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Gum Design is an Italian studio run by designer Laura Fiaschi and architect Gabriele Pardi. Together, they have created a diverse portfolio that includes architecture, exhibition spaces, graphic design, housewares, art direction and furniture, the most recent example of which is Mastro, a beautiful work table created for the Italian furniture company De Castelli. The table isn’t available on De Castelli’s site or Fiaschi and Paridi’s, so as far as I can tell the plans are drawn but the table has yet to be built.
The work surface is made of solid iron that’s been acid-etched and bent on the sides to create slotted rails for two firwood trestles to slide in and out of. Personally, I would leave this table assembled all year long. I think it makes a great transitional piece, working as both a work and dining surface, but its space-saving design makes it ideal for temporary projects that require a little extra work space.
In an interview, Fiaschi spoke about her emotional approach to design. You definitely get the sense of the handmade, personal involvement in all of Gum Design’s objects, including Mastro.
“In all areas of creativity you can find excellent things and banal things which seem to dominate thinking in general when it is linked to the function, to the use of things; while we believe that there are other “features”. Let’s talk about emotions and feelings that can involve men and women in their everyday relationships. We think that the products can contain and reveal emotions, lead by their users by their hands towards new experiences, and create a significant relationship.”
