — Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH, Beaulieu, design by Philippe Nigro

Of the many new and iconic objects it is presenting at “supersalone” Porada (Pav 04, Stand G 07) – the stand is an unmissable stop during a tour of the fair to check out the latest

proposals in the contract sector too - the collection of Leaf side and coffee tables (spanking new) designed by Patrick Jouin is clearly an ode to natural wood grains. Two different woods, Canaletto walnut and Amara ebony come together to create a three-dimensional pattern on the circular top, which is as intentional as it is unexpected, while the convex leg created by marrying two panels of each different type of wood sits on a marble pedestal, rounding off a totemic composition.

seduta Porada — Porada, Leaf , design by Patrick Jouin

Among the products the Lombard firm MDF Italia (Pav 02, Stand D 26) has brought to the fair, fans of wood shouldn’t miss the new version of the iconic Random bookcase, Random Wood – as it’s named – designed by Neuland Industriedesign. A new Canaletto walnut finish, refined and recherché, clads the iconic piece in the classic 2C and 3C versions, while the elegant darker-veined texture brings out the natural beauty of the wood.

MDF Italia, Random Wood, design by Neuland Industriedesign – Photo by Thomas Pagani

Tacchini’s (Pav 02, Stand L 19) latest product for 2021 is a re-edition of Pigreco, la chair designed by Tobia Scarpa in 1959 – the very first product he ever designed and part of his degree project. Although the designer, who wanted to create an object that would give off a “feeling of space,” built the chair with four legs, according to the established canons, two of these were placed very close together, thus evoking a triangular shape. The chair has been reissued in new finishes and materials to better suit contemporary homes: in Canaletto walnut, also in a limited edition, and in walnut-coloured or dark grey ash.

sedie tacchini — Tacchini, Pigreco, design by Tobia Scarpa – Photo by Silvia Rivoltella

The backrest of this latest collection of Keel chairs is made of biscuit-stained ash. Designed by Mario Ferrarini and Victor Vasilev for Potocco (Pav 04, Stand K 03), with artistic direction by Chiara Andreatti. Keel is presented at “supersalone” as a chair, a stool with a choice of two heights, small armchair and the rest of the furniture, upholstered in rust-coloured velvet brings out the backrest material, while the slender frame of the overall product becomes even more discreet. The chairs were the product of research into the relationship between geometric rigor and organic sinuosity, and the entire collection also comes in an outdoor version in Iroko wood.

The Emilia chair, designed by Andrea Parisio for Meridiani (Pav 04, Stand E 03), is distinguished by its slender outline, its decisive definition, contained proportions and solid wood frame. Meridiani has also come up with a multitude of different finishes, making for almost infinite pairing possibilities. Emilia was designed to have either an upholstered seat in the most disparate of embroidered and textured fabrics or a slender leather surface stretched between the two extremities of the frame, which in this case is available in beech, oak, iroko and beech.

The new T-Bone is a decidedly original small armchair for Ceccotti Collezioni (Pav 02, Stand A 28): the designer Jaime Hayon has devised a system of ready-finished bentwood structural components. The many possible pairings make this piece decidedly “chameleon-like” – the frame is available in walnut, ash or mahogany (the surface can also be finished in shellac), while the upholstered part comes in fabric, skin or natural leather, all in a wide variety of colours. The Árbol side table is a perfect accompaniment to the T-Bone, with its “treelike” structure and broad surfaces, showing off the preciousness of the material and its grain.

Lastly the Archway table from Fratelli Boffi (Pav 01, Stand A 10), designed by Christián Mohaded, brings out the quality of the materials from which it’s made in an unusual and harmonious manner, thanks to its inlaid decoration, which conjures up the organic quality of the natural world. The expressive power of the marquetry translates into a contemporary product in which the very pale birch and the very dark mahogany perform a beautiful pas de deux – protected by the glossy lacquer which safeguards and finishes off both the tabletop and the base.