The sounds of both “Onda” and “Diego Granese” have a certain soporific appeal that immediately puts them in the good graces of a writer attuned to such things. Place them in proximity to a gracefully-curved, sculptural lounger made of recycled steel and viscoelastic foam padding created by a Salerno architect, and I go positively giddy. In fact, Onda represents a fortuitous fusion of some of my favorite things (or intimations thereof): the mellifluous song of Romance languages, lounging in an Italian villa, and smart modern design.

Onda. Designed by Diego Granese.

Onda is distributed state-side by New York’s Resource Furniture, a company with a scenarist’s sense for what I like to call “J. Peterman Style.” To wit, “Environmentally-friendly recyclable steel. Lumbar area filling: special viscoelastic foam of 3 cm. Upholstery: covered with stretch plastic film, synthetic leather, leather, fabric or painted in different colors, with a plate of techno gel.” One almost expects a Peterman-esque rejoinder to follow, along the lines of “languorous lounging abounds, whether wrapped in a crystalline expanse of Mediterranean blue, or imbued with the glassy light of your very own urban jungle.” Resource also calls attention to Onda’s artful style, a pared-down aesthetic that evokes not only Corbusier, but also the work of contemporary designers/artists like William Emmerson, Roderick Vos, and Konstantin Grcic, mostly in regards to their affinities for cantilevered designs.

The comparison(s) certainly works, but for me Onda is a better bedfellow of those whose precise manipulations take a single sheet of material and turn it into a cunningly contoured art piece, like the recently-featured Ran Amitai. Onda—which translates, for good reason, as “Wave”—is available finished with foam, leather, synthetic leather, or painted with a plate of “techno gel.” The essence of the piece, however—whether you prefer the upright “chair” or the recliner-inclined “lounge”–is its shiny and flawless materiality. And for that I’d take mine straight-up, no chaser, thank you–with the beautiful and reflective sheen of unadulterated stainless steel.