POLTRONA FRAU 2017 COLLECTION: REDIFING TRADITION
At the last Milan Design Week (Salone del Mobile) Poltrona Frau showcased its outstanding 2017 collection through which the Italian brand redefines its tradition of over 100 years of history with projects introducing new ways of experiencing the home and workspaces. Rejecting the concept of tradition as a synonym for stasis, Poltrona Frau sees it as an essential legacy of experience and expertise. A solid base that continues to grow, taking root and offering the freedom to conceive new ideas. To contribute to reinventing, era by era, the models of living. Today Poltrona Frau takes this approach to its limit, recalibrating its values and evolving with new aesthetic and functional visions, fully consistent with its identity. Its majestic leatherwork, the essence of the brand, is supplemented with innovative techniques that sculpt the volumes of the Jeff and Jay Lounge armchairs by Jean-Marie Massaud. The craftsmanship of its padding and upholstering creates organic and, at the same time, sculpted forms.
The almost maniacal attention to detail, one of the brand’s key values, makes it possible to achieve new levels of balance. The superfluous is omitted in order to focus on the core qualities of each project and create a luxury that is no longer exuberance but purity. We see this in the REN project by Neri & Hu, an original synthesis of detail and formal simplicity: accessories and seats are constructed like light and sophisticated pieces of architecture. Geometrical and architectural elements act as the compositional compass for the Fidelio furniture, lamp and side tables by Roberto Lazzeroni.
Throughout the collection, Poltrona Frau leverages its historic mastery of materials, all of the utmost quality, bringing out their natural and intrinsic expressive power. As with the Jane table by Jean-Marie Massaud, where the surface is a huge irregular sheet of precious marble that appears to float in space. The notion of comfort, a crucial element in all of the brand’s products, also evolves to take account of contemporary life and the hybridisation of living spaces with home working. The Let it Be project by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba is emblematic. A system of free sofas that can be completed with lots of accessories that multiply its functions and turn it into an island of total wellbeing where you can find your own pace. The two designers adopt the same philosophy for the Mr Moonlight bed. The Chester, traditional icon of the brand, is also updated with new modular options and functions. The Chester Line system, redefined on the basis of the original project by Renzo Frau, can be configured in multiple different ways and is completed with the Fidelio lamp and side tables. At this year’s Salone furniture show, every project offers a new take on the manual intelligence of Poltrona Frau. The brand’s superb craftsmanship is skilfully reconciled with the most advanced technologies. And it takes on a complex project such as the Cockpit seat for workspaces by Ferrari Design Centre, created to celebrate the 70th birthday of the Maranello-based carmaker. Here, Poltrona Frau rises to the tricky challenge of constructing a 3D structure around the core so that the armchair is more than just a regular seat designed for the work environment. The 2017 new projects by Poltrona Frau and the complete range of their iconic and timeless made in Italy creations are fully available trough Italian Home Design sales network.
