The pieces are conceived to dialogue with one other and with the interior. Seats, dormeuses, coffee tables and rugs colonise the terrace, the garden, and go all the way to the poolside: they are Hakuna Matata, Himba and Bao by Roberto Lazzeroni, Dharma and Narciso by Studiopepe, Ginestra, Tia and Girgenti by Antonio Sciortino, together with the tables in Keramiké ceramic developed by the Style Department.
The Hakuna Matata and Himba seats and beds and the Bao clay coffee tables by Lazzeroni look to the solid, animated silhouettes of Brazilian design and African art. "For Baxter, I thought of a series of pieces with a strong sculptural mark, built in sandblasted iroko essence and finished with a protective varnish that enhances the materiality", says Lazzeroni.
"The starting idea was: sofas, armchairs, tables, coffee tables that will not need to be moved inside in autumn or winter...Once the cushions are removed, they will always remain outside like artistic presences. Made of wood, so that over time they blend in with the plants of the garden and end up becoming familiar and reassuring presences. The inspiration for this extended family, with an harmonious mark, comes from Noguchi, African art and beyond".
The Dharma bench collection, with its lacquered finishes, reinterprets the postmodernist style. Four pieces with sculptural proportions, like small garden architectures, emphasized and at the same time downplayed with a candy-coloured glossy-effect finish, inspired by the colours of David Hockney’s paintings and swimming pools. "We wanted to experiment and detach ourselves from the use of outdoor materials that imitate natural ones. We wondered what we would have liked to find around a swimming pool in a hot sunny afternoon. Postmodern architecture meets Pool Party!", says Studiopepe.
Narciso is an outdoor sofa born to welcome. The leitmotiv are the large and soft cushions that characterize the project, which seem to be embraced and held together by a metal ribbon, a discreet yet essential presence.
Linfa is a family of chairs with essential lines, supported by a sculptural plinth in lacquered wood with swivel seat.
The Ginestra, Tia and Girgenti chairs and sun loungers by Antonio Sciortino combine a metal rod structure and outdoor leather cushions. Explains Sciortino: "Almost all of my works arise from a functional need. I never start with drawings but directly with the dimensions that I need and with tricks that are gradually adapted to the construction of the prototype. In the case of Tia, the motif that accompanied me, in addition to the lightness of the iron rod, is the round shape that strongly marks the two pieces. Girgenti carries out its function with as few frills as possible, a rod structure only where needed to hang up comfortable cushions, nothing else".
And then Keramiké, ceramic that appears to be made of water and enamel, in the shape, again, of three small tables. The saturated and glazed surfaces of Keramiké arise from the image of a naked landscape, that features reliefs, slips and paths. A sculptural terrain, like Alberto Burri’s “Cretto di Gibellina”, or a Middle Eastern medina. The tops are shiny but furrowed with soft and harmonious shapes, which blend in with the space they are out into and that they become a vital part of.
The material is fine porcelain stoneware, which becomes a hard, non-absorbent, frost-resistant, wear-resistant, chemical-resistant substance when cooked at 1225 degrees, resulting easy to clean as well.
