Meet the story behind the first seating range designed for the italian furniture brand Moroso told by architect David Adjaye.
Adjaye’s Double Zero range of chairs, which Moroso launched at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan this year, features two circular padded cushions as the seat and backrest.
These are supported by a frame of bent stainless steel tubes, which are welded together where they touch.
“I developed the Double Zero series to be really padded and cushioned and then worked on a metal framing system that would be slightly complicated,” Adjaye explains in the movie, which was filmed at Moroso’s showroom in London.
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“The frame really talks about the power and opportunity of welding.”
The Double Zero chair comes in a variety of different chrome finishes, with a choice of plain or patterned upholstery.
It is also available as a bar stool and a small two-seater sofa, with a pair of pads placed side by side.
“The design has a very strong signature, but is very much able to become a family,” the architect says.
Adjaye originally designed the chair for the Aïshti Foundation, a new cultural centre by Adjaye Associates in Beirut, Lebanon, which is due to be completed this year.
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“It’s an art foundation, retail and a wellness centre all in one,” he explains. “I wanted a chair that didn’t look like production furniture that had been ordered in. I wanted it to feel like it was part of the architecture.”
Adjaye showed the designs to Moroso creative director Patrizia Moroso, who immediately wanted to produce the chair.
“Very quickly she said, ‘I really love it and I’d like to take it on as our first collaboration,’” he recalls. “So what started off as a series of sketches about a building quickly became my first full range with Moroso, which is very exciting.”
He continues: “Patrizia totally understands design and totally understands when a designer has an intuition. She’s able to really sense that very quickly.”