India Mahdavi x Gebrüder Thonet Vienna push the boundaries of bentwood at Salone 2022

At Salone del Mobile.Milano 2022, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna will present their brand new collection for the first time in collaboration with Iranian-French architect and designer, India Mahdavi. The palpable design language of the internationally renowned architect and designer collides with the company’s distinctive curved lines, giving a breath of life to a fresh seating collection, LOOP. In response to the invitation of the historic company Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, India Mahdavi has developed LOOP: a family of seats consisting of a lounge chair and a banquette (two-seater sofa). “Gebrüder Thonet Vienna is the only manufacturer in the world that lets you bring a freehand drawing to life in wood of that quality,” says India Mahdavi.

The raw appeal of a hand-drawn design morphs into furnishings that convey the company’s ancestral skills and know-how. Following the line without lifting her pencil to create a free-flowing form, Mahdavi stays faithful to the movement in this project. The leitmotif of the collection is the circle, which conjures the boundary in space and wraps around itself before continuing its path, leaving two ‘loops’ in its wake. The undulating ‘curls’ that characterise both seats extend beyond the limits of the possible, consequently reinventing the bent beech wood to double its efforts in order to exaggerate its beauty and roundness. LOOP lounge chair enhances the spaces of residences and jovial atmospheres owing to its cheerful and versatile charisma. The wooden structure showcases two ornamental bent beech wood elements that form two circles on the armrests and define the silhouette of the backrest with a playful spiral effect. The padded roller backrest dons the circular element that is characteristic to the collection. India Mahdavi uplifts the meandering forms with a colour palette devised to enhance the furniture designs through an interesting juxtaposition of contrasting shades. Flaunting colours that are not identical, yet similar, the LOOP comes full circle.

Partaking in the great European history that brings tradition and innovation together, evolving its styles through continuous project research, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna has been a protagonist in craftsmanship in the industry. Moving forward with an approach which anticipates modern design, Thonet has been instrumental in defining the visual grammar of contemporary design. Through this partnership with India Mahdavi, the iconic company continues to thrive in the world of design, planning, and working alongside designers that make research one of the distinctive traits of their approach. This vision reinforces Gebrüder Thonet Vienna's role in design research, bridging its past and its future, with the aim of continuing on the road drafted by tradition with innovation.

LOOP will be on display at Salone del Mobile.Milano 2022, from 7th – 12th June, in Hall 20 Stand D02.

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