More than a product, this was part of a project of strategic design, the idea being to produce a limited-number seat for a charity event organised by Save the Children. “With the Contamina project I tried to show how design can contaminate the real world with a message that goes beyond the strategies of product design, however necessary these might be. In itself, the whole phase of thinking things out involves fun and excitement, and this project offers the kind of fun that I’d like to share with all those who are willing to be contaminated by the liveliness of the child we all have inside us.” For the promotion of the event for the “Fuori Salone” section of Milan DesignWeek in 2009 an installation-performance was devised, led by the artist Giovanni Manfredini and a flight of butterflies. The target audience was of course kids. “The masses and voids of the seating and the possibility of creating mini-landscapes, almost like three-dimensional puzzles, offer all kinds of ideas for play.Which is why I wanted to involve kids, for whom play is a form of discovery and knowledge-building. I was curious to see how they would decipher these objects.” The shape of the modular chairs (90 x 90 x h 65/32.5 cm) stems from the symbolic form of the pyramid: “Besides being known for its energy and spiritual power, the pyramid is a universal icon that the senses can quickly decode and re-elaborate. My chair stems from an aesthetic balance which is expressed through function.” Five different variants were produced for the installation performance, representing the five continents in a kind of bon voyage for the journey they were about to undertake. They are still on the road, but in the meantime their easygoing spirit attracted the attention of the company HENRYTIMI, which now produces versions in lacquered wood (for interiors), iron (for exteriors), aluminium or padded (for varied usage) .
dimensions: 90 cm x 90 cm x h65/32.5 cm