Objects and people: Giorgetti's cultural codes

/ Design /

The creative process at the Giorgetti headquarters in the Lombard town of Meda at via Manzoni, 20 does not pause even in quarantine: the legendary brand continues to contribute to the culture of modern design. We will talk about the brightest objects from the polyphonic collection of 2020, each of which is able to meet the most subtle life needs of a modern citizen, exploring and mixing signs, languages ​​and traditions.

The values ​​under the slogan "Made in Italy" and the 122-year history of the company are a precious heritage that Giorgetti makes available to the creative conditions of designers from all over the world year after year.

Traveling from East to West, from Japan to the United States, through Europe, the brand presented two new collaborations this year - with the great Adam Tikhany, who combines the traditions of the Old World with a typical New York lifestyle, and with the Japanese duo Setsu and Shinobu Ito with their dynamic and innovative language and ability to work with charming smooth, elegant lines, combining oriental culture with pure Italian style.

Carlo Colombo

At the same time, Giorgetti continued cooperation with major Italian designers, who for a long time contributed to the aesthetic experience of the brand, offering products with a timeless design and bright individuality, able to communicate with each other and be updated with the help of materials and combinations. Carlo Colombo, Leonardo Dainelli, as well as the company's own research and development department created new objects for the living room, dining room, night area, home office and garden.

"Ingenious design is 30% elegance, 30% culture, 30% technology and a little irony", -

 

Carlo Colombo

As usual, for several years the world of Giorgetti has been replenished with decorative items from the Atmosphere collection, created to enrich the unique and refined atmosphere cultivated by the brand. This year, for the first time, the collection was replenished with works signed by Carlo Colombo, Adam Tykhany, Setsu and Shinobu Ito.

 

Spaziotempo

"Genius design is 30% elegance, 30% culture, 30% technology and a little irony," Carlo Colombo once said, paraphrasing his mentor. In his time, this graduate of the Milan Polytechnic University, who studied under Achille Castigliona himself, was discovered by another well-known Milanese, Giulio Capellini, who gave a path to life for many stars of modern design. And although Colombo is an Italian to the core, whose DNA literally contains academic classics, he works in the spirit of minimalism, preferring a black and white scale, simple laconic forms, clear clean lines. He is attracted by the Bauhaus aesthetics of the Weimar period (1919), when Gropius and his colleagues developed things that are understandable to everyone, and he admires the architecture of Mies van der Rohe. "I'm interested in everything: I'm ready to design a house, a table, a stove or an iron," he says. Therefore, Colombo has contracts with almost all famous brands.

Spaziotempo table lamp, Giorgetti Atmosphere collection, Canaletto walnut, Calacatta marble, glass, design by Carlo Colombo, 2020.
Spaziotempo table lamp, Giorgetti Atmosphere collection, Canaletto walnut, Calacatta marble, glass, design by Carlo Colombo, 2020.

Spaziotempo table lamp, Giorgetti Atmosphere collection, Canaletto walnut, Calacatta marble, glass, design by Carlo Colombo, 2020.

This year, Colombo designed the elegant Spaziotempo table lamp for Giorgetti, subtly capturing the spirit of noble asceticism characteristic of the factory's objects. Visually, it is a wooden square shelf-pedestal, on which a layer gracefully rests in a special recess. It is made of Canaletto walnut, the base is golden Calacatta marble, and the spherical diffuser is made of double glass: on the outside it is smooth, reflective, soft bronze shade, and on the inside it is textured white. And what is the ideal studded connection of body parts!

 

Silver

Carlo Colombo's second novelty for the Giorgetti factory is the tubular Silver pendant lamp, beautifully suspended on leather straps, available in three colors: powder, anthracite, and taupe (grey-brown). The diffuser tube is made of borosilicate glass with an opal coating and is attached at both ends to wide metal terminals with a tin finish. The LED system inside provides uniform illumination over the entire surface of the glass rod.

Silver pendant lamp for the Giorgetti Atmosphere collection by Carlo Colombo, 2020.

Silver pendant lamp for the Giorgetti Atmosphere collection by Carlo Colombo, 2020.

Such details as metal fragments and leather straps with beautiful stitching, echoing the rest of the brand's furniture, allow Silver to easily fit into any interior concept offered by Giorgetti.

Silver pendant lamp for the Giorgetti Atmosphere collection by Carlo Colombo, 2020.

 

Amazon

Roberto Camby is a sculptor, painter, glass master and ceramist, whose name is associated with modern Italian ceramic art. His works are eclectic and include the use of various techniques. Experiencing a craving for pop art, the master spices it up with a fair share of humor, while always considering his works in the context of their interaction with the surrounding space. Giorgetti's ability to find unusual forms and unexpectedly use familiar materials attracted Kamba's work. The result of cooperation was several series of ceramic sculptures.

Giorgetti's ability to find unusual forms and unexpectedly use familiar materials attracted Roberto Camba's work

Roberto Camba

The last of them - Amazonia - is inspired by the flowers of the Amazon rainforest, or rather, their special feature is that they intertwine their roots, joining together to prepare for flowering. The Yanomami tribe has a custom every year to carefully cut these roots and weave them into the children's hair, which symbolizes the deep connection between man and nature. The image of these plants inspired Kamba to make a phytomorphic sculpture from white ceramic glazed modules with a metal core.

Modular sculpture from the Amazonia series, Giorgetti Atmosphere collection, ceramic, metal, designed by Roberto Camba, 2020.
Elements can be adjusted and combined with each other, building, for example, a composition with one or several stems

Modular sculpture from the Amazonia series, Giorgetti Atmosphere collection, ceramic, metal, designed by Roberto Camba, 2020.

Elements can be adjusted and combined among themselves, building, for example, a composition with one or several stems. Amazonia is suitable for both residential premises and winter gardens.

 

admiral

Italian designer Leonardo Dainelli works with his wife, the architect Marcia. A distinctive feature of their approach is the use of manual production methods, expensive materials and clean lines in combination with international aesthetics and references to the works of masters of Italian industrial design. And the different points of view of the spouses help them to work on any project comprehensively, regardless of whether it is an interior, architecture or object.

Leonardo Dainelli

Dainelli recently expanded the Amiral series he created for Giorgetti, inspired by a timepiece. He added a mirror to the bookcase and tables that appeared in 2019 — as a continuation of the factory's idea of ​​offering a complete living environment. The item he invented is a combination of a mirror, a hanger for outerwear and a large storage pocket.

Multifunctional rack-mirror from the Amiral series, Giorgetti, ash, leather, metal, design by Leonardo Dainella, 2020.

The elegant design is made of ash, the panels and accessories are finished with leather, and the metal inserts emphasize the beauty of the connecting nodes

The elegant design is made of ash, the panels and accessories are finished with leather, and the metal inserts emphasize the beauty of the connecting nodes. At the same time, all stylistic features of the collection, including smooth forms and rational use of leather and wood, have been preserved.

Multifunctional rack-mirror from the Amiral series, Giorgetti, ash, leather, metal, design by Leonardo Dainella, 2020.

Host

Adam D. Tykhany was born in Romania, grew up in Israel, but settled in New York a long time ago. He is known for designing the interiors of the world's most luxurious hotels and superyachts, so sophistication is the main synonym of his work. The designer also collaborates with such brands as Christofle, Kartell, Poltrona Frau, Molteni&C and Bernardaud.

Adam D. Tykhany

Tykhana's first project for Giorgetti was Host - an original interpretation of a bar table, referring to the atmosphere of New York clubs of the 50s, the ritual of making cocktails, but also the bourgeois image of the most respectable European houses. Its silhouette in retro style is complemented by a cart, which turns Host into a universal object that perfectly adapts to any space - both residential and contract, regardless of whether it is classic or contemporary.

Host bar cabinet with trolley, leather, solid Canaletto walnut, glass, metal, design by Adam D. Tyhana for Giorgetti, 2020.

Host bar cabinet with trolley, leather, solid Canaletto walnut, glass, metal, design by Adam D. Tyhana for Giorgetti, 2020.
Host bar cabinet with trolley, leather, solid Canaletto walnut, glass, metal, design by Adam D. Tyhana for Giorgetti, 2020.
Host bar cabinet with trolley, leather, solid Canaletto walnut, glass, metal, design by Adam D. Tyhana for Giorgetti, 2020.

The round body of the bar cabinet is finished with leather and decorated with solid Canaletto walnut and visible stitching. Inside there are two shelves with exquisite metal details and a place for bottles and glasses. The wooden table top with a round marble insert cantilever extends beyond the "column" of the cabinet and is equipped with a rotating box at the free end, under which a three-wheeled cart with a fixed upper and lower tray is located.

 

Kiri

Continuing a series of cultural collaborations, the Giorgetti factory attracted a married couple of Japanese designers Setsu and Shinobu Ito, who have long lived in two cities - Milan and Tokyo. In their works, they subtly combine the poetics of Japanese design, manual labor and high technologies. The duo Setsu & Shinobu Ito developed a bar cabinet called Kiri for the brand. The Japanese have a tradition of planting a kira tree when a daughter is born in the family. It grows together with the girl, and when she gets married, it is turned into a closet so that the bride remembers her origin in her future life.

Setsu and Shinobu Ito

Kiri bar cabinet, marble, canaletto walnut, bronze, designed by Setsu and Shinobu Ito for Giorgetti, 2020.

Kiri bar cabinet, marble, canaletto walnut, bronze, designed by Setsu and Shinobu Ito for Giorgetti, 2020.

Kiri attracts with its non-standard sculptural form. On the outside, it is finished with vertical strips of Canaletto walnut, cut on high-precision CNC machines. From the front, they are neatly lined up in the curved surface of two doors equipped with holders for bottles and glasses. The interior drawers and handmade shelves are finished with leather, the tabletop is carved from marble, and the handles are cast from bronze, while they are processed and polished by hand, which once again demonstrates the brand's scrupulous approach to the choice of materials and details of technology. By the way, the space inside the cabinet is illuminated by an LED system.

 

See also:

«Giovanni del Vecchio: "Telling the world about 122-year history is a privilege"»

«Antonio Citterio: 35 years of excellence with Arclinea»