In Piero Lissoni’s opinion a material with a high mechanical efficiency is relatively easy to use, but the challenge lies in inventing or in seeking the best performance of a natural material. Why take part in Atanor?
“…because it’s great in that it’s not a real project, because the best ideas are those that emerge almost for fun or by mistake, because it has within it the matrices of thought and the hand combined with the matrix of error”.
The main feature of this object?
“The surprise factor is essential; every object will be different from its twin, the stool will have lots of lookalikes but each one different from the preceding one: the beauty of error. I have tried to design a product with slender, tapering legs, to take the use of wood to extremes”.
Malga stool is a seat in solid walnut or ash obtained from the burl wood of the trunk with three through holes to accommodate three legs in ash secured using ash wedges. The whole stool is finished with natural wax.
“In the end it’s a stool, you sit on it, you don’t, you put your coffee on it, you tip over, you curse the architect, all within the norm…a stool”.
Milan, Quarch Atelier and a chat about Atanor and we soon understood that we approach a new project with the same attitude, working more on the narrative process of an object and its ability to convey emotions than on the object itself.
The underlying idea of Hoplow&Family is “will happiness find us?”, drawing inspiration from a work by the artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss.
The small HopLow designed by Quarch gives access to a world which intends going beyond the boundaries of the “usual” and take whoever possesses it into a magical place.
“…By designing a small bedside lamp, a small “private object”, we have been able to work on the innermost need of man for shade; on the transformation that shade and its inseparable counterpart – light – has on a place, taking it into another dimension, the dimension of dreams.
We think of objects as moods, guardians of a short story that can only be heard by those who are able to lose themselves beyond the confines of rationality.
The true story of Hop Low, (the Disney mushroom that tries to keep up with the notes of Tchaikovsky) is one of a character who is constantly out of step with the others and who, despite never managing to become a part of the group, glosses over the fact that everything he does is wrong: he goes out of step as if he were the only one in step!
The dystonia ceases to be a disorder and becomes the indispensable accent for unanimity.” (Arch. Simone Fumagalli – Arch. Marina Del Monaco)
The shape of the object springs into life from a technical drawing in which every line, studied and justified, becomes the naturalness of a gesture during the production stage.
The quality craftsmanship is highlighted by the blown glass technique, which makes every piece different and therefore unique.
Hoplow&Family. Mushroom shaped lamp consisting of a base and a shade in borosilicate glass joined together by a simple system that enables you to interact with the object and personalise it thanks to a choice of colours and sizes.
A more personal and customized approach to the market that brings together product or fashion designers and handcrafting know-how, passed down through the generations, with a history that has been forgotten over time. To create an ethically correct production chain in which everyone involved in the production process earns his fair share.
“I had fun developing these products, in which I worked to restore a culture that was abandoned when industrialization imposed a new mentality: to optimize and contain costs by increasing the volume of production. This new consumer mentality contributed as a consequence to the exclusion of key areas such as the Alpago region, because they were no longer able to satisfy the demands of industry” (Luciano Benetton)
Why a blanket? Because it is a simple object yet as absolutely indispensable as bread. A blanket of this kind, made with this raw material, that has no artificial dyes but relies simply on the natural colours of Alpago wool, is an exciting and direct product. This is a product that can create a contact with anyone.
We started with a simple linear version like this one, in which the weave is evident and you can see all its defects because the wool is neither bleached nor dyed. The two sides of the blanket are different, one is brushed while the other is felted to respect the traditions of old-fashioned blankets. First, the wool is washed and mixed, then a machine is used to spin it to create the original yarn that is woven on a shuttle loom. Finally the blanket is felted through a process of fulling and brushing, which means the fleece is pulled up and then shaved for a more elegant finish.
The short side, where the blanket is cut, is finished with blanket stitch embroidery, an old-fashioned stitch that has been reinterpreted here in a blue that offers a strong chromatic contrast. The other side is defined by the selvage, also blue, which is woven into the blanket.
The challenge that we took up by Atanor was to study a product that had a story, a goal that we set ourselves with all our projects because we have so many stories to tell, the problem is that very often no one wants to listen to us.!
From the beginning we considered Atanor not as a standard project but as a happy thought without superstructures and limits imposed by the market and, in this sense, also the Merotto Milani approach contributed, giving us maximum freedom to design.
Janus started as a funny game drinking a beer with friends. At the beginning it was not clear its intended use, then, as the project was being developed and its details defined, the more we discovered its many shades nuances: a cube, a nightstand in the bedroom, a small table in the living room , a chair, a small library…
Janus is a customizable product because you decide how it will stay with you during your lifetime.
The structure is in curved plywood oak veneered with a natural wax finish, to enhance the softness and warmth of the material.
The handles in natural leather give a classic touch of elegance.
The continuous collaboration with Merotto Milani srl has allowed to point out the details, the hinge for example is “a project in the project”, it was designed and realized in turned brass specifically to define the opening and closing movement of our Janus.
