Poliform’s Harp kitchen
Like a generously large mid-century teak sideboard, the Harp kitchen is crafted like an antique. Hard-launching next spring with soft curves and deceptive weight, it contains, so subtly, most of the working bits you depend on every day. All the elm and oak woods available are high spec, suggesting hand-craftsmanship, with travertine available for the worktop.
Willy Rizzo’s bar table
When inspiration strikes, it pays to pivot. That’s why Willy Rizzo moved into design in the 1960s after starting his career as a photographer in postwar Italy. His line of bar-equipped coffee tables has been copied all over the world, but this piece designed for Cidue is our favourite: a 1970 chrome frame on a black lacquered base that slides open to reveal a mirrored dry bar. He was right when he said, ‘It was not designed to be a gadget. This is a timeless and indestructible piece that last through time.’
Ori sofabed by Catherine Aitken for Another Country
Scottish designer Catherine Aitken designed this truly minimalist multifunctional piece in collaboration with the British wellbeing consultants Ekkist, who recommended the organic coir and wool fillings and brought it to WELL standard compliance. The solid ash backrest can tilt back for a double bed or come off completely for a single, and the cushions are upholstered in organic Kvadrat lambswool.
Gabriella Crespi’s Yang Yin desk
Still ‘incredibly fresh’, according to interior designer Alex Eagle, the Yang Yin table demonstrates the brilliant sleight of hand of Gabriella Crespi, who designed it in 1979. In brass, with a nested lacquered wood bookcase, it suits a library. But in this steel and acrylic version, used by Eagle at her 180 The Thames project in London, it makes the most luxurious boudoir vanity. The titular yin and yang are exemplified in the contrasting materials, influenced by the complementary forces of the universe. It epitomises the opulent drama of postmodern Italian design.
Opus cocktail cabinet by CHHO Studio
Thomas Hostache, Bertrand Chapus and Vincent Jacquart of the young French architecture studio CHHO launched their first furniture collection this month in a trio of textures and tones. This nostalgic-looking wall-mounted cabinet was designed in a sculptural staggered configuration of three volumes: in varnished grey birch, stainless steel and hammered glass. Behind the facade are two compartments for cocktail glasses and bottles.
Coralla Maiuri’s Luminoso table
The Italian tableware designer Coralla Maiuri, known for her artisanal porcelain tableware, went all out for her first modular coffee table, incorporating two Luminoso stools into the nest of L-shaped steel tables. so you can break apart the chunky table into component pieces. Maiuri customises each configuration to the requested dimensions.
Saké sofabed by Piero Lissoni for B&B Italia
B&B won’t sell a sofabed unless it ticks all the boxes. That’s why the Saké is the only convertible sofa in its collection. Released nearly a decade ago, it is almost indistinguishable from its non-bed cousins. But this version transforms with a simple tilt of its backrest. The polyurethane cushions make it unusually comfortable in both positions and the length, at more than two metres, suits anyone.
