06/07/2021 - Soft and delicate circles as the ripples that spread across the surface of the water. This is the concept of the Ripples bench designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito for Horm. Ripples is a warm and elegant reinterpretation in five different woods of a previous art installation Toyo Ito created in Rappongi Hills, Tokyo.
Over time, Ripples has contaminated all living spaces, giving life to a collection of different furnishing accessories, Tables, Stools, Outdoor Seating, Accent Tables, Nightstands and Sideboards.The circles drawn by the raindrops on the water translate into a flow of wood worked and finished by hand with the care and skill of the craftsman. Ripples is in fact made up of a layering of five different solid woods: walnut, mahogany, cherry, oak and ash. The different chromatic and material nuances emerge from the concave sanding of the plywood. The enveloping seats, sculpted with skill, are finished entirely by hand to produce the polychrome effect.
Bench for Contract Spaces
If the ripple caused by the drop falling in the water is the iconic element that has 'forged' the Ripples bench, it is the flow of water that has given life to Ripples 'Like a River', a system composed of two curved modules suitable for public environments for its infinite possibilities of composition. The lines of the bench become more sinuous, and 'Like a River' multiplies with continuity without ever interrupting the elegant polychrome effect of the woods.
Table and Stools
In Ripples Table, the bench rises up to become a load-bearing structure topped by an extraclear glass top that allows you to visually enjoy the woodwork.
The seat produced by the hand-finished concentric flaring becomes a single element, developed vertically in Ripples Stool, a soft and enveloping complement thanks to the ductility of wood, structured and embellished by the anodized aluminum footrest and available in two different heights (45 and 77 centimeters).
Accent Tables and Nightstands
The combination of wood and glass also recurs in Bifronte, a furniture piece declined in two elements, accent table and bedside table. In this case the extra-clear curved glass frames a portion of Ripples: the wooden shelf in the coffee table and the shelf together with a capacious drawer in the bedside table.
A variation of Ripples that introduces movement is present in Ripples Box, an accent table with storage, to be place next to Horm sectional sofas designed by Ludovica+Roberto Palomba.
Sideboard and Chest of Drawers
The circular motif of Ripples and its five characteristic wood essences contaminate other furnishing elements, embellishing them with inserts that recall the original iconicity of Toyo Ito. This is the case of the ComRì sideboard, a structure with clean and minimal lines, with lacquered doors and drawers. The monochrome effect on the front is interrupted by a small portion of Ripples that represents the front of a jewel box.
Outdoor Seating
Lastly, the bench becomes an outdoor piece in the Ripples Outdoor edition, made of okoumé wood, native to tropical West Africa, a material that fears neither humidity nor light rain. The outdoor bench is made from several overlapping layers of cross-grained Okoumé. Each of the three flared concave seats is finished with a hole to allow water to drain away.
