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Arper will introduce new products launched at I Saloni Milan 2013 and open the doors of its London showroom at Clerkenwell Design Week, the UK’s leading independent design festival and one of the most acclaimed trade events on the international design calendar.

A 3 day festival taking  place annually in Clerkenwell district in London, the heart of the UK’s design industry, featuring an exciting programme of workshops, presentations, product launches and debates in over 60 showrooms.

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PROGRAMME
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Clerkenwell Design Week
Opening Night Party

Tuesday 21st May
6:30 pm to 9:30 pm

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Talks with Designers:

Jeannette Altherr from studio Lievore Altherr Molina talks with Constantin Bjerke, founder of Crane.tv, about the inspiration behind Arper’s identity and products: from Catifa to Ply.

Wednesday 22nd May
6pm to 7pm

Please confirm your partecipation to the event of 22nd of May by clicking here

“I like to think of a product like the work of an unknown hero.”  (James Irvine)
Marialaura Irvine in conversation with Johanna Agerman-Ross, editor of Disegno, about the work of James Irvine.

Thursday 23rd May
6 pm to 7 pm

Please confirm your partecipation to the event of 23rd of May by clicking here

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Where:
Arper Showroom
11 Clerkenwell Road
London EC1M 5PA
london@arper.com

What does it mean to make an edition? Is it necessary to recreate the object identically? Follow the steps of the past in lockstep and forgo the innovations of the present? Is it more important to keep the spirit of the original or its original technical attributes? How closely linked are ideas and ideals to technical processes?

Arper’s support of the exhibition “Lina Bo Bardi: Together” presented the company with these interesting questions. The exhibition–curated by Noemi Blager– combines the art and craft of artist Madelon Vriesendorp, filmmaker Tapio Snellman and the work of design collective Assemble in an installation that presents a vibrant reenactment of Bo Bardi’s spirit and design philosophy. Blager saw the potential for Arper to participate in a similar capacity and engage with the Instituto to make an edition of the Bardi’s Bowl Chair.

In the spirit of this unique creative collaboration and Lina’s design philosophy of open engagement with culture, place and people, Arper embraced the unique opportunity to investigate and interpret one of the designer’s most celebrated creations with the aim of evoking the spirit of her creation, while at the same time expanding the design to suit Arper’s modern methods of production.

Designed in 1951 in Bo Bardi’s adopted home of Brazil, the Bardi’s Bowl Chair is an icon of Lina Bo Bardi’s adaptive style. Like much of Bo Bardi’s work, the Bowl Chair was not created to be a staid luxury product, valued for its design value alone, but as an affordable and flexible object created to seamlessly integrate into any environment.

With the combination of the bowl and base, the modular chair could be positioned to perform myriad functions. Upright and gathered round a coffee table, the chair becomes a catalyst for social interaction; angled downwards, a nest to submerge into with a good book. When set with opening perpendicular to the floor, the chair becomes a cradle for a sheltered nap. Balancing the worlds of industrialized fabrication and the individualized object, Bo Bardi envisioned the Bardi’s Bowl Chair as flexible in structure while universal and essential in form. But, as with all of Bo Bardi’s designs, the ultimate emphasis remains on the human interaction with the object.

Working with the Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi – that after Lina’s death in 1992 became the guardian for the copyright of her designs-, Arper has created a limited edition reproduction of the Bardi’s Bowl Chair dedicated to continuing the designer’s legacy. In the spirit of the designer, Arper has attempted to integrate the same precision and sensitivity in this interpretive reproduction that are evident in Lina Bo Bardi’s renovation of historic buildings like the Historic Centre of Bahia and the legendary SESC Pompéia.

Entering into the collaboration, there was little concrete documentation available on the production specifications of the chair. Only impressionistic and conceptual sketches existed beyond two original iterations—a single black leather bowl chair produced in 1951, considered most representative of Bo Bardi’s vision, and another, probably fabricated later, with a slightly smaller transparent plastic bowl seat and vibrant red patent pillows. Both now reside in São Paulo, at Bo Bardi’s home, the Casa de Vidro, the Glass House.

Bo Bardi did not leave instructions on the precise measurements or details of the design. With the Instituto as design partner standing in for Lina, Arper assumed a creative approach, balancing an interpretation of the original design with contemporary advancements in technique and manufacturing, one reflective of Bo Bardi’s original vision, but better suited to fit the abilities and advantages of industrial production.

Through the course of collaboration, it became clear almost immediately that fabrication processes native to Brazil at the time the Bardi’s Bowl Chair was conceived were almost entirely artisanal. Dimensions, interior structure, upholstery detailing, the density of the foam and the softness or spring in the seat were all up for consideration.

A conversation between Arper and the Instituto ensued through every possible means. Director of the Instituto, Anna Carboncini and design historian, Renato Anelli were critical partners from the beginning. Communication was almost exclusively via digital means. Even so, the universal language of hand gesture, perhaps the deepest cultural link shared between Brazilian and Italian cultures, prevailed. The Instituto communicated the qualities and dimensions of the original in relationship to the hand and the body, physically conveying its relative proportions and qualities, thickness, depth, firmness, softness.

In turn, Arper created a template of considerations to guide the Instituto through the information collection process to capture the data necessary to “reproduce” the original and create construction drawings. A small-scale prototype was made to explore processes and possible improvements.  Most immediately, the materials and processes for the interior bowl were up for debate. The original was hand-forged iron, rendering the form heavy and inflexible, incompatible with the demands of contemporary industrial production and quality control. Arper recommended that the bowl be fabricated in plastic to build lightness, strength and flexibility into the structure. A plastic bowl would receive the complex structure of foam and upholstery smoothly and archivally and facilitate the adequate malleability necessary to construct and fit the leather. Patterning was produced to cut and assemble the upholstery. Every detail–down to the small leather covers placed around the round steel frame of the chair to hold the bowl in place–were reinterpreted.

As an Italian architect who embraced the ideals of the modern movement, Lina’s design philosophy was always one of accessibility, engagement and generosity. In her own words, “To standardize means to extend the possibility, to make it possible that something for a few may be extended to many, means to ‘improve,’ because it is much easier to deeply study a basic organism than it is to study an indefinite, countless series of them.” (1951).

Sharing these values, Arper embarked on the journey to fulfill this ambition: to standardize the production of the Bowl Chair to make it available and accessible to the public. In the words of Arper President, Luigi Feltrin and Claudio Feltrin, Arper CEO and Vice President, “In doing this, we wish to give the Bowl Chair and Lina’s way of thinking a future. The limited edition creates a link between the past and the future.”

After three months of conversation, collaboration, design and testing, Arper and the Instituto presented a single version of the industrialized Bardi’s Bowl Chair in London at the opening of the exhibition “Lina Bo Bardi: Together” in the fall of 2012, while during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2013 in Milan, Arper introduced  “Edition: Bardi’s Bowl Chair – A Dialogue Between Arper and Lina”, a Fuorisalone exhibition at its Milan showroom in via Pantano 30 to present the making of the edition of Bardi’s Bowl chair.

Though the only traceable original that exists is in black leather, there is evidence that the Bardi’s Bowl Chair was produced in many finishes and colors as is reflected in Lina’s many sketches. Similar to Arper’s Catifa, the Bardi’s Bowl Chair was initially conceived in many different colors and finishes that could be recombined in many variations, a very simple and essential idea which still has relevance and usefulness.

For this reason, Arper is continuing to develop the material palette of the Bardi’s Bowl Chair, working to refine the interpretation further with a suite of fabrics that reflect the vivacious spirit of Lina as well as the creative symbiosis of Brazilian and Italian cultures.

With the reproduction of the Bardi’s Bowl Chair, Arper hopes to bring to light the inspiring work of Lina Bo Bardi. Through an examination of this singular and versatile design, we see not only the mark of the designer and her socio-centric philosophy, but also the influence of her work from a historical perspective. We are able to see both the evolution and the continuity of forms only visible through the lens of time.

Finally, in the spirit of Lina Bo Bardi, Arper is donating a number of chairs of the limited edition to support the Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi. A portion of the profits of the remaining chairs will be used to reinvest in cultural and social programs. As Bo Bardi always intended, for the people.

For more information and updates about Bardi’s Bowl Chair visit bardisbowlchair.arper.com

Photo credits: Marco Covi, Varianti, Matteo Imbriani, Instituto Lina Bo e P. M. Bardi

Arper is pleased to present the new products launched in Milan 2013.

When:

Arper Milan Review
16th May 2013
18.00h to 22.00h

Where:

Arper Showroom
Banérgatan 10
115 23 Stockholm
RSVP
Please confirm your participation by 14th May by clicking here

New for 2013, Arper will unveil Aava, an evocative form enhanced by the warmth of wood. The Aava chair was designed by Design Office Antti Kotilainen, a Helsinki-based practice that specializes in furniture design, product design and complete visual concepts. Here, Arper checks in with Antti Kotilainen on the use of wood as a material and his newest design: Aava.

What is your approach to design?

Design work is based–quite inherently–on observation. A designer observes his environment, his own emotions and life-experiences, and also the work at hand. Only by observing closely the world around him–culture and nature alike–can a  designer come up with products that he knows will enhance one’s surroundings and to be of use to many.

What is your philosophy on furniture design?

All pieces of furniture take their size and their basic gestalt from the human body. Furniture design is communication: it mediates human emotions, meddles in with them, and functions as their atmospheric seedbed. Much like music does.

What was the idea behind Aava?

Structure-wise the aim of the collection was to compose a seat component that would work perfectly with a whole range of different bodyworks––technically as well as aesthetically. I didn’t want there to be any joints in the seat. I also aspired to create a component that would look equally appealing as an individual form as it would in different repeating patterns.

What are the considerations behind using plywood as a material?

Bending, folding and bowing plywood is something that I’ve explored a lot in context of my previous works. It gives the designer nearly endless freedom to sculpt wood into shapes wood would never naturally take. Variation in thickness gives the form more character and vividness. At the same time as it gives requisite strength to the actual object that it forms in the places where more endurance is needed.

What is your design ethic?

I believe that a soft-tone can make a more convincing argument than shouting out loud. When a designer has the patience to give his products temperate and soft-spoken expression, he can expect people to respond to them better and more willingly all over the world.

How do you evaluate good design?

Good design usually manifests in organic, effortless and indisputable appearance, combined with practicability and convenience. When the manufacturing process and the use of the product become one with the perfected form one gets an impression of something inevitable and absolute. Absolute as a paper clip.

Photo courtesy of Design Studio Antti Kotilainen

We construct our living spaces around ideas: of how we want to live, what we want to do or accomplish, who we want to be. Space supports our lives not only in reality, but in image. The environment around us is a prompt and a reminder of where we’ve been and where we hope to go.

We assemble bits and pieces from many places and compose stories to live within. We share these spaces.

They grow and change and live with time, accommodate our work and play, and encourage us to be what we might aspire or imagine. A chair, a table, a work environment become the platform of all this living.

Download PDF to read more

Aava Collection Design by Studio Antti Kotilainen, 2013

Aava, born from Arper first collaboration with Finnish designer Antti Kotilainen, transforms an essential and efficient form to evocative through the texture and warmth of wood. Soft curves yield a contemporary silhouette that is both striking yet sensitive, an adaptive form that can speak or assimilate to any environment.

Made for both residential and contract use, Aava’s wooden shell and base are made of precompound wood skillfully milled in variable thickness and sheathed in veneer to accentuate its sinuous silhouette,  in a diverse range of materials, colors and finishes.

Shell is available in birch painted black, birch painted white, natural birch, natural oak color, natural walnut color and beechwood. Bases include wooden legs, sled or chrome 4-legs: all with or without armrests. A stool version of Aava is also available in two heights (65 and 75 cm).

Photo credits:  Marco Covi

Ply Collection Design by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2013

Triangular in form and modular in nature, Ply is a system of low tables and stools designed by the studio Lievore Altherr Molina rendered in fluid lines of wood. Engineered to create a continuous line from top through legs, its reduced silhouette and warm material complement its dynamic form.

Alone or in groups, Ply’s playful geometry of surfaces is like the game of Tangram, shape and color work together to create open compositions.

Tables are available in different table top variations, height (36 cm and 44 cm) in oak, black and red. Stools are available in three heights (44, 64 and 76 cm) for dining and bar applications in two colors: natural oak and black.

Photo Credits: Marco Covi

New Accessories
Song Collection Design by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2013

Music is all in the composition, in the arrangement of diverse tones to create a harmonious, engaging whole. Song is a freestanding or wall-mounted coat hanger composed of eight arms, shaped like musical notes that twist and turn to create diverse, dynamic compositions. Though designed to serve a purpose, it serves well as an object of visual play and geometry, well suited to any space in need of hanging, interest and engagement. Add coats, scarves, a hat and it comes to life.

Available wall-mounted in 8 or 16 arms or freestanding in 8, 16 or 24 arms. Freestanding version is available with three different bases in white, dark gray and natural oak. Fabricated and cast in painted steel and aluminum with slight texture in dark gray.

Photo Credits:  Marco Covi

New Accessories
Wing Collection Design by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2013

Wing, a wall-mounted coat hanger, animates a wall with the flow and movement of its gently striated arms that twist and turn to create sculptural like composition. Together or alone it projects a soft, undulating form, further animated by use, a perfect complement to any space.

Wall-mounted only. Three arms. Available in walnut wood.

Photo credits: Marco Covi

New Accessories: Cushions
Design by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2013

Pillows add comfort and expression to the landscape of Arper collections, integrating color, pattern, texture, and drawing to the field. Graphic themes explore a range of expression between geometric and organic, abstract and figurative.

Printed, stitched or seamed on Kvadrat Remix fabric. 50x 50 cm.  Available in patterns: Lines, Gego, Pleats, Leaf, Owl.

Owl: Design by Geoff Mcfetridge, Champion Studio
Photo Credits: Marco Covi