Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, but a distinctly subdued palette is defining the latest crop of furnishings the world over. While this inclination is no doubt related to the abrupt global halt experienced during the early months of the pandemic, it’s also indicative of a larger shift in the landscape of contemporary design. In products ranging from sartorial partitions to graphic rugs and modular seating systems, designers are eschewing passing statements in favour of flexible keepsakes — ones that, like the sage green hues that adorn them, only get better with age. As Magis says of its latest release, Costume by Stefan Diez, these epochal yet adaptable offerings are at once “transformable and pragmatic.”

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Costume

Modular. Minimal. Modern. Magis’s new Costume sofa is all this and more. A slender four-millimetre recycled and recyclable polyethylene joint links together the individual elements (with or without arms) for endlessly reconfigurable arrangements, from ottomans and loveseats to the chaise longue seen here.

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Isole

Defined by their oblong conglomerate stone tops, the Isole tables by Paola Lenti feature organic surfaces speckled with complementary hues of lavender, maroon, juniper and pine characteristic of the geological material. Suitable for both indoors and out, the trio rests on gloss-varnished stainless-steel legs.

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Mosaique

An array of pixel-like squares adorns this expansive and flexible Mosaique collection by Belgian designer Alain Gilles for YO2 Rugs. Made in circular and rectangular formats, they are conceived to easily layer together for graphic combinations.

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Plot

GamFratesi’s latest product for Poltrona Frau is a versatile range of two-, three- and four-panel room dividers named Plot. Framed in veneered aluminum tubing, the movable partition weaves together horizontal and vertical bands of leather to create a square (shown) or circular motif. Brass joints and feet add well-considered detail.

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Petit

Though it made its debut in the interior of Paris’s Papi restaurant last year, the Petit chair by Neri&Hu officially launched this spring. In collaboration with furniture brand De La Espada, its streamlined design is available with three or four legs, as well as multiple upholstery and frame options, including the Fjord-painted ash shown.

For more products, visit our Spec Sheets.

Architect Marco Lavit is no stranger to furniture design — take, for instance, the wealth of singular pieces he has completed for high-profile galleries like Milan’s Nilufar. His latest work, the Lemni chair for Living Divani, however, is an exception to this “collectibles only” rule. The designer’s first commercial product, the chair is composed of four semicircles rotated to form both the seat and the base; the resulting structure creates the lemniscate curve (or infinity sign) that gives the object its name. In addition to exhibiting a different profile from each angle, Lemni provides the comfort and casual cool of a hammock with the appeal of a timeless showpiece. Azure caught up with Lavit to learn more about how this sleek, eye-catching seat came to be.

The Lemni armchair by French designer Marco Lavit made its first appearance as a prototype at Paris Design Week in 2020. It’s now central to Living Divani’s new collection.

AZURE: What was the process of designing your first commercial product like?

Wood figures heavily in your architecture and interiors. Why did you stray from the material for this design?

Which comes first for you, form or material?

Named after the lemniscate, or infinity sign, the chair is comprised of semicircular shapes that give it a dramatic presence. Shown in black leather, it’s also available in other cuoietto leathers or hides.

What kind of spaces do you see Lemni occupying?

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Rio Ipanema

Taking its cues (and moniker) from Brazil’s rich history of modernism, Roche Bobois’s fittingly named Rio Ipanema end table boasts a robust carved solid oak base that balances an 85-centimetre-wide lacquered MDF and leather dishlike surface. Bruno Moinard’s 41.1-centimetre-tall design was also conceived with a series of companion pieces — a sideboard and dining tables — to complete a vignette.

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Clemo

Available in three diameters (49, 90 and 120 centimetres) and three heights (49, 31.5 and 28 centimetres), this trio of coffee tables by Massimo Castagna for Gallotti&Radice embraces primal shapes to striking effect.

Their graphic profiles are accented by the finish options, including Ceppo di Gré stone and three marbles (Calacatta Vagli Oro shown).

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Sengu

A deft mix of materials and forms is a signature of designer Patricia Urquiola. This sensibility is on full display in her recent addition to Cassina’s Sengu collection: a set of circular and oval dining tables that pair expressive marble, wood and ceramic surfaces with stone, walnut, oak or blackened oak supports.

For more elemental tables, visit our Spec Sheets.

When Hem founder Petrus Palmér came across an image of a one-off doughnut-shaped seat on Sabine Marcelis’s Instagram account, he instantly knew it had to be part of his furniture company’s portfolio. A short exchange later, a new collaboration with the Dutch designer was born. “I saw this as a great opportunity to work with a brand that has extensive knowledge of upholstered objects,” Marcelis says, “[and] to bring the shape to life in fabric in a completely seamless way.”

It took two years of development to perfect the seamless upholstery of Sabine Marcelis’s Boa.

Marcelis is well-known for her evocative handling of resin and glass. And the creation of the Boa pouffe, her inaugural soft furnishing, was far more involved than initially expected. She quickly settled on the form: a bulbous, ring-like shape that had long fascinated her.

However, as she was more accustomed to working with hard surfaces and local manufacturers near her Rotterdam studio, it took Marcelis almost two years and a dozen prototypes to achieve the desired effect of continuous upholstery. “We made no concession on hiding the seam,” she says of the commitment to her original vision, even with the unfamiliar material.

Eventually, the designer and Hem chose shape- knitting — a three-dimensional process resulting in a consistent appearance unachievable through traditional means — after conducting research with a German textile firm. Besides its aesthetic, the technique also means that no fabric is wasted during production.

The torus shape has long preoccupied the designer, who has explored it in resins and even a rug.

In the end, the completed seat was well worth the wait. Measuring 114 centimetres in diameter and 45 centimetres tall, its foam and wood substructure is wrapped in melange wool in three colourways — Sulfur Yellow, Cotton Candy and Oatmeal — that nod to the hues of Marcelis’s resin pieces.

Boa also exudes the same graphic sophistication as her other works, rendered possible by the standards of quality and innovation touted by Hem. “It’s exactly what makes it a successful object,” she concludes, “perfectly and seamlessly executed.”