Ser-John & Co and SCIC Italia design Canossa, an outdoor kitchen system

Today, outdoor furniture represents a field constantly growing, thanks to the increasing demand from the world of contract and private real estate. In the post-Covid era, domestic spaces have been redesigned to be optimised and more liveable even within the home.

Verandas, terraces and arcades are now places we can experience in our private daily life and for social gatherings and activities too. The consequent demand for furniture that brings to life these open-air spaces develops in this context and here, the Canossa becomes the spearhead since it is the SCIC Italia outdoor kitchen that offers a multifunctional perspective in a modular form.

“Canossa aims to offer the same customisation possibilities as the internal kitchens: the elements are treated in detail, restoring the welcoming and unifying atmosphere of a traditional and indoor kitchen, as we know it. Its different shades allow a harmonious insertion in the most diverse areas, from the country garden to the industrial loft, to the terrace in the city,” explains Maria Costanza Marconi Fornari, Head of Marketing & Communication of SCIC Italia.

Canossa’s creative concept

The modern kitchen is actually a post-war invention. In fact, Canossa allows you to work by contrast in classic and rustic environments, proposing minimal solutions that work separately or that address the theme in a more mimetic way. It is therefore a hybrid that remains modern in its modularity, quotes and reinterprets stylistic features of the world of economic kitchens, adapting them to the logic and needs of the contemporary world. While rationality does not expect aesthetics to be detached from functionality or to come out of a productive logic of optimization, Canossa is based on it and explores an evolved concept of luxury. What makes this design extraordinary, in fact, is its superfluous: metals, handrails, brasses, feet are not structurally and functionally essential elements, but only enrich the kitchen with handcrafted and classic details.

Its metallic matrix requires greater compositional rigour, with strict compilation rules: if on one hand, this appears as a limit, on the other it gives Canossa a much broader aesthetic vocabulary than the one traditional modular kitchens have. The vertical brackets, in fact, interrupt the rhythm of the composition and allow transitions between doors of different materials and thicknesses. 

For the realization of the project, five cast pieces with brass finish have been envisaged, exclusively designed for Canossa. These elements, combined with the 8mm solid metal details, allow the assembly and adjustment of the structural exoskeleton in complete autonomy, which, once finished, is then compiled with the modular wooden structures. The system also always provides a central area for the passage of systems, which makes the work of electrical wiring and the connection of water drains easier and its suspended structure does not preclude the installation of any household appliance, dishwasher included. Through an exclusive adjustment mechanism of the levelling feet, the system provides the management of a total floor out of a square of 22mm which leaves the aesthetics of the entire design intact.