Designer Roberto Paoli professes an interest in the "lightness" of objects. The declaration takes me back to college English, when I first discovered the great writer Italo Calvino (a compatriot of Paoli's) who talked about striving for the very same: "my working method has more often than not involved the subtraction of weight. I have tried to remove weight, sometimes from people, sometimes from heavenly bodies, sometimes from cities; above all I have tried to remove weight from the structure of stories and from language."

Nixon Bed. Designed by Roberto Paoli for Sphaus.

Calvino's take is more of an ineffable concept than Paoli's, but the comparison is apt, especially given the compelling aesthetic of Paoli's Nixon Bed for Sphaus. A study in stripping away superfluity, Nixon is comprised of naught but 16mm tubing and upholstered wood.

The dominant impression of the piece is what Paoli describes as "suspended" lightness-referencing the visual impression that the stripped-down piece leaves on viewers. Nixon's adherence to the bare essentials gives one the sense that the bed is not so much a traditional box spring, mattress, and frame (in fact, it's certainly not), but rather an idea that captures the pure essence of "bedness.” Nixon is thus a furnishing we can feel better about-it seems less oppressive in terms of its materiality, space requirements, and sense impression.

Nixon has functional merits as well. Devoid of a bulky two-piece mattress, a heavy frame, and a weighty internal structure, it is easy to move and easy to incorporate into existing schemes. The subtle embossed zig-zag in contrasting thread on the headboard is its only bit of flair, and this slight embellishment only adds to its lightness, to the sense that sleeping on it would be akin to suspension in mid-air.

Via DesignMilk.