Design bu Ludovica + Roberto Palomba
Objects
that furnish a home must have the power to generate emotions, activate our
senses and stimulate our curiosity», say designers Ludovica+Roberto Palomba. A
couple, architects and creative designers, both at work and in their personal
lives, with names fairly and unequivocally linked by a mathematical sign, they
have designed industrial items for Zanotta for the past 7 years. And what
strikes the eye is the care for design and the “tailoring” attitude they apply
to even the “smallest” project. Their approach is studied to reveal the fusion
of “good design”, focus on end-user demands and a contemporary vision of
society and emerging trends. Regarding the recent project designed for Zanotta
– the coffee tables Loto and Ninfea (2009) – they say: «We are fortunate to use
a stimulating material like Cristalplant©, which has led to the creation of
special multipurpose items. Loto and Ninfea concretise a powerful idea, the
sense of touch: soft curves, edges that seem to have been manually carved by an
invisible microchisel, and an overall effect of a shaped river stone. The fine
edge highlights its pure form, while the surface creates a special material
effect enhanced by a velvet feel. These special project features could only be
obtained from a silky tactile material that recalled the sensual idea of
function. Likewise, when designing the chair Dora (always designed for Zanotta
in 2005, editor’s note), we wanted the seat to have a visually impressive
volume that would be light to use, seamless and ideal to show off the ambiguous
decorative fusion of polished and opaque. In that case polyethylene was the
ideal material as it was resistant outdoors, rich and never cheap.» For Loto
and Ninfea, a discussion with Zanotta led Ludovica+Roberto Palomba to choose
the ultimate Cristalplant outdoor® for the top and legs. This version of the
material functionally develops the resistance and water-repellent quality of
the composite material. Since they are indoor and outdoor furnishing
accessories, this has proven to be the most suited material as it is compact
and homogeneous throughout its thickness. Furthermore, all surface damage can
be repaired (e.g. scratches, burns and stains). The production process of
Cristalplant© objects is highly innovative even for outdoor® items. The drawing
is first defined in 3D and then a real scale prototype is created to construct
the mould. The moulding process resembles injection moulding. The cavity is
filled with the material, which becomes compact, undergoes catalysation and
finally becomes solid. Being a “solid surface” material, Cristalplant© is
processed until it reaches the desired shape. Solid velvet to be moulded as desired.
