At Salone: Black and White by Front and Porro

Swedish group Front, makers of whimsical products such as the large-scale Horse Lamp, and Italian furniture company Porro, creators of the Endless Shelf, have teamed up to offer three new “furnishing elements,” which they will be showing at the Milan Furniture Show 2009. Part of a “small series of black and white furnishings,” the pieces play with the contrast between colors, as well as the simplicity of material and surface, which are covered with “light and poetic notation.”

Vertical 2-Door Cabinet. Designed by Front Design for Porro.

The three pieces are simple and multi-functional: “a vertical two-door cabinet that is ideal for the bedroom, a sideboard for the dining room, and a horizontal container with coplanar doors.” The two-door bedroom cabinet is a sleek wardrobe, its white surface interrupted by black lines that fan out at the bottom to display motion. A wonderful option for rooms without closets, this piece can make any space a bedroom. The sideboard for the dining room uses wavy lines to create a woven pattern, giving texture to an otherwise smooth surface in a contemporary trompe l’oeil. And the horizontal container does the same thing, although its shape and size make the piece a true chameleon—able to work in living and dining rooms or kitchens and baths. Store anything from books to electronics, dry goods to perfumes; this two-door piece with coplanar doors gives any room a secret and stylish hiding place.

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Sideboard. Designed by Front Design for Porro.

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Vertical 2-Door Cabinet. Designed by Front Design for Porro.

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Horizontal Wall-Mounted Container. Designed by Front Design for Porro.

If these three furnishings are any indication, then the collaboration between Front and Porro should be fruitful and unique. Porro explains that the pieces are “designed for those who do not forget feelings in furnishing.” These simple containers should evoke tranquility and simplicity. The subtle use of surface, material, and color makes them suitable for any interior decor, and their finespun patterns make of the black and white a new and welcome neutral.

via Designboom

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