Not that designer Philip Michael Wolfson is looking for such comparisons, but if I were tasked to describe his new Twisted Collection for Hausys, I’d probably go with “Zaha Hadid meets Jean-Pierre Jeunet.” For those not in the know, the latter is the French film director of such strangely appealing fare as Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children, both of which evince a darkly humorous mise-en-scene, the kind populated by eerily askew figures and stretched shadows that seem to move of their own volition.

Twisted. Designed by Philip Michael Wolfson for LG Hausys.

Not to belabor the point, but Twisted displays the innovative organicism of Hadid as well as something of Jeunet’s absurd conception of space. Each of the pieces in this latest collection–coffee table, bar, desk, mirror shelf, and the new Split Low and Split High Chairs–are futuristic yet unfamiliar: their surprising elongations and contortions spell out a post-geometric idiom.

Small surprise, then, that Hausys has chosen to show Twisted during this week’s Salone del Mobile, at no other venue than Milan’s trendy Hotel Nhow. The manufacturer (and advanced press images) promise an enticing display, “a choreography of motion and continual transformation showing Wolfson's unique approach to design, layering and manipulating HI-MACS® into fluid shapes and forms, where shadow and reflection are an integral part of the seduction of the work.” If you’re tempted to query, “What is HI-MACS and why am I craving pasta and cheese?”, the answer to the former is “Natural Acrylic Stone.” As to the latter I can only attribute that to a harmless childhood fetish.

HI-MACS is, in fact, the auspicious offspring of a new technology that synthesizes minerals and acrylic, producing a solid material that looks like stone yet behaves like wood. Constituted of approximately 25% acrylic resin, 5% natural pigments, and 70% aluminium hydroxide (obtained from bauxite or aluminum ore), HI-MACS can be cut, planed, sanded, and joined, yet offers improved heat resistance, better impact strength, enhanced scratch resistance, and increased moldability, which means it’s just right for Wolfson’s surreal manipulations. HI-MACS also offers a broader color palette than stone, not to mention less porosity (as in none), a more uniform appearance, and the possibility for seamless joints.

The upshot is that–far be it for Hausys to attempt to replace stone–HI-MACS nevertheless offers an intriguing addition to any designer’s arsenal. If Wolfson’s Twisted is any indication, there’s no end to its potential for mind-bending incarnations.