In December 2014 Comforty met for the first time Alessandro Mendini and decided to invite him to work with them on special pieces. Paweł Kubara, Design & Communication Manager explains us the history of this lovely collaboration.
 
« A. Mendini and his brother have a long story of relations with Poland; they participated in the study trips during the reconstruction and redesign of the capital – Warsaw that was demolished in 84% during World War II; they visited then the Office for Capital Reconstruction, and other institutions responsible for urban and architecture modernization plan.
 
Alessandro Mendini collaboration is also a nice continuation of his previous experiences with Polish designers. Dorota Koziara, with whom we are working on Comforty stands and some products, had worked in Atelier Mendini for almost 10 years. Maja Ganszyniec, the designer of Mellow collection, this year novelty, spent 4 months in the atelier.
 
In 2004, at the occasion of the EU accession, the first big exhibition of A. Mendini was curated by Dorota Koziara. In December 2014 his huge retrospective was curated also by Koziara in Wroclaw Architecture Museum. And this is when we met for the first time and decided to invite Mr Mendini to work with us on the pieces for Comforty.
 
The idea for the pieces was to create a jewelry like, precious objects that will have a very contemporary use in the interior. I also dreamed about the « contra point » to the pieces by younger generation of designers working with us this year; a piece that would contain all the characteristics of Comforty brand – it’s feeling of sophistication mixed up with modern thinking about the function and technology; our references to the traditional craftship, techniques and use of wood blended with the contemporary spirit, that Comforty has thanks to the collaboration with the talented young designers from across the Europe, from the different design and cultural circles.

Mendini took this opportunity to propose something that will bring back the old craftship technique, but applied here with the modern technology of the precise cutting the veneer on the plotter. The objects receive this very contemporary look, they are light and perfectly manufactured yet very modern and rational. So the artistic, decorative effect seems almost like a play with the past, also in this personal aspect. Besides the artistic expression of Mendini different periods and fascinations, the name refers to Dorota Koziara, with whom Mendini worked on so many projects.
 
By placing the concept of the products designed for Comforty between the traditional and the contemporary, Alessandro Mendini introduced versatile pieces into the collection – tables and stools, and a rare inlayed wood technique. Traditional craftsmanship merged with new technology results in perfect shapes that become a medium for neo-pop and abstract compositions. In a return to basic forms, the archetypal geometry allowed for the design of three cylindrical forms of different heights and diameters that can shift from one function to another. Depending on the need, they are easily adaptable to various settings as seats, tables and stools. The geometric simplicity is made sophisticated through the generous texture of the natural wood – walnut, ipe lapacho and elm veneer.

However, the geometry doesn’t play the key role only as a physical characteristic; thanks to the seize of the surfaces, the form becomes a medium for neo-avangarde and neo-pop graphics, referring to 3 different periods of Mendini artistic activity. «

Here are the words of Mendini about Do-Ro-Ta collection: “The cylinder is a perfect geometric shape. These three little pieces from Do-Ro-Ta furniture feature cylinders of different heights and diameters. The first is a very low, wide stool suitable for two or three people; the second is a conventional stool for one; and the third is a small coffee table. Their decorative look is provided by a composition of three different types of inlaid wood that generate naturalistic and abstract figures with a neo-pop character. The wood confers a poetic and organic feeling on these three objects. They are like geometrized tree trunks brought inside the home.”
 
 
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