Antonio Citterio unveils ingenious furniture designs for Maxalto

Maxalto’s new collection of furniture designs by Antonio Citterio is defined by a muted colour scheme, imagined to create a warm domestic environment.

Since the 1990s, the Italian furniture company and the designer have worked together on collections inspired by early-20th-century aesthetics and contemporary interpretations of neo-classic styles. For Citterio, Maxalto has been an experimental design workshop to research and manufacture his modern furniture vision. 

‘My commitment to Maxalto began halfway through the 1990s, with a precise vision: an imaginary, French-style bourgeois theatrical scene,’ says the designer. ‘With this in mind, my first products were created, bringing together the aesthetic and the functional. Certain points of reference contributed to making this scenario a reality: the vision of designers such as Jean-Michel Frank, able to soften the sometimes rather constraining geometries of modernism; the determination of the manufacturer and its team to achieve the utmost in quality; the expert eye of those creating these pieces through communication.’

The latest collection presented by Citterio and Maxalto is titled Heritage Perspectives. Faithful to his original design ideas, it features novel editions of the company’s classic pieces as well as new designs that comfortably fit within the rich catalogue, with a sophisticated aesthetic and ingenious details. 

Designs include classic Citterio sofas and chairs, featuring soft edges and comfortable proportions, upholstered in textile or leather. Then there are pieces such as the ‘Cuma’ table, a linear wooden console that opens up thanks to a simple mechanism to become a dining table for up to eight guests. Another contemporary example of transforming furniture is the ‘Max’ desk, ‘a classic bureau with a contemporary twist’. Featuring a wooden desk with drawers perched atop X-shaped metal legs, the workspace can be discreetly closed when not in use.

‘After many years of designing, I am confident that the outcome has been the creation of a range of products totally in line with and faithful to the initial scenario,’ concludes the designer. ‘Products which can freely roam the world and its homes, independent of their creator, having become a rich and varied reality in contemporary living which will endure with time.’

INFORMATION

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