Adapting standar furniture with tailor-made solutions

by Giulia | Mar 20, 2021 | IN THE WORLD OF DESIGN, KITCHEN, LIVING AREA, PRIVATE APARTMENT, SLEEPING AREA

Custom-made furniture and stardar products belong to two different worlds, bringing with them a large repertoire of solutions and projects. Each has great strengths and opportunities, but both also know their weaknesses. Sometimes it happens that these two worlds come into contact, helping and supporting each other. After all, it is well known: unity is strength!

A master bathroom with elegant series furniture.
On the side, made-to-measure valances hide the support rails of the curtains

Standard and customed furniture: eternal rivals? Not at all!

It is common belief that standard furniture and custom-made solutions are ruthless competitors. Nothing true!

In fact, these are different realities that provide valid project proposals to customers, offering them a market capable of satisfying every request. Tastes, needs and desires of customers often interface with intrinsic constraints.
These include: budget limits, production restrictions, delivery times, availability and variety of alternatives.
Within the world of furniture design and production there are in fact an infinite number of secondary aspects that define the strengths, but also the limits of each company.

We can imagine the world of furniture as a range of parameters, at the extremes of which lie the cardinal principles of the two worlds.
On the one hand, standard furniture at super cheap prices capable of destroying any competitive market.
Its philosophy is certainly linked to a democratization of design that exploits large industrial production to contain prices and make its products accessible to all.

At the opposite end, a niche market, linked to the concept of “exclusivity”, chosen for its impossibility of identical reproduction and the opportunity for customization.
The choice of this type of furniture is linked to a feeling of privilege in its availability.

Between these two opposites there are the infinite number of companies that experience design on a daily basis.
Embracing the entire range of the market in this sector would be impossible and counterproductive, leading to poor results both for the manufacturer and for the customer himself.

It necessarily follows a specialization in the type of products and an identification of the reference target.
Precisely for this reason, standard furniture and tailor-made solutions cannot be considered competitors because they embrace different philosophies, targets and production systems. Their relationship is instead collaborative and mutually supportive, making the most of the potential of each party.

Potential and constraints of standard products

One of the main advantages of series furniture is the vastness of the market to which they belong.
This makes it possible to satisfy the tastes of each customer, providing a wide choice of solutions and variants. To this is added an economic advantage deriving from the optimization of production.In fact, by exploiting the industrial production and the repetition of the pieces, it is possible to optimize the production phase in the best possible way, managing to contain costs. This also implies an ever more careful precision and improvement of the single elements.

On the other hand, this specific reproducibility limits the scope for intervention and customization. The world of mass-produced furniture works in reproducible and combinable “modules”.
Customization consists in knowing how to combine the individual elements and organize them in a different way, but it certainly does not allow for specific product customization as in custom-made furniture.

So here are island, peninsula or monobloc kitchens that take on different shapes depending on the environment in which they are inserted.
However, these find their first obstacles when there are architectural constraints or special requests from customers.
Customization does not cover all levels of furniture reading.

This is where bespoke design comes in, offering its attention to detail and custom design.

customed-mirror-spa-sink-standard-furniture

When standard and customed furniture meet each other: a full-height shaped mirror fits into a SPA context with scenographic furnishings from important manufacturers

Works of tailor-made workmanship: a contemporary style kitchen

Where the supply of standard furniture reaches its limit of customization, the flexibility and spirit of adaptation of bespoke furniture comes into play.

An excellent example of this, is this luxury-style house distributed over three levels.
The maintenance and collaboration with Modulor involved different rooms.

First of all, the kitchen, consisting of a wall equipped with full-height doors on the right side of the access and a central island with a design hood. Precisely in this last element, the volumetric composition of the furniture provides a large surface that can be used as a worktop, but it prevents its use of meals.
In fact, by equipping the worktop with doors and lower drawers, it could not be used as a support surface for quick meals, as it did not provide adequate space for the user’s seat.

Finding tailor-made solutions in this example meant creating a lateral niche in the volume of the island. In this way, even with a not very wide depth, it was possible for customers to find the right space to sit comfortably while keeping their legs perpendicular to the structure. A comfortable snack bar for 2/3 people that does not give up on a work surface and support surface.

An important island kitchen modified with tailor-made solutions: a niche has been created in the lower volume in order to use the worktop also as a support point for the consumption of quick meals

The sleeping area between secret passages and princess bedrooms

Even in the sleeping area, custom-made design has found ease to express its experience and personalization.

The classic-style bedroom is characterized by the presence of an important bed with drapery and padded headboard with a fairytale look. Taking advantage of a lateral architectural niche, a desk with wall unit and shaped shelves was inserted in order to make it an integral part of the spatial configuration.

The custom-made desk top is accompanied by a chest of drawers with bands that also acts as a load-bearing element.
This is accompanied by a wall unit with a molded door and shelves in matt white lacquered MDF that reflect the boiserie.

Even the bedside tables take up the style of the bedroom with handles in customed sheet metal in the shape of butterflies.
The side service bathroom illuminates the room with a glossy white tile wall cladding, crystal shower and pedestal sink with custom wall mirror.

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Every princess’s dream bedroom hosts an important bed with drapery and padded back

details-princess-bad-padded-back-drapery

Details of a small bedroom from large-scale distribution: upholstered draperies and backrests perfectly match bedside tables with shaped sheet metal handles

The desk in the niche takes up the classic style of the boiserie paneling through door moldings

Shelves and doors in white lacquered MDF in warm tones for this classic style desk

The made-to-measure mirror accompanies the classic style design pedestal washbasin

Always in the upper floor, takes place the walk-in closet, whose orange tones give a touch of character and freshness to the room while remaining elegant and impressive.

A retractable mechanism is hidden inside the side structure.
What apparently looks like a support bench hides a flap door with a system of internal channels that allow dirty clothes to be brought directly to the laundry area. This internal conduit channel is also intercepted at the level of the living area through the opening of a door on the external front of the kitchen. What apparently seems to be part of the molded boiserie is transformed into a storage point for the tea towels which, using the internal slope, are taken directly to the laundry.

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Composition of a walk-in closet with elements in series: on the sides hangers and shelves covered in orange leather, in the center a chest of drawers in textured bilaminate

The side wall of the walk-in closet with shelves and hangers.
On the right, the small service bench hides the channel that leads to the laundry

Left: the folding door mechanism from which the conduit for soiled garments starts. Right: the door incorporated in the boiserie that intercepts the path for the kitchen products.

← Industrial style: from the raw soul to the professional mark Classic style: Elegant and welcoming →

Luxury style: care of detail and high quality

by Giulia | Aug 3, 2020 | KITCHEN, LIVING AREA, PRIVATE APARTMENT, SLEEPING AREA, STYLE TIPS

Timeless and always updated, the luxury style is surrounded by refined and elegant interiors. The care of detail goes perfectly with the choice of high quality materials, manufacturing and design.

Zona living in stile luxury. GEZA Gri e Zucchi Architettura, DLN Penthouse. Foto: Gianni Antoniali

Careful furniture selection for this Modulor dining room

Burnished brass details enrich this display cabinet in the living room

The luxury style in the western concept

Speaking about luxury style could means excess and opulence of Arab culture with furniture covered in gold leaves, mirrors and golden mosaics with excessively sinuous lines. It is therefore important to refer of this style in its western concept, which renounces opulence and excesses dictated by a deliberately exhibited richness in favor of attention to detail and refined preciousness. The luxury style in its western sense rather expresses a taste of elegance and uniqueness of the products, often owner-oriented designed.

Plays of reflections for this Modulor kitchen of neutral colours

An entire marble covering bathroom shows all its elegance between linear shapes and polished metals

Finishes and material

Traditional materials are chosen for their timeless beauty, even more if characterized by a fine finish. Without a doubt, the luxury style is the explosion of the marbles in their most colorful veins. Coming from all over the world, they show their preciousness with strongly characterizing ventures or slight chromatic alterations. The precious essences of the wood are also protagonists, often matching refined finishes. These were accompanied by fabrics with particular textures and the inevitable velvets, which have come back into vogue in recent years. The heart of luxury style lies in privileging quality: quality of materials, manufacturing and design. In its contemporary sense then, the luxury style meets brass details, inserts in painted glass and plays of reflection of shiny materials.

The marbles in the most colorful essences are the undisputed protagonists of the Luxury style

Velvets, suede and metal effects for this Modulor-signed bedroom

Inner lighting and wooden textured covering for this luxury wardrobe

Modulor selection luxury furniture and fabrics

Velvet and fine fabrics accompanied by metal finishes enrich the furniture.

An elegant and contemporary 3D finish for this Modulor work

The contemporary luxury style

One of the most constant styles in the history of interior design, it owes its continuous success to the ability of adapting to stylistic changes over the years. Contemporary luxury in particular eliminates even more excesses and extravagances. In combination with the minimal style, it becomes more and more a sort of “added value” inside the domestic interior, standing out for its particularity. It tends to enhance the interiors in which it is, rather than the single product, becoming an elegant but delicate stylistic imprint. Contemporary luxury is a lover of brass finishes, even better if combined with velvets and suede. It meets stylistic variations according to the context. It manages to appear light and delicate if contextualized in essential interiors or with a strong impact if set on dark color ranges.

Care of detail and high quality materials for this prestigious Modulor work in Hanoi, Vietnam

Burnished brass and velvet define the details of this Modulor master bedroom

Selection of contemporary luxury references, between feeble chromatical palette and particular material finishes

Choosing the luxury style means choosing quality materials and refined design. Perfect for those who are addicted to details and a lover of elegance. Suitable for determined personalities and people fascinated by perfection.

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An Emperador Marble kitchen

by Alice | May 22, 2020 | KITCHEN, LIVING AREA, LIVING THE HOUSE, PRIVATE APARTMENT, STYLE TIPS, WORK IN PROGRESS

A monolithic kitchen, entirely covered in marble, shows all its elegance in a project that emphasizes such a precious and distinctive material. Walls and surfaces, in Emperador marble, are recognized for their very dense and varied white and beige streaks on a warm gray / brown background. Such a sophisticated design line can only be accompanied by modern and innovative mechanisms.

THE PROJECT

The renderings provided by Tanya Kutzmina, a cosmopolitan Russian designer we had the pleasure of working with, immediately show the intrinsic characteristics of the project. The concept of the master kitchen, part of an open space, encloses high walls and monolithic surfaces in an ambivalent environment, inert at first glance but able to transform itself into an equipped and representative kitchen for the guests of the house when needed. Two types of marble alternate in this large space. On the one hand, Emperador dark marble, which symbolically defines the functional parts of the kitchen, becoming a scenographic setting for “acting”. On the other, Emperador light marble, clear and bright, which amplifies the perception of the environment by reflecting the light of the large windows and embodies the essence of everyday life. Living and acting therefore become the reading keys not only of the stylistic composition of the rooms, but also define the way to relate to them.

THE COMPOSITION

The structure of the marble kitchen is an island and the central monolith opens with a drag mechanism that becomes a snack corner. Opening, it also shows a cooking area with three different types of fires: induction – teppanyaki – grill. On the internal front there are drawers entirely covered in the same marble and equipped with cutlery holders, crockery holders and potholders. Above it stands a splendid custom-made hood in stainless steel, as large as the island, equipped with filters and LED lights. All made with laser cuts and remote engine preparation. The dark marble of the island spreads into the floor and flows into the back wall. An ingenious book system opens the central doors folding up into two side compartments and revealing a broken interior that houses a sink, a dishwasher, baskets inside the doors, an oven column and exposed shelves with underlying LED lighting. The stainless steel top and back give a touch of modernity between the eternal elegance of the Emperador dark marble with which the surrounding surfaces are covered. On both sides, two large and spacious refrigerators enclose the central block of the kitchen. The covering of the Emperador light doors continues along the entire adjacent wall, hiding an access door to the second service kitchen. At the center of the room, a huge table stands for several diners in dark Emperador with bases made to measure in stainless steel and marble. These counterbalance both visually and physically the grand plan.

THE REALIZATION

Creating this kitchen was a new, arduous and stimulating experience. We accepted the challenge by finding solutions to the various executive problems that immediately arose. Among these, the union of two materials, wood and marble, so different in finishes, weights and typological characteristics. Obtaining the dynamism of the kitchen, with mechanisms suitable for the fluid movement of the parts and the arrangements on site for their perfect functioning with different materials and systems, required a lot of attention and an active collaboration with Tanya in Moscow, who followed the construction site. The marble, which was provided to us by Marmi Galli, a company with which we have been collaborating for long time, was used in 2 distinct thicknesses: 20 mm with 45° cuts to cover all the structures, and 5 mm thick screened for the application on the retractable doors to guarantee the functioning of the mechanisms with respect to the weight. We have taken great care of the quality of the mechanisms and the guides, both manual and motorized, especially for the doors of the shelf and the island snack top. We leave this video of Tanya the task of accompanying you in the living area and guiding you to the kitchen. Seeing it accomplished is a great emotion for us and awards our commitment.

The Moscow marble kitchen project fits perfectly into the series of single-material projects we have made. Among them, a kitchen entirely covered in steel.

← We are back in work! Discovering Scandinavian style: essential and functional →

A quick ovrview of the 40 Years of Modulor

by Alice | Sep 11, 2016 | IN THE WORLD OF DESIGN, PRODUCT DESIGN, SPEAKING OF US

Today we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of foundation of Modulor! Exactly forty years ago the young Carla started her business in a small shed in Torre Boldone.

In those years she has lived, observed and taken inspiration for his projects from the furnishing trends that have followed one another quickly. But what has changed in people’s taste over the years? Carla grows with the eccentricity of the 60s. An explosion of colors as a response to the austerities of the war, the term kitsch is coined precisely because of these contrasting combinations. There are geometric patterns in the floors and plastic is chosen as an innovative and exclusive material, to be used in any sphere and shape. Ps: Remember that in the 60s Andy Warhol’s Pop Art was born with the exaltation of the main symbols of the consumer society. In the 70s the teenager Carla participated in the Hippie movement also called “Children of the flowers”. The unbridled use of floral symbols and geometric and psychedelic shapes are the fundamental stylistic signatures of those years. The plastic is put aside for a moment and in its place more traditional materials are reintroduced, such as leather. The latter is mainly used in its natural color and metals.

THE CAREFULNESS OF THE 80’S

And finally we arrive at the doors of the 80s when the Modulor Company was born with the aim to become a guideline for architecture and interior design on a human scale, relating in harmony and in symbiosis with the needs of its customers. The term “Le Modulor” is coined directly by Le Corbusier around the 50s of the twentieth century, which defines a scale of proportions derived from human measurements. What was avant-garde forty years ago, is now back in fashion. A style characterized by the permanence of bright colors, sometimes even in opaque colors and the use of a mix of contrasting materials, which find themselves happily living together in the same room. In furnishing accessories, handles and profiles, in wood or metal, take importance. In fact, they are not left in a natural finish but painted in colors such as red, very fashionable, or even green and black. The living area becomes the fulcrum of the home and there cannot be missing large leather sofas, chairs and designer lamps. It is precisely in recent years that there is a surge in the production and variety of design objects for the living area. Deserving of mention, the famous pop works of Alessandro Mendini, while for the most sought after, we remember icons of design with a modern style. Achille Castiglioni’s unforgettable Arco or Parentesi, Marcel Breuer’s Wassily armchair, or Mies Van der Rohe’s Barcellona are just a few examples. The first soft colors are also introduced and the new material that takes the place of traditional glass is synthetic plexiglass.

SOBRIETY IS BACK IN THE 90’S

The furniture leaves the rounded shapes and sinuous lines that had distinguished them in previous years to return to simple, essential and minimal geometric shapes. Smooth and shiny surfaces are in fashion, here in fact the first bases are laid for what will be the essence of contemporary furniture. The colored plastic makes space entirely for classic materials such as glass, wood and wrought iron. Even the bright colors of previous years leave room for the soft hues, which from the walls expand to the furnishings and accessories. An explosion of beige, blush and pure white that sometimes matches with dark colors such as anthracite gray and black. The carpet and the parquet, two opposite floors live in harmony and the colored synthetic fur spreads mainly on armchairs and poufs as material. The functionality of the elements, which are designed for the purpose of the activity to be carried out by them, still leave room for creativity, especially in the original and unique forms.

THE YEARS 2000 AND THE MULTIFUNCTIONALITY

The sizes of the houses are reduced in the projects of new apartments. The airy houses of the previous eras are downsized according to need and practicality. This entails rethinking the different furniture with a view to maximizing optimization for spaces and functions favouring convertible sofa beds, extendable tables and consoles. The materials become more flexible and lighter. There is in fact the passage from solid wood, heavy and subject to deformations related to humidity, towards the MDF or blockboard, a high quality compound excellent for lacquering. Various furnishing trends are beginning to emerge such as Urban or Hi-Tech, which leave space to essential lines and industrial materials. Technology officially enters the world of interior design, becoming a functional and aesthetic feature. In total opposition, the Bohemian style is back in vogue and the Shabby Chic is born, the “elegant scruffy”. Vintage antique furniture dominates the interior of the house, defining a retro taste revisited in a contemporary perspective.

MODULOR PREPARES TO FACE THE NEW STYLISTIC CHALLENGES OF THE BECOMING YEARS

What will the trends of the coming years hold for us? Surely fashion will increasingly become part of all areas related to design, including the interior. The trendy nuances will then dictate the rules, such as more feminine colors or green accents, which also recall the eco and bio trend. More and more wallpapers with geometric graphic will be used, which can already be found in tiles and accessories, or with large floral motifs. Velvet will be one of the materials that will characterize the years to come, being the perfect blend of luxury and comfort to which different finishes of metallic materials, such as silver, gold, tin and copper will be matched.

CONCLUSIONS

In all these years curiosity has never left Carla who today, with all of us, is looking forward to discovering what the new trends are and offering them enthusiastically to her customers. The 40 years of Modulor’s activity are only a starting point and an incentive for continuous growth and research. Ps: even if the years go by Carla is always young, she’s never gets old 🙂

← New corners incoming for the Tiziana Fausti luxury store Mini version of Omelette table →

New corners incoming for the Tiziana Fausti luxury store

by Giulia | Aug 25, 2016 | RETAIL, CONTRACT AND RESTAURANT, WORK IN PROGRESS

After the success of the single-brand corners included in the 2015 set-up, one year later Tiziana Fausti’s luxury store widens its boundaries to host four new brands.

The provision of the exhibition layout design by the architect Marco Costanzi in August 2015 was a great success especially regarding the white boxes of the corners located on the back wall. (if you missed the article, click here) For this reason, the multibrand Tiziana Fausti wanted to expand its woman’s commercial space by acquiring a new wing of the historic building previously occupied by the Ciao restaurant chain. The goal is primarily to add four new single-brand corners with the same approach as the existing ones. To achieve this, it was decided to demolish a wall near the lift and set up new white boxes. THE NEW CORNERS Assigned to the luxury brands of Dolce & Gabbana, Yves Saint Laurent, Chloè and Stella Mc Cartney, they all respond to the same external approach. Full height black waxed iron panels with laser-cut and blacklit logo. For the internal layout, as in the previous white boxes, we set-up internal lighting with directional spots, air conditioning and any electrical outlets. In the event that the furniture provided by individual brands in accordance with their visual identity have illuminated display cases, it is necessary to provide wall-mounted electrical outlets in order to prepare them for attachment. For the air conditioning, recessed ducts have boon arranged in the false ceiling which can sometimes be changed depending on the need. This is the case of the Dolce & Gabbana corner, whose air conditioning system renounces the ducts preferring shaped shells along the perimeter, Even the side walls and the ceilings have to be structured in order to possibly support the weight of internal coverings. Once again, the corner of Dolce & Gabbana offers an excellent example with the veined black marble covering. The preparation and the internal project of the corners are entrusted to the visual designers of the respective brands. Here are some photos work in progress N.B. Photos of the completed corners have been included after the inauguration on 9^th September 2016.