14/08/2020 - To present its Autumn 2020 collection and product updates, Vitra is proposing four distinct environments by four different interior designers or design collectives. Created with a set of imaginary characters in mind, their unique home environments feature products by Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Antonio Citterio, Konstantin Grcic, Jasper Morrison and Jean Prouvé, as well as special editions of iconic Vitra designs.
Signore X, F Taylor Colantonio
Rome-based designer F Taylor Colantonio visualises the living environment of an eccentric and cultivated art historian from Rome who returns to live in his family's palazzo on the eve of Brexit. Colantonio imagines an interior that has evolved over time, where new layers accumulate upon existing ones, where it is almost impossible to tell old from new, authentic from artificial, truth from myth. The space is an eclectic canvas bearing the traces of generations of inhabitants - each leaving the imprint of the fashions of their era. The building, which originally dates from the sixteenth century, was substantially remodelled in Second Empire style in 1865 and features nineteenth-century tile floors as well as ancient marbles and sumptuous drapery referencing the Roman Baroque and the city's love of theatre. This rich collage, which presents itself to the viewer as a trompe I'oeil, reflects Signore X's love for colour and material mixes, for storytelling, and for the arts.
The objects he brings to the space include a Mariposa Corner Sofa and a new edition of the Chaise Tout Bois, the only chair design by the French 'constructeur' Jean Prouve that is made entirely from wood.
Tatami, Charlap Hyman & Herrero
Box 2, by New York and LA-based design studio Charlap Hyman & Herrero, conjures up the dining space of a fictitious collector and patron of art and design who cultivates an intense appreciation for Japanese aesthetics. Inspired by the decadent, bohemian tastes of twentieth-century grandes dames» Pauline de Rothschild and Marie-Laure de Noailles, this romantic character is particularly drawn to tensions between the delicate and the bold, the natural and the industrial, the old and the new.
She combines walls clad in eighteenth-century silk floral damask with a floor lined with Japanese tatami panels while opting for Jasper Morrison's new Moca chair, which is an expression of the British designer's "super normal" approach to design: understated, useful and responsible. Also featured here is Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's poetic Vase Decoupage, a cylindrical vessel that looks different from every angle.
A Possible Space, Gonzalez Haase MS
In Box 3, by Berlin-based architecture studio Gonzalez Haase AAS, everything is in flux. The fictitious inhabitants of this space are a couple of uncertain age, in an undefined relationship, inhabiting a possibly mobile structure in an unspecified - though distinctly urban - location. All the elements are easily interchangeable, in terms of both their location and their function. Yet in spite of its inherent flexibility, the environment remains distinctly domestic, as if frozen in a moment in time.
One of the objects in the expressive, linear interior is a new design by Konstantin Grcic, with an unconventional construction that enables a surprising new way of sitting: the Citizen Lounge Chair.
The Long View, Daskal Laperre
Box 4, by Belgian design duo Daskal Laperre, reflects the character of the fictious Keller family, who - in a time ruled by fashions and fads - subscribe to a slower-paced lifestyle and reject anything superfluous. This is epitomised by their minimal and timeless furniture and attention to detail. The members of this intellectual family take great care of the sparse yet hight-quality items that adorn their work and living space.
Integrated here is the small, iconic LCW (Lounge Chair Wood) by Charles and Ray Eames, which dates from their period of experimenting with complex plywood moulding techniques.
