FOUR SPANISH DESIGNS THAT WOWED PEOPLE IN MILAN

Gardenias is the new romantic and highly versatile outdoor furniture line by Jaime Hayón for BD Barcelona Design. Gardenias comprises a multifunctional, varied set of outdoor furniture that includes chairs with or without a canopy and benches.

One striking aspect of Hayón’s project is the way it gives the rigid, cuboid aesthetic of most outdoor furniture a softer, more romantic look that’s also adaptable to indoor spaces. The designer’s signature shapes are reflected in the pieces’ graceful, subtle, feminine contours. Indeed, the sinuous pieces are almost ‘Gaudí-esque’ – or should we say ‘garden-esque’? – in the sense that the metal pieces have organic, almost plant-like forms normally found in wood furniture.

Expormim unveils its Tina collection, a fusion of architecture and rattan designed by Benedetta Tagliabue that comprises a rattan armchair and bench. The italian architect has designed these seats making use of the skills of Expormim’s expert craftspeople to produce an elegant, curvaceous design. Made using a complex technique, the Tina Collection presented a challenge to the designer and company, both in terms of their development and manufacture – and represent a highly contemporary take on rattan seating. The pieces straddle innovative design, painstaking craftsmanship and great attention to detail with the precision and quality achieved by cutting-edge technology. The characteristics of natural weaving make Tina surprisingly lightweight and curvaceous – and very confortable.

Vondom captivates us once again with its Biophilia collection made up of chairs and tables in Gaudí-esque shapes designed by Ross Lovegrove. The collection combines references to the cutting-edge, organic design of the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, created by masterly Spanish, Art Nouveau architect Antoni Gaudí, with Vondom’s state-of-the-art, rotational moulding of plastic and research on the digital transfer process in contemporary design. Biophilia is inspired by the late 19th-century/ early 20th-century Art Nouveau movement’s rediscovery of natural motifs and the many organic forms that sprang up in its wake. Thanks to the vivid imagination of the era’s designers, artists, photographers and architects, this movement breathed life into inanimate forms taken from nature.

Agora is the Andreu World’s new, elegante and ergonomic armchair, designed by Lievore Altherr Molina. With a solid wood frame and various options for legs, Agora is an upholstered chair that stands out for being ergonomic and comfortable, making it perfect for relaxing, reading, listening to music and thinking. The chair has the option of standing on a swivel base in polished aluminium, a solid wood swivel base or on four wooden legs – a variety of styles that mean it can adapt to many interiors, both domestic and public.