Best of milan 2012: pila and pilo by ronan & erwan bouroullec.
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Designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec hit the ground running early on in their career, snagging commissions from Cappellini, Issey Miyake, Vitra and later Magis, for whom they’ve designed two furniture collections including the Pila chair and Pilo table which debuted in Milan this week. It’s almost impossible to say that it resembles their other projects because with a portfolio that includes store design and iPad apps along with furniture, lighting and housewares their work is so diverse it defies categorization. The common link would be craftsmanship and intention of design, which the designs speak to:
“With Pila, our intention was to design a chair that would be brought down to its minimum, using the least quantity of material and assembling items. The plywood seat and back parts of the chair are supported by four very thin sticks in solid wood which are maintained together by a structure in injected aluminum that is almost invisible. The back of the chair, like the blade of a knife, subtly comes into the main frame while guaranteeing high support resistance. We wanted this chair to be as light as possible, to almost float in the space as if it would stay on its feet by magic.
“Pilo answers the same quest for lightness and additionally proposes an open system that allows to compose a table that goes with one’s needs and wishes. Pilo is a table reduced to its minimum: solid wood feet that support a wooden top thanks to discreet and strong aluminum connections.”